Once you posted the stat on ”win rate” and us ranking 8th, which was surprising to me because I don‘t feel like it matched what I saw during the year, I did some investigating. The win rate stat means the OLman held their block for 2.5 seconds, which constitutes a ”win”. Not surprisingly, most of the playoff teams scored well on this stat. However, a couple things occurred to me while reading the articles on found on this stat.
First, there a context issue here. 2.5 seconds is plenty of time for a quick pass like a slant, hitch, quick out ect... But it seems potentially insufficient for deeper routes such as a 15 yd out, deep crossing route, post ect. We all know that we throW the ball down the field often.
Second, holding a block for 2.5 seconds can look completely different. In one instance a lineman could stonewall a pass rusher taking him completely out of the play or a lineman could get pushed back into the pocket during that same 2.5 seconds. The second scenario would technically be a win but I guarantee you it would have a negative effect on the QB. I remember this second scenario happening with Fulton and Clark quite a bit
Then I started looking at QBs average time to throw. In 2019 DW averaged 2.82. For context here are some of the other top QBs and their times
Brady 2.75
Rogers 2.88
Tannehil 2.9
Wilson 2.85
Mahomes 2.82
Brees 2.57
Garrapolo 2.65
Jackson 2.92
the complete list
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I find it interesting that the stats guys consider 2.5 seconds a win when the majority of the top QBs are around 2.8. I wonder how our OL would rank if the metric were changed to 2.8, I have a suspicion would drop quite a bit
I think you hit the nail on the head at the end of your post when you mentioned the scheme. I’ve heard Wade Smith on 610 criticize our pass blocking scheme multiple times over the past season. One thing he said that I found interesting, Smith mentioned during his time with the Texans they were multiple times where the line coach would want to block something a certain way and Smith said Meyers would put the kibosh on it saying it would never work. When you look at our OL would dont really have a veteran leader, someone that could fill Meyers role and challenge the coaching staff. I think Tunsil could be that guy but last season he was a new addition
As a side note, I also think our backs and TEs need to improve in pass pro as well. Miller was awesome in this role but we didn’t have him last year. I remember being thrilled that they got rid of Griffin last year as he blew multiple blocks that almost got DW killed in 18