Bucky Brooks on O-lines, coaching and things.

[top dawg]

Like so many run-of-the-mill NFL players, Bucky Brooks became a football analyst and sports journalist, but with jobs as a professional scout in between. I think that it's his experience as a scout that gives his articles such interesting and insightful perspectives (at least in my mind). 

In his latest article, he discusses the importance of the offensive line, and tackles and left tackles in particular. He reasserts what we all believe: if you're lucky enough to have your franchise QB, protecting him should be your priority. Brooks also goes into the different ways that you can build that O-line and provides legitimate examples. Moreover, he discusses the huge difference that good coaching can make in the success and/or failure of different signal callers, using some of the first weekend's games as prime examples as in the case of Andy Reid with Alex Smith, and of course Sean McVay with Jared Goff.

Good team building, coaching and teaching makes a difference, and with everything that Brooks pointed out, I couldn't help but think of all of these things in relation to our Carolina Panthers. Some may not think so, but I believe that the Panthers have a staff of teachers, like Rivera envisioned when he first came here, so I feel pretty great about that aspect in relation to Brooks' thoughts. I am a little more critical as pertaining to the team building aspect because Dave Gettleman and Marty Hurney were never perfect in my eyes, but relatively recent personnel moves are giving me varying degrees of optimism (however guarded) for the immediate future at the very least. We will see.

Brooks didn't mention the Panthers in reference to the above, but he did mention the Panthers. For all the talk of offensive evolution during the offseason, it was the defense that caught Brooks' eye during the start of our regular season.

The entire article is a must read for football types interested in team building and coaching philosophy and the like, and how it can have a profound impact upon success, but I'll leave what Brooks said about the defense here:

 

» Carolina's new approach on defense: The Carolina Panthers have ranked as a top-10 defense in four of the past five seasons, but new defensive coordinator Steve Wilks is attempting to uphold the tradition utilizing a different approach. Instead of sitting back in traditional zone coverage with a few select pressures, the Panthers are attacking opponents with blitzes from all over the place. Against the 49ers, Carolina blitzed on 21 snaps (most in the NFL) leading to the third-highest pressure rate in the league on quarterbacks inside the pocket. While the increased blitz calls shouldn't rank as a surprise given the team's lack of an elite edge rusher (Julius Peppers is one of the best pass rushers in the NFL history, but he is past his prime at 37), the decision by Wilks to use more zone-blitz pressures is a bit of a departure from the team's conservative zone approach in previous seasons.

Interestingly, the Panthers utilized their 3-3-5 personnel package on 19 snaps, yielding just 2.5 yards per play. The "Okie" package puts three defensive linemen, three linebackers and five defensive backs on the field to harass the quarterback with myriad pre-snap disguises and blitzes that confuse pass protectors at the line of scrimmage. With this combination of pressure and disguise also leading to more one-on-one matchups, the Panthers' blitz-happy approach could produce big results going forward.

 

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000845643/article/does-nfl-have-offensive-line-problem-plus-jared-goffs-growth

[TheSpecialJuan]

nice find

[saX man]

Yeah we fielded Munnerlynn 58% of the defensive snaps last week and have an oldie at SS full time.  Shows why we're seeking guys like Seymour, Gunter, & Cox.  They could see A LOT of playing time if someone goes down.