Why Michael Bennett is a star & OL issues slightly overblown

[theENGLISHseahawk]

LINK: http://seahawksdraftblog.com/why-michae ... -overblown

For all the attention given to the Percy Harvin trade, Michael Bennett might be Seattle’s best acquisition this year.

And keeping him for future seasons will be a crucial priority for continued success.

Greg Bedard at MMQB.si.com has tallied together the most effective pass rushers in the NFL through four weeks.

Bennett is at #1, ahead of Aldon Smith and current sack-leaders Justin Houston and Robert Mathis. He’s at #1 despite missing most of the Houston game through injury.

According to Bedard’s stats, Bennett has drawn 12 quarterback hurries, hit the passer six times and registered 2.5 sacks. This production has come from just 102 snaps. In comparison, Houston’s sacks for Kansas City have come from 26 more plays. His partner Tamba Hali has taken 150 snaps so far.

Simply put, Bennett is making the most of his time on the field.

We don’t really need a graph and a bunch of statistics to determine Bennett is playing well. He jumps off the screen. He’s consistently dominating. Despite the re-introduction of Cliff Avril and Chris Clemons, he’s still taking snaps at the LEO and mixing in some interior rushes on third down. Bennett’s looked effective rushing all angles and he’s opened up the defense to even more creative looks.

The Seahawks have been crying out for a guy who can just create havoc from multiple positions on the d-line. Heck, they’ve been crying out for someone not named Chris Clemons to come to the party. They struck gold getting Bennett to Seattle.

Now they have to keep him.

 

[bigtrain21]

It's so nice to have a guy be able to create some pressure from the interior of the line. I love that you can line him up anywhere on the defensive line. That versatility is so valuable.

 

[-The Glove-]

Good post...I was shocked to see Bennett jumping out of the screen for me. Unlike others, I wasn't on here and taking in Seahawks news 24/7 so I barely remember him from his first go-round here. He's quickly become one of my favorites with his versatility and tenacity. My favorite play of his has to be the inside spin to the right across 2, maybe 3 OL. I've never seen anything like it.

 

[RolandDeschain]

Hmmm. Interesting way to look at our O-line. Are you saying you don't think Peyton Manning would be dead or in a hospital right now if he played behind our line? Already this year, we have seen a lot of instant pocket collapses, or someone shooting straight toward Wilson right after the snap. The O-line is an easy target to lay blame on, for sure, but our pass protection has looked pretty bad, even when we had Giacomini and Okung.

 

[LawlessHawk]

Still amazes me that what I considered our biggest weakness last season, the DL and specifically the interior, has what seems like suddenly become really strong and deep...

 

[theENGLISHseahawk]

Hmmm. Interesting way to look at our O-line. Are you saying you don't think Peyton Manning would be dead or in a hospital right now if he played behind our line? Already this year, we have seen a lot of instant pocket collapses, or someone shooting straight toward Wilson right after the snap. The O-line is an easy target to lay blame on, for sure, but our pass protection has looked pretty bad, even when we had Giacomini and Okung.

If we had Manning in year two with the Seahawks, throwing to Decker, Thomas, Welker and the tight end they've got...

I'd guarantee we wouldn't be the 31st ranked offensive line in the league.

Manning holds the ball for a nano second and it's why they're feeling the loss of Clady much less than we're feeling the loss of Okung. Denver's O-line isn't elite across the board. The quarterback and receivers, however, are currently the best combo in the league.

Our team is set up differently. And to be fair, it's pick your poison time. Manning's emphatic throwing darts. But he's also not running for a key first down on 4th and 5 to extend a scoring drive and in a game when the pass rush works -- what's plan B?

 

[Popeyejones]

Bennett has looked great so far. Really excellent to get him on a 1 year 4.5 million contract this year. If he keeps playing this well, there's no chance he won't be going somewhere else next year, though.

The Hawks have to start clearing room for Wilson, Sherman, Thomas, etc. next year (meaning they can do some more one year rentals for next year, but are going to have their hands tied on giving out long term bucks), and IIRC Avril and Clemons are both already signed for 9Mil + each next year.

 

[Largent80]

Manning holds the ball for a nano second and it's why they're feeling the loss of Clady much less than we're feeling the loss of Okung.

This is the best explanation so far of O-line talk. Eventually, Denver will have to face a good defense and when they do (regardless of Mannings study and what he has seen) that defense is going to fluster him. I have seen him throw a lot of game ending picks in critical games.

 

[Popeyejones]

^^^ Maybe, but Manning also gets the ball out really quickly, and (seriously not taking away anything from Dangeruss) has also basically established himself as the best QB in the history of the NFL. Those thing can't be discounted either.

 

[Largent80]

If he is getting it out quick, it is a slot route. Eventually those are going for picks.

 

[Hawks46]

Is there a reason we can't go to a quicker passing game ?

It seems strange, but we still do a lot of 7 step drops, PA passing and throwing the homerun ball, and I see very few screens thrown. I can't help but think that a few timely screens at Houston, when their DL smelled the blood in the water, would've gashed the Texans and at least forced them to back off a bit.

If you get guys blitzing up the middle, like Houston was, and you get numbers outside....look out. Especially with guys like Lynch, Tate and Turbin out there.

 

[Trenchbroom]

Great article as always Rob! Thanks!

 

[hawker84]

Is there a reason we can't go to a quicker passing game ?

It seems strange, but we still do a lot of 7 step drops, PA passing and throwing the homerun ball, and I see very few screens thrown. I can't help but think that a few timely screens at Houston, when their DL smelled the blood in the water, would've gashed the Texans and at least forced them to back off a bit.

If you get guys blitzing up the middle, like Houston was, and you get numbers outside....look out. Especially with guys like Lynch, Tate and Turbin out there.

I was think about this Sunday. We don't run a lot of quick slant routes or screens. maybe i'm wrong here and am just not noticing them as much...

 

[jlwaters1]

Hmmm. Interesting way to look at our O-line. Are you saying you don't think Peyton Manning would be dead or in a hospital right now if he played behind our line? Already this year, we have seen a lot of instant pocket collapses, or someone shooting straight toward Wilson right after the snap. The O-line is an easy target to lay blame on, for sure, but our pass protection has looked pretty bad, even when we had Giacomini and Okung.

I don't think he would be. Peyton get's the ball out regularly in 2 seconds. It's not hard to block for 2 seconds. He's very quick with the ball. Whereas Russell hasn't developed the quick game like Peyton has. He holds the ball significantly longer.

To me that's his biggest problem we have a very limited short passing game. Again it COULD be do to his height, or maybe not. Not sure.

 

[Scottemojo]

I fail to understand how we could possibly over blow the O-line issues. The Texans game was truly awful, the QB had less than 2.5 seconds to execute a fake, find a receiver, and get rid of the ball for most of the game. He was pounded on. Every hit he takes could be The Golden BB. How do you over blow the seriousness of that? 120 passing yards. 5 sacks. A dozen more sacks if our QB isn't on roller skates. There isn't enough hyperbole to overblow the problem.

The sad fact is that while McQ stinks at LT, it is the one guy who played his true position and is a starter, Sweezy, that was the absolute worst vs the Texans. Of course, the issues were magnified because the Texans have 3 awesome frontline players. But think about that, the worst player that game was the only guy in his natural spot.

How did Pete sum up the O-line? "We survived". He meant he is happy as hell his QB is intact. I'll bet you he is pretty freaked out about his O-line.

Every game we win right now is because the rest of the team is making up for the O-line's pass blocking.

 

[plyka]

Hmmm. Interesting way to look at our O-line. Are you saying you don't think Peyton Manning would be dead or in a hospital right now if he played behind our line? Already this year, we have seen a lot of instant pocket collapses, or someone shooting straight toward Wilson right after the snap. The O-line is an easy target to lay blame on, for sure, but our pass protection has looked pretty bad, even when we had Giacomini and Okung.

If we had Manning in year two with the Seahawks, throwing to Decker, Thomas, Welker and the tight end they've got...

I'd guarantee we wouldn't be the 31st ranked offensive line in the league.

Manning holds the ball for a nano second and it's why they're feeling the loss of Clady much less than we're feeling the loss of Okung. Denver's O-line isn't elite across the board. The quarterback and receivers, however, are currently the best combo in the league.

Our team is set up differently. And to be fair, it's pick your poison time. Manning's emphatic throwing darts. But he's also not running for a key first down on 4th and 5 to extend a scoring drive and in a game when the pass rush works -- what's plan B?

You're not looking at this logically in my opinion. Above you stated that in a year or two with Manning/Thomas/Welker/TE we wouldn't be 31st. Ok, not sure what this has to do with anything. Even if we keep the EXACT SAME TEAM with every Olinemen, I guarantee you that in a year or two we wouldn't be 31st in the league. We are not talking about 3 years from now, we are talking about THIS YEAR. We are also talking about this team. Sure if you had Peyton and all his weapons even this year we wouldn't be 31st, perhaps we would be 25th or 27th --still it would be a bad oline, and Peyton wouldn't make it past Houston. He would require 10 more neck surguries by now.

You also stated that you always expect us to be close to the bottom every year due to our system. This is nothing more than an excuse in my book. A mobile QB does not mean you have to have bad stats with your oline. Of course you're going to find a few instances to prove your point, but I'd like to see some general stats that are not hand picked. Also, I'd like to see the degree to which it makes a difference --the Hawks have an oline ranked 31st, would it move up to 1st if only we had Peyton, or would it move up to 25th, in which case it would make almost zero difference.

Basically I feel you are glossing over this team's MAJOR weakness. This is an area where the Hawks MUST make advances or kiss their superbowl dreams goodbye. How they go about this? I think experience for the young guys in Bailey/Bowie not to mention the injured players coming back will make some difference, but how much is the question. If this team can get, not a dominant oline, but just above average levels, then this team has a real shot at a SB this year. Without that, I just don't see it happening.

One last note, Wilson wasn't getting sacked/hurried 10 seconds after the snap, it has been almost instantaneous on many occasions. This isn't due to him running around, in fact, he looks like he would rather sit in the pocket and throw. He is running around because his life depends on it.

 

[plyka]

Manning holds the ball for a nano second and it's why they're feeling the loss of Clady much less than we're feeling the loss of Okung.

This is the best explanation so far of O-line talk. Eventually, Denver will have to face a good defense and when they do (regardless of Mannings study and what he has seen) that defense is going to fluster him. I have seen him throw a lot of game ending picks in critical games.

I've seen a lot of downplaying of the opposition of the Broncos. Let's remember they did start off with Baltimore, a very good team. Sure they are 2-2, but 1 of those losses came against the Broncos, and they also mauled the very team we had so much trouble with last week, the Texans --beating them 30 to 9. The Ravens do have a legit defense, and they showed it against the Broncos in the first half. But in the 2nd half, Peyton ran right over them with a bulldozer that's their offense.

Peyton won't be flustered. He is a superbowl winner. Let's remember what his team is without him --they year he was injured, his Colts team won 1 game i believe. The years prior they were yearly entrants into the playoffs, including a superbowl win. No man can do it alone. I think a lot of the losses from his teams was due to his teams and not him. This year they have a legit team, and the Seahawks must be strong in every department to beat them.

 

[RolandDeschain]

As much as I love Peyton Manning, some of you guys are giving him more credit than is deserved as far as the O-line goes. I am trying to find it right now, but one of the major stats websites made a list earlier this week of how much time before each O-line's pocket begins collapsing, and Peyton's was #1 in the league. His line is performing incredibly well for him.

 

[Largent80]

Week to week, teams change. One week they are world beaters, the next, world stinkers.

With that being a fact, does it matter that Balt. beat the Texans....no, does it matter about any of what you said regarding Denver?

No.... The fact is, Denver has played against bad defenses every week. Manning threw the pick that lost them the game in the playoffs last year, and has done that same thing in previous years. This sets up perfectly for him to do it again....Play a bunch of shitty defenses, mow them down....get to the playoffs and have to face a real team...Game Over.

 

[theENGLISHseahawk]

Above you stated that in a year or two with Manning/Thomas/Welker/TE we wouldn't be 31st. Ok, not sure what this has to do with anything. Even if we keep the EXACT SAME TEAM with every Olinemen, I guarantee you that in a year or two we wouldn't be 31st in the league. We are not talking about 3 years from now, we are talking about THIS YEAR.

No, I said 'in year two' as in this is Manning's second year in Denver and we're seeing the results of the now considerable time he's had with the players he's working with.

Not that he'd be good in a year or two if he and his receivers were in Seattle.