Okung's Face Alone Makes Me Love this Picture
by John Morgan on May 1, 2010 11:19 PM PDT
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PrintOf all the hires I'm inclined to give the benefit of the doubt to, Alex Gibbs is undisputed.
You also hear little about the Broncos' offensive line. Until midseason, it was distinguished mainly by its ever-changing personnel. Then it settled, in the words of Alex Gibbs, its coach, into ''a cohesive, bright group of fighters who know what it takes to win.''
It starts Dave Studdard (6-4, 260) and Ken Lanier (6-3, 269) at tackle, Keith Bishop (6-3, 265) and Stefan Humphries at guard and Mike Freeman (6-3, 256) at center. Those heights and weights would be small on some college teams, let alone in the National Football League.
Of that group, Gibbs rates Studdard the best pass protector and Bishop the best all-round player. The surprise player is Humphries, a Rhodes Scholar nominee at Michigan and a Chicago Bear until less than five months ago.
This line is coached by Alex Gibbs, with Barney Chavous as an assistant. Gibbs, 57, is in his fourth year in Denver and his 15th in the N.F.L. as a coach. He is a crusty fellow, a guy who is respected throughout the league and admired by most in the Broncos' organization. The guy is a guru at offensive line play. He knows when to push a player and when to embrace him. He knows that football is won in line play and makes sure that the Broncos' offensive linemen understand that, too.
The Falcons, under Coach Jim Mora, have built a run-first offense that is designed around lighter, more mobile linemen using a zone-blocking scheme brought to Atlanta in 2004 from the former Denver Broncos offensive line coach Alex Gibbs. The Falcons led the N.F.L. in rushing for the first time in franchise history in 2004 under Gibbs, who is now a Falcons consultant.
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If any of you remember Dexter's Lab...
He’s a chaperon’s worst nightmare
- Okung
- Davis
I didn’t get any response when I presented Davis as the edge rush element of our DE rotation…
So I watched this
and the Minicamp 1 video, and the person who seems to get praised the most is Ben Hamilton. Team loves the dude.
[DELETED ZOMG NO POLITICS]
That's why they brought him in to be another coach for the new system
He and Gibbs probably have the good cop/bad cop routine down already.
Good bye Big Walt.
by Generzal Zod on May 3, 2010 10:18 AM PDT up reply actions
Wierd
The numbers were supposed to say 76 and 58.
rofl
copter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZDUh9yboqI
Your culture is primitive; yet so funky!
by jubelthebear on May 2, 2010 11:48 AM PDT up reply actions
Lollerskates
Though they sink through the Sea, they shall rise again...Death shall have no dominion...
Not sure if he is still doing the weight thing or not
As G Kynan Forney bad-mouthed his policy to the media after Gibbs left the Falcons in 2007:
“Everybody’s glad that you don’t have to be sitting around and stressing about starving yourself all week to make some weigh-in on Friday morning because somebody likes the way it looks on paper. They would tell you that you have to weigh 295 [pounds] so you’d be sitting up Wednesday and Thursday night starving sometimes. Sometimes you’ve got 330-pound, 340-pound [defensive tackles] across from you and as the season goes on, that can weigh on you. You had different guys starving themselves. That’s crazy to me. We’re not naturally sleek and lean. We were made to be sleeker and leaner,”But then those offensive lines paved the way for the best rushing attack in the league, so who cares. If the weight policy is still active though Wrotto better start hitting the salad bar.
by Kevaru on May 2, 2010 1:26 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
A loss of even 10 lbs coupled with the gains made while running, working out, and working on your cardio is enough to improve lateral agility and pure speed.
It’s simple physics that a player with even just the same legs will be able to move faster in any direction when they weigh less.
It’s not surprising that a player didn’t enjoy it, but being “made to be sleeker and leaner” was the whole point. Gibbs could give a shit what a 300 lb player naturally would be. He would naturally be a 330 lb couch potato if he wasn’t running all the team and eating whatever he wanted. Gibbs job is to make a great offensive line unit, and he has a specific method he believes in, and that he’s had success with.
by cashless on May 2, 2010 5:59 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Any successful system is about player buy in
With all due respect to Forney 6’3 guards usually don’t last in the NFL unless they are in a ZBS scheme, nor do 7th round guards for that matter.
Good bye Big Walt.
by Generzal Zod on May 3, 2010 10:21 AM PDT up reply actions
and he hasn't exactly played since his time with Gibbs
Good bye Big Walt.
by Generzal Zod on May 3, 2010 10:22 AM PDT up reply actions
Hard not get a little stoked
Okung looks like he’s either gonna take a bite out of his face or kiss him on the lips.
everything will be different, hopefully in wins and losses also.
yea dude
Atlanta leading the league in rushing shouldn't be credited to Gibbs
Vick throwing down 1000 yards of rushing didn’t have anything to do with a zone blocking scheme. I get that Gibbs is respected. I hope they have a legitimate rushing attack this season. But really now, are we this blinded by hope? Please quit bringing up the Atlanta rushing attack stats. That’s just wrong.
That was so dumb there should be an unrec button.
by DJ C-Raig on May 2, 2010 11:32 AM PDT up reply actions 13 recs
rec'd
in order to designate this post as the unrec button.
by Mind of no mind on May 2, 2010 11:36 AM PDT up reply actions
Brofist
Also, rec’d
All The Way, AIRBORNE!!!
by Airborne Hawk Guy on May 2, 2010 5:40 PM PDT up reply actions
A lot of Vicks rushing yards were on designed runs as well as scrambles.
Even if they didn’t call it the Wild Cat, they ran a lot of Wild Cat plays in Atlanta with Vick.
by Mind of no mind on May 2, 2010 11:35 AM PDT up reply actions
Did Vick ever throw the ball?
He had designed runs because he couldn’t do it.
Good bye Big Walt.
by Generzal Zod on May 3, 2010 10:23 AM PDT up reply actions
Another thing to keep in mind,
If you were to subtract Vicks 1,039 yards from their rushing offense and replace them with the 110 yards Hasselbeck ran for in the same year (in 12 games), Atlanta would still have been 9th in the NFL in rushing that year.
by Mind of no mind on May 2, 2010 11:50 AM PDT up reply actions 6 recs
Nice rebuttal!
Though they sink through the Sea, they shall rise again...Death shall have no dominion...
rec'd for a great rebuttal i didn't see coming.
Bird Law in this country isn't governed by reason.
by Tyler Jorgensen on May 2, 2010 1:41 PM PDT up reply actions
That Vick contributed to Atlanta's counting numbers in no way undermines what Gibbs accomplished in the run game.
Take Vick out of it completely, and look only at the top rushing tandems by DYAR per rush:
KC: Holmes and Johnson: 1.51
NYJ: Martin and Jordan: 1.15
NE: Dillon and Faulk: 1.07
IND: James and Rhodes: .86
NYG: Barber and Cloud: .74
SEA: Alexander and Morris: .66
DEN: Droughns and Bell: .65
PIT: Bettis and Staley: .63
ATL: Duckett and Dunn: .61
MIN: Smith and Moore: .59
Then consider:
1. IND: 69.1%
2. NE: 48.7%
4. KC: 46.1%
6. MIN: 38.2%
7. PIT: 38.2%
8. NYJ: 34.8%
…
12. CIN: 16.2%
13. SEA: 12.4%
…
28.NYG: -13.5%
…
31. ATL: -35.1%
So in his first year in Atlanta, Gibbs helped make the ninth best rushing tandem and third best overall rushing offense without any kind of passing offense. I think that’s an achievement.
by John Morgan on May 2, 2010 1:46 PM PDT up reply actions 5 recs
Sounds like Okung is benifiting from Hamilton
"He’s been a huge help stepping into that huddle with us," Hasselbeck said. "You’ll call a play, and I’ll kind of hear him give a quiet reminder to guys near him. Or even at the line of scrimmage, if the defense shifts or we go in motion, he’s got the finer coaching points down.
"He’s got experience with these calls, with this offense, with this system."
Bates agrees, especially when it comes to helping Okung with his transition.
"It helps a lot," he said. "Ben passes on the calls to him, helps him out. It’s like having a coach on the field. And Ben’s also a great player. So we got two-for-one in that aspect."
Hey guys – Just FYI… You guys have the 20th oldest projected starting OL in the NFL…
http://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2010/5/2/1454582/age-and-the-ol-why-the-2010
We have two guys in the bottom 3/4s and every one else in the middle
Hamilton is not expected to be there for more than a year, he was brought in to help the transition, while Gibbs grooms his next guy.
Good bye Big Walt.
by Generzal Zod on May 3, 2010 10:27 AM PDT up reply actions
We'll see.
But there is no reason to be “sure” he’s only gonna last a season. If he can make it through this one without getting hurt or sucking, I’d expect him to return next season.
I respect Gibbs greatly.
And, yes, I’m not a football coach or anything, but surely the amount of 300lbs+ defensive tackles in the NFL nowadays are going to cause problems for an undersized o-line. Unless we plan to run screens all day long?
hmmmm...
if it’s effective: FTW.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZDUh9yboqI
Your culture is primitive; yet so funky!
I hope Gibbs stays around for awhile.
Also, I was sizing up Unger. Does he look bigger or am I just hoping that’s the case? I hope he adds enough strength this off-season so we can mash the run right.
Big Walt: thanks for the smile. Thanks for your Hall of Fame career.
You know I had that same feeling.
I remember him being more lean than he looks in those brief mini-camp videos.
Though they sink through the Sea, they shall rise again...Death shall have no dominion...
Is Lendale White a natural one cut and go runner?
I tend to think of him as the plodding goal line back with the Titans and not the guy who ran for 1K+ yards before Chris Johnson arrived. Does he have the skill set to thrive in a zone blocking scheme?
I would think so since that's what he did in college
I’m not sure what blocking scheme the Titans used (they did have Norm Chow for a while there), but I’m pretty certain it wasn’t a zone blocking scheme. Maybe he’ll be better now?
I think he looked like he was in pretty good shape.
He seems to have the problem a lot of players of that year had where they thought talent alone would help them dominate in the NFL (including Young, Leinart, Bush, etc.) There was a lot of talent there but it took most of them a year or two to develop.
Yes I know I am speaking in generalities here.
Good bye Big Walt.
by Generzal Zod on May 3, 2010 10:31 AM PDT up reply actions
It's more height/weight combinations.
If a player was 6’1" 290, they wouldn’t be quite as small as a 6’4" 290 player would be. Not as light in the britches. Those players were not just in the 260’s, they were taller and that light. Those are TE height/weigh combinations.
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