Week 1: Connor Williams highest graded

[JoeKing]

Receipts or shut your trap.

That's what I thought, you can prove anything with links to credentials.

 

[Pass2Run]

What does that say about our o-line coach??

Yeah, Philbin sucks.

 

[MaineBoy]

To be honest I thought the other Ty Smith played admirably in Tron's place for his first ever start.

I thought so too except for the play where he didn’t block the guy who smashed Dak’s thumb.

 

[Proof]

To be honest I thought the other Ty Smith played admirably in Tron's place for his first ever start.

he looked fantastic

 

[Proof]

I said repeatedly how Connor Williams was not the problem and should have been kept and moved to Center. Lucky for the Dolphins they have a much smarter group of coaches, especially a better Oline Coach. Joe Philbin is a big problem that has been hurting us. Mike McCarthy stubbornly sticking by his old buddy is also not helping.

mike mcdaniel is a guru. i have little doubt some of the schemes he comes up with help greatly. also it's not as if the patriots have a notable defense

 

[Cowboy06]

Philbin is awful and won't be here next year.

I don't like most retread coaches. Rarely do they really have the drive to improve themselves before some lip service. I would love to see a new staff that is young and innovative, aggressive and willing to just coach and push the front office to do basic common sense things like having a decent OL and backups. Having a good DL. Only idiots keep drafting DEs and forget about DTs that can stop the run, etc. Just tired of the same ole, same ole.

 

[Vanilla2]

Talkin cowboys is still my least favorite of all the cowboy podcasts. Hanging with the boys as probably replaced the break as my favorite, but it’s still probably a toss up right meow

 

[Chuck 54]

Hard to lament this one. I vaguely remember a few of us defending his play for awhile, but after last year, I don’t remember a single fan thinking he should be kept.

 

[SuspectCorner]

week one - true Conner Williams is bound to emerge. AND it’s the Dolphins…

 

[conner01]

Give it time…

Can’t really judge a guy after one game

 

[Sully]

Give it time…

Give it time???? Really???? Isn't 26 years enough..guess not
Now back to Dallas is going to Superbowl chant

 

[J_Allen]

Not one coach on this team thought about putting him at center, where he is much needed?

 

[buybuydandavis]

Yeah, Philbin sucks.

I'll second that.

 

[America's Cowboy]

Maybe he's just a more natural center and we were playing him in the wrong position.

I called it the past 2 years, and I got ridiculed for it. Oh well.

 

[America's Cowboy]

Center is probably the best position for him because he's the most protected there from his lack of great strength. He plays with good technique and he has good movement skills for pulling, etc. His one issue is power and center takes the least amount of power.

Frankly, the reason I wanted to give him a shot at the backup LT job was similar to that. Sure, there are some power right ends, but most of those guys are built for speed. Williams was never built for taking on 300-plus-pound defensive tackles, at least not by himself. At center, teams will be able to isolate him at times, but most of the time he's going to have a little help.

"At Center you don't need power." You couldn't be more wrong, especially since Centers have to deal with big/strong NTs and big/strong 1-techs who like to shoot the gap a lot. If your Center is not strong enough to at least remain neutral with giving ground 1-on-1 at the line of scrimmage (it takes strength), your play is going to start off very rough with a big NT/DT bringing heat right up the middle...which is closest to a QB and RB.

 

[Motorola]

Incredible a guy goes from being the most penalized player in the league, changes teams and his offense is called for ONLY ONE offensive penalty all game. He had ZERO penalties all game despite changing positions.

To back up Carson's comment...per Pro Football Reference___
2021 season - Conner Williams was flagged 14 times - most in the league; 3 were declined or offset by the opponent being penalized.
11 of Williams' infractions were for holding.
Gonna following this ex-Cowboys season with the Bengals to see if this 180° continues all season long.

 

[Pass2Run]

Give it time???? Really???? Isn't 26 years enough..guess not
Now back to Dallas is going to Superbowl chant

For crying out loud.

Can you post anything at all without repeating the same nonsense over and over?

I mean, seriously.. Not only are you being a redundant parrot, you're also enlarging your text font so it comes off like screaming.

SMH

To back up Carson's comment...per Pro Football Reference___
2021 season - Conner Williams was flagged 14 times - most in the league; 3 were declined or offset by the opponent being penalized.
11 of Williams' infractions were for holding.
Gonna following this ex-Cowboys season with the Bengals to see if this 180° continues all season long.

I wouldn't blame the holds on Conner Williams as much as I would Philbin. He's a big part of our problem.

Honestly, if we have another bad game, I suspect his job will be in jeopardy.

Jerry could easily scapegoat him and it would appease a substantial percentage of the fanbase.

 

[gimmesix]

"At Center you don't need power." You couldn't be more wrong, especially since Centers have to deal with big/strong NTs and big/strong 1-techs who like to shoot the gap a lot. If your Center is not strong enough to at least remain neutral with giving ground 1-on-1 at the line of scrimmage (it takes strength), your play is going to start off very rough with a big NT/DT bringing heat right up the middle...which is closest to a QB and RB.

Center is the most protected and helped position on the line. They most often end up being involved in double teams both in run blocking and pass blocking. There are reasons players like Mark Stepnoski and the center who was drafted in the first round (Linderbaum) can make it in the NFL at center, but not at other positions.

This is from Ross Tucker, a former lineman, for SI. It was written in 2008, but hasn't exactly become dated.

Centers are paid more for their intelligence and experience than they are for the difficulty associated with their physical assignment. Though some athletic centers can create additional value with their ability to pull or effectively block at the second level, the greatest reason centers get paid well is the fear among coaches that their pivot man not be able to readjust the blocking scheme depending on a certain blitz look or audible. Make no mistake about it: A center that cannot make the right decisions at critical junctures could have a huge impact on the outcome of a game.

That being said, it was unanimous among the four offensive lineman that I polled that center was the easiest position, at least physically, along the line. The center is rarely in a one-on-one pass blocking situation, which as we have noted, is the most likely situation in which an offensive linemen could have a large impact on the outcome of a game.

Centers are often the ones providing the help in pass protection so it is surprising to me that teams like the Buccaneers value the position highly enough to reward a player like Jeff Faine with a contract that guarantees him $15 million. Most centers go through an entire season without giving up any sacks and are rarely credited with even being responsible for a pressure.

 

[America's Cowboy]

Center is the most protected and helped position on the line. They most often end up being involved in double teams both in run blocking and pass blocking. There are reasons players like Mark Stepnoski and the center who was drafted in the first round (Linderbaum) can make it in the NFL at center, but not at other positions.

This is from Ross Tucker, a former lineman, for SI. It was written in 2008, but hasn't exactly become dated.

Centers are paid more for their intelligence and experience than they are for the difficulty associated with their physical assignment. Though some athletic centers can create additional value with their ability to pull or effectively block at the second level, the greatest reason centers get paid well is the fear among coaches that their pivot man not be able to readjust the blocking scheme depending on a certain blitz look or audible. Make no mistake about it: A center that cannot make the right decisions at critical junctures could have a huge impact on the outcome of a game.

That being said, it was unanimous among the four offensive lineman that I polled that center was the easiest position, at least physically, along the line. The center is rarely in a one-on-one pass blocking situation, which as we have noted, is the most likely situation in which an offensive linemen could have a large impact on the outcome of a game.

Centers are often the ones providing the help in pass protection so it is surprising to me that teams like the Buccaneers value the position highly enough to reward a player like Jeff Faine with a contract that guarantees him $15 million. Most centers go through an entire season without giving up any sacks and are rarely credited with even being responsible for a pressure.

With all due respect, what a bunch of hogwash!

Here is what Ravens GM, Ozzie Newsome, had to say about Centers:

In recent years,[when?] the importance of centers for a football team has increased, due to the re-emergence of 3–4 defenses. According to Baltimore Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome, "you need to have somebody who can neutralize that nose tackle. If you don't, everything can get screwed up. Your running game won't be effective and you'll also have somebody in your quarterback's face on every play."

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_(gridiron_football)

This also was said about Centers in the media:

Attributes of a Good Center

Centers: The center is the leader of the offensive line. You will see that centers are often amongst the smartest members of a football team (just ask Matt Birk). The center is responsible for making the line calls, and blocking adjustments pre-snap. Not only are they asked to adjust the scheme accordingly, but they also must take on the teams nose tackle in a 3-4 look, double team, or tandem block along side the guards, or get to the second level to cut off a linebacker.

In pass protection, the center, if left uncovered, is asked to keep his head on a swivel, and help with any defender who may come free, or any player left unaccounted for on a blitz or stunt. In the running game, they need to be strong enough to move a 340 pound defensive tackle, and quick enough to scoop a gap defender.

https://www.hogshaven.com/2013/6/5/4398298/attributes-of-a-good-center

FYI, I played Center in high school (All State). You most definitely have to be amongst the strongest (legs, core and upper body strength) to handle big nose tackles and make sure you don't get driven back both in either run or pass blocking for various reasons explained up above. If not, you will definitely disrupt any rush or pass attempts since you are the closest lineman to both the QB and RB.

 

[Havic]

I'll be honest, the fact that we couldnt see him playing center on this team and then he does well with the Dolphins. This reflects poorly on the coaching staff, specifically philbin