Mr. Scot

More from John...

And when the coach said he'd tailor the scheme to fit them.

All I know for sure is none of it makes sense.

NFL is already looking into it.

Christensen would be the obvious choice if he weren't hurt, and likely would be the pick next year. With the choices we've got now? Don't know.

What's maddening is the disconnect between the coaches messaging and the on-field product. "We're going to tailor the scheme to the personnel"... except we didn't. "We're going to have a collaborative approach"...you really wanna tell me nobody on a staff full of professionals is seeing this? It's just infuriating.

As to the chart, I think it's accurate but it doesn't tell the whole story. (stats and charts rarely do)

It's a wrongheaded idea to begin with. Even Newton, for all his strengths, couldn't win with a bad team around him. Still, people have gotten the idea that a "do it all" quarterback is what you need, but that's not what wins in the NFL.

In the last presser, somebody asked whether they might think about going to more of a smashmouth running attack. Reich rejected the idea in his answer. Granted, they could still do it in private but at least publicly he said no.

He didn't get where he is without having strengths. David Carr had strengths too...until they got beaten out of him.

Thinking that you have to do something right now when it isn't necessarily the best idea is a great way to make things even worse.

See above. They made no effort to retool the line that was already built. There's not really even any evidence that they thought about it. When James Campen was hired in San Diego, front office specifically stated that they were going to let him dictate what blocking scheme they ran. He looked at the personnel and decided zone blocking was the best fit. It's clearly not the best fit here, and I can't imagine Campen doesn't know that.

The OL was already built when he got here. No indication he wanted to retool it. Zavala was drafted as depth. Reich stated that his preference was to tailor the scheme to the players. He's not doing it and I can't imagine why.

It's kinda hard to evaluate anybody's strengths when they're constantly being run over.

Bad night...

Related: from John Ellis... Moving Ekwonu to guard accomplishes this...

That'd be insane given what his strengths are

John Fox stubbornly sticking with the "left-right corner" scheme when Larry Fitzgerald was lining up all over the place and killing us...

Said elsewhere, that's what I really don't get. Campen would obviously know, but I find it hard to believe he's the only one. Hell, it's been called out by analysts, reporters and fans alike. Is anybody talking about it internally?

I'll take someone who understands that they don't know over someone who thinks they do every time.

Decided to do a little research related to the blocking issues. Specifically, the unfortunate fact that we use a zone blocking scheme which appears to be a mismatch for our OL personnel. Because of this, I wanted to check out the histories and profiles of the square pegs we've been trying so hard to shove through round holes. Here's what I found... Line guru James Campen has coached zone blocking plenty before (in Green Bay mostly) so he knows what it's about. He's familiar with the schemes and the fits. In fact, when he went to San Diego the team reportedly let him decide what kind of blocking the offense (coordinated by Shane Steichen, FYI) was going to use. Draft profiling of Brad Bozeman critiqued him as a poor fit for a zone blocking scheme and much better suited for man / power running. He's a smart player and good center though, and was part of a zone scheme with the Ravens. Of course, Ravens brass also let him go. Free agent evaluations of Austin Corbett had him pegged as solid in a zone scheme. That of course makes perfect sense given that he did well in Los Angeles as part of Sean McVay's attack. His return has brought at least a little improvement to a Panthers line that is still overall bad. A film analysis of Taylor Moton done a few years ago for the Roaring Riot touted his athleticism and quick footwork being good for zone blocking, and watching him this year bears that out. Thanks to Moton and Corbett, the right side of the line hasn't been where the majority of the problems are happening. Prior to the draft, people debated whether Ikem Ekwonu should be a guard or a tackle. The answer to that seems pretty clearly scheme related, and in a zone scheme he should be a guard. Speed rushers are known to give him problems anyway, so here's hoping this is considered. Couldn't find much in the way of scheme specific scouting of Chandler Zavala, but what i did find had him as a better run blocker than pass blocker. It did also mention his footwork being superior to his power. Having watched him get pushed around a lot, that doesn't come as a surprise. Looked a little at some of the backups as well. Saw speculation that the switch to zone wouldn't be good for Cade Mays, and Nash Jensen was seen by one draft analyst as a "small area power guy" whose limited movement and agility make him a poor blocker"on the move". Finally, what about our big missing piece, i.e. Brady Christensen? Worth remembering he was a left tackle in college. BYU's wide field scheme required agility on his part but he wasn't weak as a power blocker either. He'd be pretty well suited to the scheme. Mind you, i's also worth taking a brief look at the runningbacks on roster right now. Zone blocking schemes tend to work best with cutback runners who can change direction quickly when a hole opens up. We do have at least one of those on roster in Raheem Blackshear, but his playing time has been pretty limited. So, bottom line... Granted we could conceivably switch to man blocking next season, but if we do stick with this scheme next season, the return of Brady Christensen should help. But it'd probably help even more if he goes to left tackle and Ickey goes to guard. That's not a new thought as it's been discussed here before. It's most likely also wishful thinking. But hey, what else have we got right now?

Here's what bugs the hell out of me regarding the line scheme mismatch. Analysts see it. Some reporters see it. Hell, even fans see it. There's no way somebody on the coaching staff has not seen this. James Campen is certainly someone I'd expect to know the difference between a zone and a man/power scheme. And I find it hard to believe he's the only one on a staff full of experienced coaches. If anybody's talking about it internally, we likely wouldn't know, but we can sure as hell see nothing's been done about it...at least not so far.

That criticism has been .ade in a couple of places.

Sherman Lewis used that approach against us in the 96 championship game. He figured the best way to neutralize our defense was to run straight at Kevin Greene, and that's exactly what they did (mostly with Dorsey Levens). Yep. She's gonna be decked out in Cowboys gear. And I know her well enough to know she's not gonna be quiet