Crucial component to Offensive Woes

[twylyght]

For whatever reason, the vast majority of articles will only count J Stew and Smitty being absent as a contributing factor to our offensive struggles if at all. I cannot fathom the reason they would not include Jeff Otah in the discussion if they were actually paying attention.

In the games that I saw, running to the right side would normally fail, and running to the left would only work if the box was not stacked against the run specifically on that side. I have seen some uncharacteristic lack of blitz pickups in the middle of the line for pass protection as well as an unusual amount of false start and holding penalties coming from Gross. Outside of that, the left side of the line seems solid. I am left to wonder if we would even be having this discussion if Otah had been healthy and playing during these games.

I expect we would still be having the receiving corps discussion as we should have been KILLING the opposition with the way they stacked the box (specifically on the left side much of the time). However, I firmly believe that any talk about the run game would be a non-issue as Otah is simply THAT GOOD in plowing the guy(s) across from him.

That said, I think that Otah's health is more of a factor in our season's success than I had originally believed. The backups did such an incredible job against quality opposition last year that I assumed that it would carry over. Either way, in my mind, this team is capable of winning as many as 13 games this season with the schedule they have. NO, Atl, Baltimore, and SF are all teams that we can split with during the regular season. The rest of the teams are ones that we should beat in my mind due to lack of talent and/or matchups. Of course, that is a perfect storm scenario with assuming a lack of injuries for our squad... which leads us back to Otah.

Like Smitty, Otah is now that important to this team. Gamble might be that important to defense and I would be inclined to think that Beason is that important as well if his backups weren't so capable. If either goes down on the offensive side, our chances of winning is exponentially placed on the shoulders of our defense. If either goes down on the defensive side, we have enough pieces in place to still be workable. I still think that our schedule is accomodating enough to allow as little as an 8-8 scenario with this type of luck, but getting to the playoffs will be a near impossibility.

Also, just in case anyone doubts that I am one of the "new" people thinking that this team is going to be great after our playoff showings:

http://www.carolinahuddle.com/forum/carolina-panthers/32066-so-far-so-good.html

http://www.carolinahuddle.com/forum/carolina-panthers/39033-how-much-does-last-years-success-translate-to-this-year.html

http://www.carolinahuddle.com/forum/carolina-panthers/40301-motor.html

[MHS831]

You are right, but we have a problem at RG as well, which magnifies the RT problem. Schwartz has done a fairly solid job there. I think Schwartz is the RG when Otah returns.

[jarhead]

For whatever reason, the vast majority of articles will only count J Stew and Smitty being absent as a contributing factor to our offensive struggles if at all. I cannot fathom the reason they would not include Jeff Otah in the discussion if they were actually paying attention.

In the games that I saw, running to the right side would normally fail, and running to the left would only work if the box was not stacked against the run specifically on that side. I have seen some uncharacteristic lack of blitz pickups in the middle of the line for pass protection as well as an unusual amount of false start and holding penalties coming from Gross. Outside of that, the left side of the line seems solid. I am left to wonder if we would even be having this discussion if Otah had been healthy and playing during these games.

I expect we would still be having the receiving corps discussion as we should have been KILLING the opposition with the way they stacked the box (specifically on the left side much of the time). However, I firmly believe that any talk about the run game would be a non-issue as Otah is simply THAT GOOD in plowing the guy(s) across from him.

That said, I think that Otah's health is more of a factor in our season's success than I had originally believed. The backups did such an incredible job against quality opposition last year that I assumed that it would carry over. Either way, in my mind, this team is capable of winning as many as 13 games this season with the schedule they have. NO, Atl, Baltimore, and SF are all teams that we can split with during the regular season. The rest of the teams are ones that we should beat in my mind due to lack of talent and/or matchups. Of course, that is a perfect storm scenario with assuming a lack of injuries for our squad... which leads us back to Otah.

Like Smitty, Otah is now that important to this team. Gamble might be that important to defense and I would be inclined to think that Beason is that important as well if his backups weren't so capable. If either goes down on the offensive side, our chances of winning is exponentially placed on the shoulders of our defense. If either goes down on the defensive side, we have enough pieces in place to still be workable. I still think that our schedule is accomodating enough to allow as little as an 8-8 scenario with this type of luck, but getting to the playoffs will be a near impossibility.

Also, just in case anyone doubts that I am one of the "new" people thinking that this team is going to be great after our playoff showings:

http://www.carolinahuddle.com/forum/carolina-panthers/32066-so-far-so-good.html

http://www.carolinahuddle.com/forum/carolina-panthers/39033-how-much-does-last-years-success-translate-to-this-year.html

http://www.carolinahuddle.com/forum/carolina-panthers/40301-motor.html

You are correct Otah is the stud we like to run the ball behind

[Woodie]

You are right, but we have a problem at RG as well, which magnifies the RT problem. Schwartz has done a fairly solid job there. I think Schwartz is the RG when Otah returns.

I've seen a lot of people say this, but I'd like to know what they are basing it on. Schwartz has never played guard and only worked there a little in OTA's when all three (Bernadeau, Robinson, and Schwartz) took turns with the first unit. The only thing the team has said is that Schwartz would be in the competition, not any kind of statement indicating they saw him as the future starter.

The thing is that Schwartz has little to no experience playing Guard, is actually a bit tall by guard standards, and hasn't really even had much practice time there since he has been working primarily at RT. Basically it is only a projection that he could play Guard, by no means a certainty. In fact, at Guard, he would be a project. If there was any real chance of him starting there this season, he would have needed the entire offseason and TC to learn the position. I know Bernadeau has not been perfect, but he has not been horrible. Most of his problems have come at backup center. I think he (and our running game) will likely do much better with the more solid Otah at his side. And as for the future, I think it's clear that Robinson is the team's desired long term option there.

[blackcatgrowl]

Yep. Our O-line is not blocking consistently. Tennesse (!) held D.Will to 1.4 yards per carry. And this is concerning considering they had a mediocre defense last year. And while I think Otah's absence is being felt on rush blocking and pass protection, he can't be THAT much of a difference.