Houck's Grand Plan

[SF Dolphin Fan]

Good observation on McDougle. I think, unfortunately, McKintosh is the same type of player -- both better suited for guard. I think Hadnot has to play somewhere so we'll see how that one shakes out.

 

[thecoordinator]

our only hope with d mac is that he came back from injury too soon last season and that's the main reason he didn't play well. i'd like to think that he's 100% now and maybe he can step up and get er done for us.

 

[painnotpleasure]

Since I believe the fate of this season hangs on the balance of the O-line and its success, or lack of success, I really wanted to examine the changes we have seen this year and try to get into Houck's head, just a bit.

I think Houck's first step was to take the approach most coaches would follow, build the line from the outside-in. His first priority was to nail down the tackles. Oddly enough, Vernon Carey was considered the grand experiment given that he couldn't crack the starting lineup and didn't have a lot of experience at LT, and McDougal was more of a sure thing at RT. Wrong. Carey has been very impressive and, after Houck gave McDougal every opportunity to succeed, McDougal disappointed. He simply can't pass block and play in space.

Enter McIntosh. Houck, of course, is quite familiar with McIntosh, who played for him in San Diego. McIntosh was always available and, to his credit, he sucked it up and played very well with the second unit. I really believe that if McIntosh and Carey just play decently tomorrow night, Houck is done tinkering with the tackles.

Working his way inward, it looks like Jeno James is safe, for now. James hasn't been sterling, but he has improved each week and seems to be benefitting from Houck's teaching. My guess is that we may see more competition at the RG spot. Can McDougal play RG? Since he doesn't play well in space, but is known as a good run blocker, maybe he's a good fit at RG. There's also Frank Middleton, who is out of shape, but has been somewhat impressive, so far. John St. Clair also remains a possibility. It appears Middleton or McDougal fits Houck's preference for bigger, stronger blockers though.

I think Houck realized that McKinney (unfortunately) may be the best fit, this year, at center, mainly because Hadnot has so little experience. Because he might have to settle with McKinney at center, Houck gave him as much playing time as possible.

Hadnot has shown that he is a capable RG, but the hope is that he learns the center position quickly. Interestingly, if someone steps up at RG, Hadnot could be an excellent swingman, playing guard or center, if Houck decides to go that direction.

In summary, Houck appears to be looking outside-in and wants to secure the tackle position with tomorrow's game. Hopefully, McIntosh and Carey will deliver. If the tackle spots are nailed down, there will be a domino effect. Everybody's job gets easier. He may stick with the current lineup, or give McDougal, Middleton, and St. Clair a shot at RG. Tomorrow's game will be very telling.

Bottom line, the O-line is a work in progress. Houck is patiently trying to find his best 5 combination and then let the games begin. It may take some time - patience is a virtue.

Great post with some excellent views. These are the type of threads that deserve more attention and more credit unlike some of the other threads around here that consist of one person making a ridiculous remark with 100's of replies followed up bashing the poster.

But back to what this thread is all about. Right when I saw the thread title, "Houck's Grand Plan", it immediately captured my attention. I share the same thoughts that you have regarding how I feel Houck has worked from the outside-in with the Tackles and I am very shocked that Stockar McDougle has been a disappoint thus far, I've seen it myself when I watched the preseason games. He gets manhandled on the pass blocking and has done a very poor job of picking up the blitz. There is no question though that he is a good run blocker but I feel with tall lanky frame that he doesn't have the right size to play RG (definitely too tall and that might end up hurting the QB's vision more than helping the protection) as he does to play a T. I hope that coach Houck can work him into being a solid starting RT for us because I really feel if he can perform well he will be a HUGE improvement to helping our O-line. Prior to preseason, I felt that our right side was going to be the strong focal point of our Offensive line with Rex Hadnot and Stockar McDougle, but thus far I'm surprised Vernon Carey has been impressive as he has been and Jeno James seems to be imrproving each week.

The biggest surprises in my mine is that Seth McKinney is still our starting C (and again like you said unforutaely that may be the best option as of now because had not practice much as C during the offseason and is doing such a terrific job at RG) and the other big surprise has been the disappointment of Stockar's play so far. I trust Houck's judgement and feel with his coaching and more games played together this O-line will gain some valueable needed experience and begin to slowly start to gel together.

As for Damion McIntosh, I am very very skeptical about him being in our starting lineup. I had anticipated him on filling in at starting LT if Vernon Carey had strugged or disappointed but he's done everything but that and is a lock at LT in my honest opinion. What I worry about McIntosh is that I do feel that while he was injured last year, he did ALLOW 9 sacks and had 9 false starts in 14 games. I am a bit relieved that Houck has coached him before in SD where he proved to be a lot more succesful there so I wouldn't be too worried if Houck felt he was good enough to start for us whether it was at RT or wherever but I really am hoping McDougle pans out and starts at RT. Right now I feel that our two strongest most productive O-linemen are indeed Vernon Carey and Rex Hadnot and ironically enough, they have the least experience. I like the idea of having D-Mac as a swingman and I feel he's us pretty decent DEPTH filling in wherever needed, I honestly am very sketpical about having him in the starting lineup though. Regardless of what happens, I am very confident and very hopeful with Coach Houck's decisions and plans.

Also, I would like to add going into this season, I feel that our O-line and QB are the two biggest concerns by far but I honestly do have a lot more optimism and hope for the O-line than I do with our QB situation. Last year our O-line was terrible and atrocious to below average (at best). This year I feel we have the coaching and talent (not as much depth as I had hoped) to be a below average to average O-line.

 

[Blind Faith]

Is this your opinion or from a source? Why do you think McDougle can play guard? Seems he has been a tackle all his career.

I may be wrong but I belive you need to know what the guy next to you is doing in any blockintg scheme. Carey himself was a RT then RG after his injury and his transition was seemles. It turned him into a first round pick. Also the Guard position does not require as much mobility as the Tackle position and that seems to be his weekness. He's had a pretty good career so far but age may have caught up with him and this would seem to be a lodgical move to get the best 5 out there.

 

[ohall]

Since I believe the fate of this season hangs on the balance of the O-line and its success, or lack of success, I really wanted to examine the changes we have seen this year and try to get into Houck's head, just a bit.

I think Houck's first step was to take the approach most coaches would follow, build the line from the outside-in. His first priority was to nail down the tackles. Oddly enough, Vernon Carey was considered the grand experiment given that he couldn't crack the starting lineup and didn't have a lot of experience at LT, and McDougal was more of a sure thing at RT. Wrong. Carey has been very impressive and, after Houck gave McDougal every opportunity to succeed, McDougal disappointed. He simply can't pass block and play in space.

Enter McIntosh. Houck, of course, is quite familiar with McIntosh, who played for him in San Diego. McIntosh was always available and, to his credit, he sucked it up and played very well with the second unit. I really believe that if McIntosh and Carey just play decently tomorrow night, Houck is done tinkering with the tackles.

Working his way inward, it looks like Jeno James is safe, for now. James hasn't been sterling, but he has improved each week and seems to be benefitting from Houck's teaching. My guess is that we may see more competition at the RG spot. Can McDougal play RG? Since he doesn't play well in space, but is known as a good run blocker, maybe he's a good fit at RG. There's also Frank Middleton, who is out of shape, but has been somewhat impressive, so far. John St. Clair also remains a possibility. It appears Middleton or McDougal fits Houck's preference for bigger, stronger blockers though.

I think Houck realized that McKinney (unfortunately) may be the best fit, this year, at center, mainly because Hadnot has so little experience. Because he might have to settle with McKinney at center, Houck gave him as much playing time as possible.

Hadnot has shown that he is a capable RG, but the hope is that he learns the center position quickly. Interestingly, if someone steps up at RG, Hadnot could be an excellent swingman, playing guard or center, if Houck decides to go that direction.

In summary, Houck appears to be looking outside-in and wants to secure the tackle position with tomorrow's game. Hopefully, McIntosh and Carey will deliver. If the tackle spots are nailed down, there will be a domino effect. Everybody's job gets easier. He may stick with the current lineup, or give McDougal, Middleton, and St. Clair a shot at RG. Tomorrow's game will be very telling.

Bottom line, the O-line is a work in progress. Houck is patiently trying to find his best 5 combination and then let the games begin. It may take some time - patience is a virtue.

Excellent post, and please post more often!

 

[FinFan57]

Painnotpleasure, you make some good points, especially the point that McDougal may be too tall to play guard, although I believe he is only about 1 inch taller than McKinney, James, or Hadnot. I don't know.....that may be an important difference.

I really hate to use New England as an example, but as much credit as Bellicheck, Crennel, and Weiss have gotten, I think Dante Sarnecchio (their O-line coach) deserves the most credit. This guy has repeatedly taken marginal, sometimes very good, but often marginal talent and protected Brady very well over the years. Look at the Super Bowl's they won and you will notice that Brady is never on the ground, or even pressured, for that matter.

When Brady is pressured, like we did last year, he falls apart. It goes to show that the blocking is the key. I'm not that worried about Gus or AJ, they will do fine if they get the protection. It's all about the O-line and Houck is working outside-in to find the best 5 guys.

 

[NYC#1finsfan]

What about this gut Ephraim from the Bears? I thought that he was supposed to bring a mean and nasty streak with him?

 

[ILphinfan85]

What about the dude from the eagles we picked up that plays center?How does he look?

 

[zephon]

Id still draft one of the LTs( Mcneil ,Scott,DBrick etc)and play Anthony Alibi at RT next season.

I totally agree.

What we've foung in Carey is that he is a serviceable LT but his best postion might very well be RT because he IS a better run blocker than pass blocker currently. But again..we've found out that he CAN play LT ajd RT with skill..

Now in taking one of the top OT in next years draft we get a shot a significantly improving our overall talent level. My hope is that we draft a guy who is a better LT than RT in which case we can have the tackle spots locked up for a few years. If however the guy drafted turns out to be a better RT (even if he played LT in college) then we simply move Carey back to LT and we're still set.

One thing to note though......I think that if we have a shot at one of the 2 top QBs in the draft...then that's who we'll take. But with the tremendous depth of talented O-Lineman coming out, we'll have still have a great opportunity to take a very very good O-Lineman all the way into the 3rd round as it's by far the deepest and most talentfilled posistion in next years draft. This is what I saw as Saban's plan for the O-Line from the start (hopefully I'm right on this).

The only thing that I was bothered by was the fact that the center position wasn't even looked at until half way thru camp and even then we only brought in a guy who's just a notch above TC fodder....While I've always like A&M lineman, McKinney is just not strong enough to be even a solid starter let alone a good one (although I do believe he makes a very very good backup who can play C in a pinch as well as both guard spots)

 

[Fin Fan in Cali]

I think Houck is moving them around to see how they do in different positions, also to see who works well together. I believe in him, and his teachings that he will get this Oline turned around!:drinkers:

 

[DorsalPhin]

nice thread. I saw a bit of ephraim at C against the Bears. He looked fiesty and didn't get pushed back, but he played a bit off balance and a little uncontrolled. his snaps looked clean. not sure he looks like a starter at this point. ...also in the Bears game, Alibi looked very athletic and did play with good balance. he was quick off the snap and into his man and staying with him. he looks a bit small and could have difficulty with power rushers. a camp reporter may have mentioned he was going at guys necks and facemasks, like he was trying to gain leverage in spite of his size. he just needs to bulk up a bit and stay focused. I could see him as the swing tackle next year, then seeing what he does from there. should make the roster this year as the last OL (inactive; i.e. M.Wright). interesting player/pick.

I'm another who wishes they'd move Hadnot to C. In the same game, he looked controlled and was not getting pushed back But, he looked a bit out of synch or like he wasn't sure what he was doing at times. lack of time at C in camp and overall most likely. Hadnot's not a great puller I've heard and lacks lateral movement. I read that in his rookie profile and in recent game reports. I think he'd be great at C if they'd give him enough time there. good at the point of attack and will have help laterally. me thinks the coaching staff sees this, but also sees a lack of starting quality RG's on the roster as of today (come on, Middleton! lets's go already!).
I think Seth's best bet is LG. He is smart and a heck of a puller. But, we've already got a starter there... for now. would be interesting to see Seth resigned and put at LG next year with Jeno hittnig the road if he doesn't take a paycut. Jeno's the highest payed phin lineman I believe and he's the LG for crying out loud.

latest OL move is interesting. I also noticed in the Bears game that McFrugal-block was not getting it done consistently. when he picked up his guy he was fine. when he goofed, the 'backs had a bad time. Reminds me a bit of DMac's play last year, who did, by the way, look great against the 2nd stringers. no penalties that I remember. stayed with his man. was getting good push in the run game. this is what I saw of DMac on a tape I had of him playing w/SD against NE in '02 or '03. good in the run game, needs work in the pass game, but 'ok'. they wanna see if DMac > McDoug overall. carey lines up either way. go carey. - dorsal