Geno’s Not Entirely to Blame: A Look at the Decline of the Offensive Line

[JetNation]

Geno Smith has been far from stellar.  He has 10 turnovers and only 1 touchdown in his past 7 games.  He has struggled to read defenses and has seemed “shell-shocked” quite often.  A large reason for his poor decision making is the collapse of an offensive line that had looked like such a promising group in the beginning of the year.  The offseason addition of Willie Colon, 2nd year starter Austin Howard and Nick Mangold had been playing tremendously up until the past few games.  The line has disintegrated on multiple occasions, sometimes protection breakdowns, sometimes missed blocks.  This has led to a lot of quarterback pressures, knockdowns, and ultimately sacks.

Below is a breakdown using the NFL All-22 software, showing 2 sacks and a forced rollout incompletion as a result of poor line play and Smith holding on to the ball for too long.

The first play comes from the 2nd quarter.  The Ravens show blitz with their two outside linebackers lined up outside of the two offensive tackles.

Geno Smith comes up to the line and rolls the protection to the bottom of the screen (his right) so that they can cover the blitz.  The outside linebacker at the top of the screen is supposed to be taken by D’Brickashaw Ferguson and then Tommy Bohanon.  Ferguson rolls with the protection taking the defensive tackle inside.  Bohanon steps up in the middle of the pocket, rather than getting his eyes up and getting the outside LB, as shown below.

By the time Bohanon realizes it, it’s too late for him to come over and make a solid block. LB Elvis Dumervil beats him and pressures Geno Smith.

Smith rolls away from the pressure and throws a tough pass, which should’ve been caught by Cumberland.  Most NFL TE’s will make this catch that Cumberland couldn’t corral.

The next breakdown is a sack deep in the Jets own end.  Baltimore shows 8 in the box, threatening to blitz 7 guys.  The bail out of it, only sending 4.  This should be easy to pick up, as the Jets were “max protecting” with 8 guys as seen in the second screen shot.

Both Jeff Cumberland (circle on right) and D’Brickashaw Ferguson (circle on left) get beat by their man.  Smith steps up into the pocket to avoid the poor block by Cumberland.  Ferguson is caught on his heels (as shown in the picture), which is a disaster for any offensive linemen in pass protection.

As a result, Ferguson gets beat inside, leading to the sack of Smith from the blindside.

The third situation in which the Jets got sacked, virtually in the same place of the field is late in the 4th quarter.  This play, the Jets are not in max protection.  They are relying on their offensive line to block the man line up on their head. Austin Howard is supposed to block Dumervil off the edge as shown below.

Just like Ferguson in the earlier sack, Howard is on his heels, in terrible position to block.  Offensive linemen should have their head up and their feet underneath them, with their back straight to avoid lunging.  As shown in the following picture, Howard lunges to block Dumervil

As a result he gets beat.  Smith should feel this pressure and step up into the pocket and deliver a checkdown to Bohanon for a short gain.  He holds onto the ball for too long, and Howard misses Dumervil and Dumervil sacks Smith.

 

As painful as it is to rewatch the film of the game, we are trying to give a perspective that isn’t offered by most mainstream media.  Brian Winters, who wasn’t featured in these screen shots has struggled this season.  Everyone knew he was a run game mauler, but he struggled a bit in pass protection, but he hasn’t played well at all.  He is a rookie and will need time to grow, however, if Mangold and Ferguson, who are both Pro-Bowlers, continue to struggle it’s going to be tough sledding for this offense for the rest of the season.  The line play needs to step up, give Geno Smith more time to run and open up bigger holes in the run game.  The regression of the offense isn’t solely a result of poor line play, but it certainly is a major factor.

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[CobraVerde]

They dont want to play for him. Dont believe the interviews and the rousing support projected in the media.

 

and it's also the job of the QB to help call out protections.  

[JoeWillie]

I'm not saying the offensive line is great by any stretch, but it's far better this year than it's been the past 2 years.

 

So how can we say it's not all Geno's fault when the past two years were all Sanchez's fault?

[bitonti]

Joe Flacco was sacked 4 times last weekend. He was hurried, hit and put under pressure more than a dozen times total

 

that didn't stop the Ravens offense from being functional

[CrazyCarl40]

If Sanchez couldn't use the deterioration of the offensive line as an excuse, neither can Geno.

 

Big Ben's offensive line has been horrendous, but he's survived and thrived.

[T0mShane]

Joe Flacco was sacked 4 times last weekend. He was hurried, hit and put under pressure more than a dozen times total

that didn't stop the Ravens offense from being functional

Opposing QBs are putting up a 93 rating on Rex's D this year. Geno might be going into games overconfident after practicing against them all week.

[SayNoToDMC]

Why can't we focus on the D-line?

[SickJetFan]

does anyone have the stats of how many rushers per play.

I like what Cimini does when he shows how many play the jets rushed 4,5,6 etc..vs total number plays in a game

 

I think it would be interesting if we knew how many times opposing teams were rushing 5 or more players in a game against us and then compare that to what they are doing against other teams?

 

I would think no team is scared of Geno throwing down field so the OL has to take on extra rushers but that just a guess would be nice to know what the facts are.

[RSJ]

Opposing QBs are putting up a 93 rating on Rex's D this year. Geno might be going into games overconfident after practicing against them all week.

 

Could be part of it. But accuracy, consistency and leadership are really my biggest concerns with him. Those were issues of his coming into the NFL. Also, he didn't complete passes easier in practice by throwing them into the ground.

[faba]

Genoo has shown us his faults- in locking on receivers and not recognizing defenses- that being said on some pass plays it has been guys right in his face right way- the line has been a problem also

[RSJ]

Genoo has shown us his faults- in locking on receivers and not recognizing defenses- that being said on some pass plays it has been guys right in his face right way- the line has been a problem also

 

Agreed. Colon has never been known as a strong pass defender. Winters has been downright terrible at times and Howard is solid - but thats about it. But he still hasnt made plays when he could have.

[faba]

Of course someone is going to say they are ranked good

[RSJ]

Just a little side note: Matt Simms was blitzed on 5 of his 6 attempts, and didnt get any reps that week at all.

[dbatesman]

If we replaced Winters with Matt Simms, we'd lead the league in passing and rushing.

[ZachEY]

If Sanchez couldn't use the deterioration of the offensive line as an excuse, neither can Geno.

 

Big Ben's offensive line has been horrendous, but he's survived and thrived.

 

Controlling for all of those factors, you have Sanchez and Geno looking eerily similar with Sanchez being in the league 5 years, coming from a pro-style offense and Geno being in the league just over half a season coming from a gimmick offense.

[Matt39]

Roethlisberger might have the most unique skillset in the NFL at QB. Not exactly fair to compare the two. 

[LionelRichie]

Joe Flacco was sacked 4 times last weekend. He was hurried, hit and put under pressure more than a dozen times total

 

that didn't stop the Ravens offense from being functional

 

Smith + Jones  >   Salas + Nelson

 

and don't forget Flacco is in year 6 and makes $20M+ per year.   

[SayNoToDMC]

Smith + Jones  >   Salas + Nelson

 

and don't forget Flacco is in year 6 and makes $20M+ per year.   

 

You wouldn't tell Lionel Richie how to sing a love song, Bit doesn't need help with his mental gymnastics. He's got it covered

[bitonti]

Smith + Jones  >   Salas + Nelson

 

and don't forget Flacco is in year 6 and makes $20M+ per year.   

 

also Flacco is good and Geno is bad

 

the truth is the Jets OL is not as good as it was in 2010 with Faneca. But they aren't even close to the league's worst. They are about middle of the road ( i have them 15th currently) 

 

We could make the same post about all of Flacco's 4 sacks on all-22 cam with dramatic pictures showing exactly the moment Mo wilkerson jacked up AQ Shipley or Sheldon Richardson ran over Geno Gradkowski. 

 

none of this excuses the QB's performance. this is the NFL the other side gets paid too and pressure will come. Especially if the film says you can't deal with it, pressure is on the menu every week for every NFL QB. 

[rillo]

Brick looks bad out there this season IMO.

[LionelRichie]

also Flacco is good and Geno is bad

 

the truth is the Jets OL is not as good as it was in 2010 with Faneca. But they aren't even close to the league's worst. They are about middle of the road ( i have them 15th currently) 

 

We could make the same post about all of Flacco's 4 sacks on all-22 cam with dramatic pictures showing exactly the moment Mo wilkerson jacked up AQ Shipley or Sheldon Richardson ran over Geno Gradkowski. 

 

none of this excuses the QB's performance. this is the NFL the other side gets paid too and pressure will come. Especially if the film says you can't deal with it, pressure is on the menu every week for every NFL QB. 

 

Yep, Geno is shell-shocked and playing like a giant turd.   That doesn't change the fact that you can't compare him to a 6-year veteran who is one of the highest paid QBs in the entire NFL.   In fact, if Flacco was on the Jets this year he would be marginally better than Geno but you simply can't expext anyone to succeed with a pourous OL throwing the ball to Clyde Gates, Kerley, Salas + Nelson.    

[bitonti]

Yep, Geno is shell-shocked and playing like a giant turd.   That doesn't change the fact that you can't compare him to a 6-year veteran who is one of the highest paid QBs in the entire NFL.   In fact, if Flacco was on the Jets this year he would be marginally better than Geno but you simply can't expext anyone to succeed with a pourous OL throwing the ball to Clyde Gates, Kerley, Salas + Nelson.    

 

 these threads that blame the OL are just making excuses. Geno should be throwing the ball away or to hot routes. Even in the article it says "geno held the ball too long" for at least one of those plays. It's not the OL (or the coach  or the weaponz) that's the problem. 

[T0mShane]

also Flacco is good and Geno is bad

the truth is the Jets OL is not as good as it was in 2010 with Faneca. But they aren't even close to the league's worst. They are about middle of the road ( i have them 15th currently)

We could make the same post about all of Flacco's 4 sacks on all-22 cam with dramatic pictures showing exactly the moment Mo wilkerson jacked up AQ Shipley or Sheldon Richardson ran over Geno Gradkowski.

none of this excuses the QB's performance. this is the NFL the other side gets paid too and pressure will come. Especially if the film says you can't deal with it, pressure is on the menu every week for every NFL QB.

Not to be a wiseass, but what criteria are you using in your OL rankings?

[Scott Dierking]

Not to be a wiseass, but what criteria are you using in your OL rankings?

Fantasy football expert writers. They rule!

[stoicsentry]

When you're going up against a good defense on the road, you can't expect your offensive line and running backs to carry the load alone. They are not blameless, but it has to be a team effort. QB play has to be a lot better than it was, WR/TE play has to be a lot better than it was.

[joewillie78]

Again, Just another example of this staff completely ignoring one side of the ball. This past year, they again took 2 defensive players in the first round, and OK, if you want to ignore all the skill positions on that side of the ball, thats one thing, but they could have at least drafted one O-lineman in the first round this past year, and then took Richardson to quench your insatiable D-Line addiction.

 

By the way, is D-Line addiction curable of do you simply try to manage it? And would a backup D-lineman picked up in FA be enough to satisfy this addiction or is that intense an addiction that you always have to draft a 1st rounder?

[bitonti]

Not to be a wiseass, but what criteria are you using in your OL rankings?

 

letter grades on all 5 starters and the 6th man (usually a swing tackle). another grade for cohesion (how long the line has played together, in the same positions etc) and a grade on the OL coach. These grades are weighted for example both tackles are weighted 2x, center 1.5x, guards 1x, cohesion 1x, 6th man 0.5x, and ol coach 0.1x.

 

The grades are a combo of resume (All-pro, pro bowl, draft round) and current level of play.  for current level of play I use beat writer stories, notes from the footballguys.com who cover the teams,  my own notes etc. fbg has over 50 staffers so there's a good amount of data I can use without using PFF. I don't use PFF because they don't know the assignments and it's tough to grade an OL if you don't know what he was supposed to do. 

 

the individual grades do not have to be super exact for example if Winters is actually a D- but i say he's a C-, it doesn't move the rankings that much (or at all). that position was a problem with Peterman and a problem with Vlad and the crappiness of the LG is already baked into the Jets overall ranking.

 

But if a unit loses several key guys to injury it can get ugly in a hurry. Another example if Mangold misses this Miami game and 'the Raff" takes the snaps, that's gonna put the Jets in the 20's instead of at 15.  side note i don't know the last time the Jets won a game without Nick Mangold. 

 

I know this is all long and boring but in real terms if you compare DBrick, Winters, Mangold, Colon and Howard... they grade out similarly to Monroe, Shipley, Gradkowski, Yanda and Oher. (15th and 17th respectively). I could supply screen shots of AQ Shipley (who replaced Kelechi Osemele on IR) getting beat left and right but that didn't stop Flacco from being productive. A quality NFL QB will recognize the blitz and get it out. Even if he only has 2 seconds to throw. 

 

 

Right now SF is first and Miami is dead last.  if you or anyone wants to PM me an email i can send the excel spreadsheet if you want to nit pick it. 

[Scott Dierking]

it's kinda complicated but the short form is grades on all 5 starters and the 6th man (usually a swing tackle). another grade for cohesion (how long the line has played together, in the same positions etc) and a grade on the OL coach. These graded are weighted for example both tackles are weighted 2x, center 1.5x, guards 1x, cohesion 1x, 6th man .05x, and ol coach 0.1x.

 

The grades are a combo of resume (All-pro, pro bowl, draft round) and current level of play.  for current level of play I use beat writer stories, notes from the footballguys.com who cover the teams,  my own notes etc. fbg has over 50 staffers so there's a good amount of data I can use without using PFF. I don't use PFF because they don't know the assignments and it's tough to grade an OL if you don't know what he was supposed to do. 

 

I know this is all long and boring but in real terms if you compare DBrick, Winters, Mangold, Colon and Howard... they grade out similarly to Monroe, Shipley, Gradkowski, Yanda and Oher. (15th and 17th respectively). Right now Miami is dead last. 

So, totally subjective.

[stoicsentry]

So, totally subjective.

 

It is difficult to judge offensive linemen in a concrete way. What do you use?

[bitonti]

So, totally subjective.

Ya know what's subjective? the connection between a good OL and scoring points. There are teams with bad OL like the Chargers who have a high scoring offense and teams with a great OL like Cleveland who have a bad offense.

 

We can spend all day talking about offensive line grades but the real question is how can these be used?  the connection is not as straight forward as it seems. next step, I am working with guys who grade the DL/LB to come up with a weekly matchup score where you can say this week the Jets great DL is facing the Dolphins terrible OL and this is a good reason to not start Lamar Miller. but a great OL can be wasted by bad skill play and great skill play can overcome bad OL. it's not a linear equation where great OL = championship.

[ZachEY]

You know what I see?

 

We have a bad offensive line.  We have a bad Quarterback.  We have bad weaponz.

 

Not a glowing endorsement of a coach after 5 years.

[SickJetFan]

letter grades on all 5 starters and the 6th man (usually a swing tackle). another grade for cohesion (how long the line has played together, in the same positions etc) and a grade on the OL coach. These grades are weighted for example both tackles are weighted 2x, center 1.5x, guards 1x, cohesion 1x, 6th man 0.5x, and ol coach 0.1x.

 

The grades are a combo of resume (All-pro, pro bowl, draft round) and current level of play.  for current level of play I use beat writer stories, notes from the footballguys.com who cover the teams,  my own notes etc. fbg has over 50 staffers so there's a good amount of data I can use without using PFF. I don't use PFF because they don't know the assignments and it's tough to grade an OL if you don't know what he was supposed to do. 

 

the individual grades do not have to be super exact for example if Winters is actually a D- but i say he's a C-, it doesn't move the rankings that much (or at all). that position was a problem with Peterman and a problem with Vlad and the crappiness of the LG is already baked into the Jets overall ranking.

 

But if a unit loses several key guys to injury it can get ugly in a hurry. Another example if Mangold misses this Miami game and 'the Raff" takes the snaps, that's gonna put the Jets in the 20's instead of at 15.  side note i don't know the last time the Jets won a game without Nick Mangold. 

 

I know this is all long and boring but in real terms if you compare DBrick, Winters, Mangold, Colon and Howard... they grade out similarly to Monroe, Shipley, Gradkowski, Yanda and Oher. (15th and 17th respectively). I could supply screen shots of AQ Shipley (who replaced Kelechi Osemele on IR) getting beat left and right but that didn't stop Flacco from being productive. A quality NFL QB will recognize the blitz and get it out. Even if he only has 2 seconds to throw. 

 

 

Right now SF is first and Miami is dead last.  if you or anyone wants to PM me an email i can send the excel spreadsheet if you want to nit pick it.

I usually. Just ask my wife whose gonna win or whose is better. She hates football but proves to be about 87.864% accurate. If I offer to wash some dishes I can get her to 89.765% give or take.

[bitonti]

I usually. Just ask my wife whose gonna win or whose is better. She hates football but proves to be about 87.864% accurate. If I offer to wash some dishes I can get her to 89.765% give or take.

 

[bitonti]

We have a bad offensive line.  We have a bad Quarterback.  We have bad weaponz.

 

This post implies that these three things are equal levels of bad. 

[Scott Dierking]

It is difficult to judge offensive linemen in a concrete way. What do you use?

Fans can't due it qualitatively or objectively.

 

We are not privy to what play calls were, what responsibilities were on any given play and what line changes were made on plays. What may look like a whiff on a block by a Tackle to the uninformed casual fan, may be a missed assignment by the TE.

 

Where there may have been a hole created by the line as the play was called, may be a mis-read by the RB in hitting that hole.

 

What may be a sack given up, may be the QB holding the ball too long.

 

etc, etc, etc.

 

As much as we would like to graded these things, we just don't know. To rank the 32 o-lines and say it is done accurately is purely fantasy folly.