And it makes more sense for McGovern to compete at C.
As much as many hate Williams, he had a good year, and that was coming off a knee injury where he was still wearing a brace in August. PFF had him ranked 16th out of 80 guards on an oline with little help around him. Tough row to hoe.
This year, entirely healthy, after a year that he stayed healthy, with Tyron to his left, and Biadasz/McGovern to his right with a real offseason to prepare for C. Easier row to hoe, for a player who is still only 24. That ranking should only go up.
Meanwhile, McGovern was 47/80 guards, while Biadasz was 32/36 centers. That's where the competition should be. If McGovern can't take it, he's now ready to back up *all* interior oline positions, and we don't have to carry a backup just for C.
Meanwhile, I hope they train Williams at LT at least. He's probably significantly better than Knight or Steele.
Between McGovern, Biadasz, and Williams, I think we've got 3 legitimate starters for 2 starting positions who are just better than our backups. We should plan for the contingency of McGovern or Williams getting used as a backup to get our best players on the field in case of injury at other positions.
Connor Williams has been much better than most fans believe.
He is terrific at executing his assignments within the scheme.
- His angles/accuracy at 2nd level run blocking is terrific.
- He is terrific at picking up and passing off blitzing/stunting pass rushers.
- He has LT type foot quickness.
Due to his build he will have about 1 snap per game where a powerful DL catches him off balance and it looks really ugly. Most fans focus on those plays.
- He is over 6-5 and doesn't have an overly wide base or a lot of weight in his lower body. He has to stay balanced.
- He is actually very strong from a weight room perspective and does get good push on short yardage when he is just blocking straight ahead.
IMO, it is a very low probability that CW gets benched unless it is injury related.
Connor McGovern
McGovern is an interesting player.
- When they first drafted him I had in mind that he was more a power OG with limited athleticism.
- When reviewing game footage from college, his initial appearance is somewhat like that due to having thick legs and a lot of weight in his lower body, however...
- Once the ball is snapped he showed very good athleticism as well as good power.
McGovern's measured agility was really good and he is taller than he appears in game footage (6'5-3/8").
- I think the thick legs and the knee braces that all Penn State OL wear made him look like a 6-2/6-3 type player.
- He was 308 at the combine but he looked heavier in college game footage.
- He also has surprisingly long arms for an OG (34-1/8").
- When he played OC in college, his snapping technique was opposite of the standard technique.
- Most OCs hold the ball pre-snap with the front of the ball pointed up. Same as a long snapper would hold it.
- McGovern held the ball with the front pointed down with his hand more on top like palming a basketball.
- There is no way to spiral the shotgun snaps from this technique.
- I'm curious if they've changed that now that he has been in the NFL for a couple of years.
Tyler Biadasz
- He is more of the power blocker with limited athleticism.
- He uses the fact that he knows when the ball will be snapped to his advantage to make up for lack of elite quickness.
- He was a good technician in college.