motife
09-26-2007, 10:17 PM
INSIDE FOOTBALL with Eric Baranczyk: Week 2
Posted: Sept. 18, 2007
As told to former Packer Insider columnist Cliff Christl, Eric Baranczyk, an assistant high school football coach and a former player and coach at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, offers a weekly analysis of the Green Bay Packers with a Inside Football slant.
I thought with DeShawn Wynn that was a good start for a young guy. I'd like to see more of him. I'm not 100% sold. He didn't play much in the pre-season and he's not getting a lot of plays. But big guy. He has a lean to him when he runs. He seems to know where he wants to go with the ball. He's able to make that first guy miss. On that first touchdown run, he made that nice jab step to the inside and then he cut to the outside and right into the end zone. He lowered his shoulder when he got close to the goal line, all the things you like to see running backs do.
The question is: Will he be able to be a full-time player? Does he have it upstairs and in his heart? On his first run from scrimmage, he went down on a one-arm tackle and you hate to see that happen to a big guy. But I guess if you're right in the middle of a cut or off-balance, you can get brought down with an arm tackle. On his second run, in the second series there, he put his foot in the ground and went to the inside when he probably should have cut to the outside. But you watch a game and even the great running backs, you can see where they maybe should have cut here or run to the outside when they didn't.
With any running back, you get some of that. But I saw with Wynn the wherewithal to say: I'm going here and this is how I'm going to get there. I saw vision. And I thought he showed some patience. I think that's the one thing Brandon Jackson has to get. I know it's hard when you're getting nailed from the backside, but Jackson has to be a little more patient and not overrun blocks.
I thought Wynn showed a nice second gear, too. He's not a 4.5 guy. He's more of a steamroller. He's not Jerome Bettis and probably never will be, but that's the kind of runner he is. Runs hard, good pad level, runs with his eyes.
I think Jackson runs with his eyes, too. He's just not patient enough. They like to run Jackson in the line, between the tackles, and I think teams are really starting to fly to the ball. You saw the Giants do it. They came really hard with their backside to the point of attack. And I think there were some opportunities for Jackson to hit some cutback alleys. But it seemed he just didn't have enough patience. He went, went, went and then buried his head where the hole was designed to be. I think if he was just a hair more patient, sometimes those lanes on the backside would present themselves and open up for him.
But I think he's a hard runner and I like him. If you look at that running game, none of them has good numbers. Even Wynn, take away that long run and he doesn't have good numbers - 9 carries, 12 yards - but I don't think it's all the backs. There aren't many backs that you could put back there and get good numbers behind that blocking.
They have three linemen who can run that offense, that zone blocking scheme they want to run. But Chad Clifton is a fish out of water in that running scheme. And I don't think Mark Tauscher wants to get on the ground. He got on the ground a couple times Sunday, which is more than what we saw in the first game. But I thought Tauscher's hand was on the ground maybe five or six snaps the entire game and his pad level just wasn't there. I think that's their biggest issue when it comes to the point of attack: Their pad level.
Secondly, I think there are mental mistakes. They're letting guys run free in the backfield: Coming through the line and blowing up plays. That's not a physical mistake. That's a mental mistake. They're coming from the backside; they're coming from the front-side. It happened to Junius Coston, where a guy ran right in front of him.
It happened to Daryn Colledge, where a guy ran in front of him and Colledge went up to the linebacker. The lineman ran right past him. I'm sure the Packers had those guys schemed for and just missed them. The lineman looked the other way or wasn't paying attention or thought another guy was going to get him, and the Giants just ran right by them. The rule with zone blocking is: He's got a piece of you, you got a piece of him.
I thought Coston just got pushed back on a couple of pass plays, even on a couple run plays. It sounds like they may stick with him, but I wasn't overly impressed. I thought he was up and down. I thought leg strength was an issue there, too. When you get driven back, A) you don't have good balance or good pad level; or B) it's leg strength.
I thought Clifton got turned around a bunch of times. He can't be sitting there watching that film and thinking he did a good job. When you're an offensive lineman, your goal has to be: The guy you're supposed to block can't get in on the tackle. That's the ultimate goal. How many times did you see No. 76 (Clifton), No. 73 (Colledge) standing around watching the running back get tackled?
They ran a lot to the left side, especially early on. But I don't think either one had a particularly good game. All those guys are up and down. They look great, then they look terrible. And I think their timing is off on their cut-blocks. And they don't finish. When you watch other teams and they have good offensive lines, they block until their guy is on his butt.
Going into this season, I think everybody thought the offensive line was going to make huge strides. It's not there. That's why I don't think it's all the running back's fault and I'm surprised more people don't understand that. That and how important timing is. Timing between the backs and blockers is a big deal. And you've got rookie backs and a line that hasn't played well or that long together.
That was a beautiful pass when Brett Favre hit James Jones for 46 yards. He hit him right in stride. And I thought Jones showed some ability to make a play in traffic. He had a guy on top and a guy below, and he still made the play. You'll see it a lot of times where if there's people around the receiver, they hear footsteps or look off for the safety. But I thought Jones showed good enough separation to get by the corner and make a play. He had a couple other nice catches, too. But that whole Giants' defense is crappy. They didn't seem like they had any emotion.
Favre was on the money. Last week, he wasn't very accurate. I don't know if that's a sign of age: Inconsistency from week to week. But on Sunday, I thought: Man! There were only two or three passes where he would have wanted them back. That first touchdown pass to Bubba Franks. That was the old Favre: Threading it through the eye of a needle and making it stick in a guy's ribs. That was a heck of a pass.
That defensive line flies to the football. On that one pass play, where Charles Woodson slipped and fell, and then missed the tackle, Johnny Jolly was in on that tackle like 35 yards downfield. They just swarm to the football. That's one of things that makes a great defense. They have young guys who are moving around. They sat in that cover two an awful lot on Sunday: Four men rushing and dropping everybody back. That's pretty impressive.
The rush wasn't great early, but that's part of why they rotate defensive linemen. By the end of the game, your defensive linemen are going to have more energy. They're not going to be tired. They're going to be able to get in there and make plays without having to send backers. That can be really important when you're playing against a good quarterback. That way you can make sure every zone is filled and have safeties over the top. That's a huge advantage they should have in the third and fourth quarters when they're only sending four guys and they're getting home.
I think Jolly has great range. He's a big guy playing the three-technique. Good hands, good feet. He has a great motor. Coming out of college, he had that ankle problem and I think that raised some questions about him and his attitude. But I think what happens sometimes with these late-round draft picks like that is they're not all made for that college environment. When they can just play football, it's an advantage for them. For some, the discipline of college is a good thing. For others, they're just there to play football, so having to go to class all those other things are kind of a mental drag on them.
Jolly might be one of those guys. I think Wynn might be one of those guys. They get a reputation for not playing hard or not dealing well with little injuries. You get them out of that environment and put them in an environment where all they have to worry about is football, I think it's healthy for some of those guys.
I wonder what the deal is with Woodson. Twice in two weeks now, he has slipped and given up big plays. Does he have to get some three-quarter inch spikes? But that's the only time you hear about him is when he slips and falls. I think he had one other ball go his way where the guy caught it and he kind of wrestled him out of bounds. If you're a cornerback and your name doesn't get called that's a good thing.
Posted: Sept. 18, 2007
As told to former Packer Insider columnist Cliff Christl, Eric Baranczyk, an assistant high school football coach and a former player and coach at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, offers a weekly analysis of the Green Bay Packers with a Inside Football slant.
I thought with DeShawn Wynn that was a good start for a young guy. I'd like to see more of him. I'm not 100% sold. He didn't play much in the pre-season and he's not getting a lot of plays. But big guy. He has a lean to him when he runs. He seems to know where he wants to go with the ball. He's able to make that first guy miss. On that first touchdown run, he made that nice jab step to the inside and then he cut to the outside and right into the end zone. He lowered his shoulder when he got close to the goal line, all the things you like to see running backs do.
The question is: Will he be able to be a full-time player? Does he have it upstairs and in his heart? On his first run from scrimmage, he went down on a one-arm tackle and you hate to see that happen to a big guy. But I guess if you're right in the middle of a cut or off-balance, you can get brought down with an arm tackle. On his second run, in the second series there, he put his foot in the ground and went to the inside when he probably should have cut to the outside. But you watch a game and even the great running backs, you can see where they maybe should have cut here or run to the outside when they didn't.
With any running back, you get some of that. But I saw with Wynn the wherewithal to say: I'm going here and this is how I'm going to get there. I saw vision. And I thought he showed some patience. I think that's the one thing Brandon Jackson has to get. I know it's hard when you're getting nailed from the backside, but Jackson has to be a little more patient and not overrun blocks.
I thought Wynn showed a nice second gear, too. He's not a 4.5 guy. He's more of a steamroller. He's not Jerome Bettis and probably never will be, but that's the kind of runner he is. Runs hard, good pad level, runs with his eyes.
I think Jackson runs with his eyes, too. He's just not patient enough. They like to run Jackson in the line, between the tackles, and I think teams are really starting to fly to the ball. You saw the Giants do it. They came really hard with their backside to the point of attack. And I think there were some opportunities for Jackson to hit some cutback alleys. But it seemed he just didn't have enough patience. He went, went, went and then buried his head where the hole was designed to be. I think if he was just a hair more patient, sometimes those lanes on the backside would present themselves and open up for him.
But I think he's a hard runner and I like him. If you look at that running game, none of them has good numbers. Even Wynn, take away that long run and he doesn't have good numbers - 9 carries, 12 yards - but I don't think it's all the backs. There aren't many backs that you could put back there and get good numbers behind that blocking.
They have three linemen who can run that offense, that zone blocking scheme they want to run. But Chad Clifton is a fish out of water in that running scheme. And I don't think Mark Tauscher wants to get on the ground. He got on the ground a couple times Sunday, which is more than what we saw in the first game. But I thought Tauscher's hand was on the ground maybe five or six snaps the entire game and his pad level just wasn't there. I think that's their biggest issue when it comes to the point of attack: Their pad level.
Secondly, I think there are mental mistakes. They're letting guys run free in the backfield: Coming through the line and blowing up plays. That's not a physical mistake. That's a mental mistake. They're coming from the backside; they're coming from the front-side. It happened to Junius Coston, where a guy ran right in front of him.
It happened to Daryn Colledge, where a guy ran in front of him and Colledge went up to the linebacker. The lineman ran right past him. I'm sure the Packers had those guys schemed for and just missed them. The lineman looked the other way or wasn't paying attention or thought another guy was going to get him, and the Giants just ran right by them. The rule with zone blocking is: He's got a piece of you, you got a piece of him.
I thought Coston just got pushed back on a couple of pass plays, even on a couple run plays. It sounds like they may stick with him, but I wasn't overly impressed. I thought he was up and down. I thought leg strength was an issue there, too. When you get driven back, A) you don't have good balance or good pad level; or B) it's leg strength.
I thought Clifton got turned around a bunch of times. He can't be sitting there watching that film and thinking he did a good job. When you're an offensive lineman, your goal has to be: The guy you're supposed to block can't get in on the tackle. That's the ultimate goal. How many times did you see No. 76 (Clifton), No. 73 (Colledge) standing around watching the running back get tackled?
They ran a lot to the left side, especially early on. But I don't think either one had a particularly good game. All those guys are up and down. They look great, then they look terrible. And I think their timing is off on their cut-blocks. And they don't finish. When you watch other teams and they have good offensive lines, they block until their guy is on his butt.
Going into this season, I think everybody thought the offensive line was going to make huge strides. It's not there. That's why I don't think it's all the running back's fault and I'm surprised more people don't understand that. That and how important timing is. Timing between the backs and blockers is a big deal. And you've got rookie backs and a line that hasn't played well or that long together.
That was a beautiful pass when Brett Favre hit James Jones for 46 yards. He hit him right in stride. And I thought Jones showed some ability to make a play in traffic. He had a guy on top and a guy below, and he still made the play. You'll see it a lot of times where if there's people around the receiver, they hear footsteps or look off for the safety. But I thought Jones showed good enough separation to get by the corner and make a play. He had a couple other nice catches, too. But that whole Giants' defense is crappy. They didn't seem like they had any emotion.
Favre was on the money. Last week, he wasn't very accurate. I don't know if that's a sign of age: Inconsistency from week to week. But on Sunday, I thought: Man! There were only two or three passes where he would have wanted them back. That first touchdown pass to Bubba Franks. That was the old Favre: Threading it through the eye of a needle and making it stick in a guy's ribs. That was a heck of a pass.
That defensive line flies to the football. On that one pass play, where Charles Woodson slipped and fell, and then missed the tackle, Johnny Jolly was in on that tackle like 35 yards downfield. They just swarm to the football. That's one of things that makes a great defense. They have young guys who are moving around. They sat in that cover two an awful lot on Sunday: Four men rushing and dropping everybody back. That's pretty impressive.
The rush wasn't great early, but that's part of why they rotate defensive linemen. By the end of the game, your defensive linemen are going to have more energy. They're not going to be tired. They're going to be able to get in there and make plays without having to send backers. That can be really important when you're playing against a good quarterback. That way you can make sure every zone is filled and have safeties over the top. That's a huge advantage they should have in the third and fourth quarters when they're only sending four guys and they're getting home.
I think Jolly has great range. He's a big guy playing the three-technique. Good hands, good feet. He has a great motor. Coming out of college, he had that ankle problem and I think that raised some questions about him and his attitude. But I think what happens sometimes with these late-round draft picks like that is they're not all made for that college environment. When they can just play football, it's an advantage for them. For some, the discipline of college is a good thing. For others, they're just there to play football, so having to go to class all those other things are kind of a mental drag on them.
Jolly might be one of those guys. I think Wynn might be one of those guys. They get a reputation for not playing hard or not dealing well with little injuries. You get them out of that environment and put them in an environment where all they have to worry about is football, I think it's healthy for some of those guys.
I wonder what the deal is with Woodson. Twice in two weeks now, he has slipped and given up big plays. Does he have to get some three-quarter inch spikes? But that's the only time you hear about him is when he slips and falls. I think he had one other ball go his way where the guy caught it and he kind of wrestled him out of bounds. If you're a cornerback and your name doesn't get called that's a good thing.