Video: Run Blocking OG

[xwalker]

Loooool. Right on schedule xwalker,and be dissapointed if not. Your season long Connor campaign stays firmly in tact. I’ll give you a like for just that.

I tend to post to counter false narratives. I have to bias towards Connor Williams per se. He was not my draft pet cat or anything of that nature.

For whatever reason, fans love narratives and most of those narratives are wrong.

The Dak can't throw narrative has finally been exposed as false.

It was somewhat funny that Jeff Haters got their wish when he was out for a couple of games and it can indeed get much worse. Thompson couldn't tackle anybody in the Vikings game.

 

[xwalker]

Dallas has some issues on the OL. Conner Williams would make a good 6th man but not starter and Tyron has health problems and
too many penalities this is why I've stated over an over OL should be the focus in the 1st Round and DT in the 2nd Round.

Wrong.

Anybody that studies the coaches film knows that Connor Williams is a solid starter. He has been playing better than some other starters on the OL recently.

It's just a clown car fan narrative that Connor Willaims should be "a good 6th man".

 

[Ranched]

Need to look at the overall picture pertaining these two. Ewok was better in '18 w/Xavier at left guard over Connor.

Perhaps a change at left guard is just what Ewok needs. To be frank, Connor hasn’t exactly lived up to his second round price tag.

 

[xwalker]

Reach Blocks. He's never going to be real good with those.

Actually, he has been good on the outside zone run type "reach" blocks where the OLineman starts out slightly behind the DL and stays engaged with him flowing down the line laterally.

CW has also been very good on hand-off blocks where instead of a pure reach block, the OL with leverage initially engages the DL then the OL that would otherwise be making a pure reach block, comes around and gets in position to take the DL to allow the other OL to kick out and block on the 2nd level.

CW's technique to take the hand-off block has been terrific.

La'el on the other hand has shown terrible technique attempting to take the hand-off block.

The Rams gashed the Cowboys in the playoff game because their OLinemen executed their blocking scheme with precision. They never really did anything "wow" from a physical perspective. They had master that hand-off block where the OL taking the hand-off moves laterally somewhat behind the initial blocker and get into a very specific position/angle to take on the block.

In blocking schemes like the ones used by the Rams, Viking or 49ers, Connor Williams would be getting Pro Bowl consideration because of his ability to execute with precision.

The block on the play starting at 0:35 in this video shows him making an outside zone "reach" type block. There are better examples of him making these but I already have the video on this one.

 

[xwalker]

You may be right about Frederick.

I see what you see about Connor Williams. I also see La'el Collins becoming a player and people around these parts are wow'd by his improvement. Sometimes it takes time. If CW was ZM, then he would have been a first round choice.

But, the knock on Williams is he has short arms. Which play right into the reaching issue when he gets off balance. But he is far and away not the biggest problem on this team's line.

One of the biggest concerns is the fact teams still believe they need to stop Zeke, and force Dak to beat them. I think Dak has figured it out. regardless of last night. Yet this line is not playing the run game like they have before. Zeke needs to get his mind right and get into top shape. But the line needs to consistently open holes.

Connor Williams has longer arms than Zack Martin.

The arm length issue was related to CW playing OT. His arm length for OG is better than average and the same arm length as La'el Collins.

OL with more mass can make off-balance blocks. With less mass, the OL needs leverage (i.e. Like a chair under a doorknob acts as a wedge between the floor and the doorknob. The chair does not need to be heavy to function in that manner. A large piece of furniture can keep the door from opening without being wedged between the door and the floor because the bigger furniture has the mass to prevent it from moving easily.

The blocking scheme has been the problem. Columbo played in a man blocking scheme but the Cowboys best years were when they played primarily zone blocking (2014 with Bill Callahan as the OL coach was their peak). They're still using zone blocking, but the specifics of it have been a problem in terms of specific blocking assignments for each player.

 

[BKBDAD]

Each video is a sequence of run plays.

One video is with Connor Williams at LG and one video is with Xavier Su'a-Filo at LG.

Note: These are from real games (regular season) NOT preseason games.

You decide which one is better.

I think you’re absolutely correct and I’ll go one step further. The entire line has done a really poor job of run blocking this year, combined with Zeke not hitting holes as quick as in past years and you end up with a pitiful running game. However, the overall problem is attitude! GARRETT has brought the same bland attitude for years and it’s never going to get better! Time now to cut him lose!!

 

[TwoDeep3]

I tend to post to counter false narratives. I have to bias towards Connor Williams per se. He was not my draft pet cat or anything of that nature.

For whatever reason, fans love narratives and most of those narratives are wrong.

The Dak can't throw narrative has finally been exposed as false.

It was somewhat funny that Jeff Haters got their wish when he was out for a couple of games and it can indeed get much worse. Thompson couldn't tackle anybody in the Vikings game.

I tend to lean toward countering emotional posts because of results of a game. This Zeke hate, fomented from his salary request is simplistic and not real deep. There are reasons they fail. And motivation, fear, and a head coach that breeds excellence hasn't been here since the early 90's.

I long for those days again.

 

[buybuydandavis]

Looks like Xav Filo is not as good as advertised in the run game , or (gulp) Williams improved?

Both.

It would be weird if Williams wasn't still improving. Last year was his first at G. And he's still only 22. None of our studs made a Pro Bowl til 23 or All Pro til 24.

 

[buybuydandavis]

I could go back to the Rams game where Aaron Donald lined up primarily against Connor Williams and had zero QB Hits (or sacks) which is rare for AD.

Anyone think XSF holds Donald to that minimal production?

The people who like to whine about Williams ignore all the upsides and focus on the lack of power. Donald eats big, powerful, lumbering oafs for breakfast. Life is full of trade offs, and Williams comes with a lot of positive ones.

And people forget how young he is. Tyron wasn't setting the world on fire at 21 or 22 either. Even making All Pro his first year (at 24), dealing with power was Martin's one weakness.

 

[Tussinman]

Loooool. Right on schedule xwalker,and be dissapointed if not. Your season long Connor campaign stays firmly in tact. I’ll give you a like for just that.

Season long campigning of a player that's literally rated by PFF as "fringe back-up" even though he was a near top 50 pick (wow i'm so impressed).

Connor isn't as bad as some make him out to be but reailty is he's like what, the 50th best guard in the NFL ? (considering it's a position of need, where he was drafted, and who he plays next too that's pretty bad). This also being his 3rd straight year of injuries is very concerning as well for someone as young as him (being a below average starter with a premium pick and injury history isn't gonna get you a ton of fans)