DavidSeven":1r4yafyx said:
A lot of excitement here over what Michael has been able to show against 2nd/3rd string defenses in preseason. I agree that he's very promising, but let's not forget he's been largely stonewalled against opposing 1s. I don't like what I've seen from him as a pass blocker. I'm going to trust Pete and Tom's judgment on when and if he should play. I don't think an ultra-tight game against Carolina's front 7 was the time to experiment in the run game.
It's easy to say Michael is deficient in pass blocking because it's hard to disprove. Here are Turbin and Michael's pass blocking ratings for each preseason game according to PFF:
Turbin
out, -0.9, -0.2, 0.3
Michael
-0.2, out, -1.5, 0.7
Michael has the worst score, but also the best. It's not obvious to me from this small sample how much better Turbin is as a pass blocker. Michael is very powerful and is a willing blocker. His Wonderlic is pretty high for an RB, so I'm pretty sure he will improve quickly in scheme and role acquisition.
His 43 yard TD at Green Bay was against 1s. When he's playing against 1s he'll have 1s blocking for him. His record breaking combine stats aren't lying. It shows up on the field.
Regardless of whether Michael should be the #2, he should get touches. He's shown the ability to catch the ball out of the backfield. Michael has Tavon Austin-like athleticism, only in a 220 lbs package. If he's a pass block risk, don't make him pass block. Yep, the defense might suspect Michael's getting the ball if he comes in the game. That's fine, we're not talking about organizing the offense around him. (We will be one day, though).
Not getting the ball into his hands in space is a big miss. I'm relieved at least that Sherman Smith's threat to leave him inactive was empty.
This last game would have been a scary one to have Michael in, though. We don't know how much of a fumble risk he is and we couldn't have afforded a sucker punch like that. I hope they bring him in as soon as we've got a game with a little breathing room.
