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Analyzing the Offensive Line: Flozell Adams Takes a Big Step
Posted on August 31, 2010 by JJ
There were enough ugly memories from the Steelers’ preseason Week 3 loss to the Broncos to keep Steelers fans worrying for weeks.
But when I fired up the DVR and went back to rewatching the offensive line play, I found something surprising and absolutely encouraging. Whether you believe it or not, Flozell Adams looked like the player the Steelers were hoping they got when they signed him.
In the first two games of the preseason, Adams had some pretty disastrous moments. He was fine in run blocking, but if the Steelers called a pass play, Byron Leftwich or Ben Roethlisberger needed to always keep an eye on what Adams was doing (or not doing).
Against Denver Adams was able to work without supervision. Play after play he handled his man without help, and every now then he flashed signs that he can punish people in the run game.
I plan to have a breakdown of the remaining offensive linemen who are battling for roster spots on Wednesday or Thursday, but I wanted to get the look at Adams as soon as possible since right tackle is the one position among the starters where the Steelers still have some uncertainty.
In watching Adams’ work on Sunday night, it’s hard to find a lot to complain about. He did get flagged for one false start penalty and he was beaten once (although Mewelde Moore was partly to blame) on a quarterback pressure. But otherwise, in 44 snaps he was outstanding. By my rough grades of whether it was an effective block or not, I had Adams succeeding on 41 of 44 plays (93 percent). As I try to mention every time, I’m not looking at technique, just results, and there is a slight chance that a result could be misinterpreted because we don’t know the play call, but I try to err on the side of giving the benefit of the doubt to the offensive lineman.
I make that disclaimer every week, but here’s an example of what I’m talking about. Feel free to fire up your own DVR to see. On the first play of the third quarter Adams’ man quickly beat him. It looks like a blown block, but considering the play was a run to the other side of the field with a fake bootleg back to the right, it’s highly possible that Adams was told to let his man take himself out of the play. In that case, we call that a successful block because whether Adams shoved him or just let him by, his man was running completely away from the ball carrier.
In pass blocking, Adams showed few of the problems with speed rushers or counter moves back to the inside. It’s hard not to think that part of that can be explained by the Broncos’ lack of pass-rushing talent — with Pro Bowler Elvis Dumervil injured, Jarvis Moss and others do no look capable of stepping up. Moss in particular tried several times to run over Adams with a bull rush. One look at Moss’ relatively skinny frame compared to Adams’ mammoth girth explains why that won’t work. On another play Adams did allow a big hole to his inside because of his worries about a speed rush. But unlike last week, he was able to recover with a well-timed pop that stopped the rusher in his tracks.
But what really helped Adams out was the good use of his hands. There were several plays where a pass rusher had a half-step on him on a race to the corner. But a well-timed shove sent the rusher flying well past the quarterback. One time Adams used his strength to particularly devastating effect — check out the block he laid on Trai Essex’s man with 9:57 to go in the third quarter. With one shove, Adams knocked D.J. Williams to the ground like he was a blocking dummy. If there was any question on if Adams will be starting Game 1, his effort against the Broncos should erase that question.
Posted on August 31, 2010 by JJ
There were enough ugly memories from the Steelers’ preseason Week 3 loss to the Broncos to keep Steelers fans worrying for weeks.
But when I fired up the DVR and went back to rewatching the offensive line play, I found something surprising and absolutely encouraging. Whether you believe it or not, Flozell Adams looked like the player the Steelers were hoping they got when they signed him.
In the first two games of the preseason, Adams had some pretty disastrous moments. He was fine in run blocking, but if the Steelers called a pass play, Byron Leftwich or Ben Roethlisberger needed to always keep an eye on what Adams was doing (or not doing).
Against Denver Adams was able to work without supervision. Play after play he handled his man without help, and every now then he flashed signs that he can punish people in the run game.
I plan to have a breakdown of the remaining offensive linemen who are battling for roster spots on Wednesday or Thursday, but I wanted to get the look at Adams as soon as possible since right tackle is the one position among the starters where the Steelers still have some uncertainty.
In watching Adams’ work on Sunday night, it’s hard to find a lot to complain about. He did get flagged for one false start penalty and he was beaten once (although Mewelde Moore was partly to blame) on a quarterback pressure. But otherwise, in 44 snaps he was outstanding. By my rough grades of whether it was an effective block or not, I had Adams succeeding on 41 of 44 plays (93 percent). As I try to mention every time, I’m not looking at technique, just results, and there is a slight chance that a result could be misinterpreted because we don’t know the play call, but I try to err on the side of giving the benefit of the doubt to the offensive lineman.
I make that disclaimer every week, but here’s an example of what I’m talking about. Feel free to fire up your own DVR to see. On the first play of the third quarter Adams’ man quickly beat him. It looks like a blown block, but considering the play was a run to the other side of the field with a fake bootleg back to the right, it’s highly possible that Adams was told to let his man take himself out of the play. In that case, we call that a successful block because whether Adams shoved him or just let him by, his man was running completely away from the ball carrier.
In pass blocking, Adams showed few of the problems with speed rushers or counter moves back to the inside. It’s hard not to think that part of that can be explained by the Broncos’ lack of pass-rushing talent — with Pro Bowler Elvis Dumervil injured, Jarvis Moss and others do no look capable of stepping up. Moss in particular tried several times to run over Adams with a bull rush. One look at Moss’ relatively skinny frame compared to Adams’ mammoth girth explains why that won’t work. On another play Adams did allow a big hole to his inside because of his worries about a speed rush. But unlike last week, he was able to recover with a well-timed pop that stopped the rusher in his tracks.
But what really helped Adams out was the good use of his hands. There were several plays where a pass rusher had a half-step on him on a race to the corner. But a well-timed shove sent the rusher flying well past the quarterback. One time Adams used his strength to particularly devastating effect — check out the block he laid on Trai Essex’s man with 9:57 to go in the third quarter. With one shove, Adams knocked D.J. Williams to the ground like he was a blocking dummy. If there was any question on if Adams will be starting Game 1, his effort against the Broncos should erase that question.
[url]http://www.steelerslounge.com/2010/08/analyzing-offensive-line-flozell-adams-takes-big-step/[/url]
This is very encouraging.
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