Wade Smith continues to impress me...

[ohall]

... I saw only one mistake tonight, and he wasn't the 1st to make a mistake on that play. On Jay's sack Nails was totally beat, but he got just enough of the pass rusher to push him towards Wade Smith (WS). The problem was WS had already decided to block the outside rusher, who at the time was engaged by McMichael. He made a mistake, at least what appears to be a mistake from someone looking in from the outside. You always block inside out, he didn't.

Even though the man that beat Nail, who WS let go did not sack Fiedler, it all contributed to the pass pocket folding in around Jay. It was Todd Wade's guy that made the sack, and the key guy that folded in the pass pocket.

If there is any one OL concerning me, it would have to be Todd Wade. The guy is lacking when it comes to pass blocking and run blocking. I constantly see Todd Perry saving his butt. It's getting OLD.

For a rookie OL to take on a 3-4 D and do as well as WS did tonight you have to be impressed.

Oliver...

 

[Shula Fan]

Thanks for the report Oliver.

 

[Coral Reefer]

Originally posted by Oliver
... I saw only one mistake tonight, and he wasn't the 1st to make a mistake on that play. On Jay's sack Nails was totally beat, but he got just enough of the pass rusher to push him towards Wade Smith (WS). The problem was WS had already decided to block the outside rusher, who at the time was engaged by McMichael. He made a mistake, at least what appears to be a mistake from someone looking in from the outside. You always block inside out, he didn't.

Even though the man that beat Nail, who WS let go did not sack Fiedler, it all contributed to the pass pocket folding in around Jay. It was Todd Wade's guy that made the sack, and the key guy that folded in the pass pocket.

If there is any one OL concerning me, it would have to be Todd Wade. The guy is lacking when it comes to pass blocking and run blocking. I constantly see Todd Perry saving his butt. It's getting OLD.

For a rookie OL to take on a 3-4 D and do as well as WS did tonight you have to be impressed.

Oliver...

Not the same Wade Smith I was watching all game.
He was getting overpowered on running plays.
He will be a real problem for us if Dixon does not get back healthy soon.

 

[Smacks]

The OL as whole did fine on pass blocking. It was real disappointing that the run blocking was so poor. With a limited amount of plays next week against NO, the OL needs to get everything together in practice. Houston in the opener might give the OL some confidence but at the same time it will not be a true test until week 2 against the Jets

 

[Surferosa]

Sounds like their are conflicting reports about Smiths performance. Hmm...

 

[Sherif]

The D that Atlanta was playing was one that needed to be passed on early to loosen up. They had 9 guys within 3 yards of the line. They also bunched everyone in the middle and thats where we ran. There were more yards outside.

 

[phinfan_1]

Wade Smith has much better pass blocking technique than Dixon, but Dixon is a much better run blocker and a great finisher.

 

[bdwgroove]

I don't agree that Smith has better pass blocking technique than Dixon. He has much better feet and he's a little quicker but he's still working on his technique and I'd have to give Dixon the edge right now.

 

[Dolfan984]

I think Todd Wade is the most overrated player on our O-Line, if he doesn't get manhandled in the Denver game, Jay doesn't break his thumb on his helmet. He can be bullrushed or taken to the outside. His strength is definately his run blocking, but his pass blocking has always been average or worse.

 

[Samphin]

Sherif, glad to see someone shared the same opinion as me. I felt there were a couple of times that they ran Ricky up the middle, that he would have fared better to the outside. He has the speed to beat them to the corner and with the commited to stopping the run up the gut, I think he could have broken one outside.

 

[finfan54]

once again, plays were being run to the opposite side of wade smith. the truth of wade smith will appear in regular season at some point if he is playing. dont get me wrong, i think he is coming along fine, but next year will be his year and he will learn alot this year. The thing is though that norv knows how to desing the offense to keep our weeknesses in check.

 

[Coral Reefer]

Originally posted by finfan54
once again, plays were being run to the opposite side of wade smith. the truth of wade smith will appear in regular season at some point if he is playing. dont get me wrong, i think he is coming along fine, but next year will be his year and he will learn alot this year. The thing is though that norv knows how to desing the offense to keep our weeknesses in check.

That is the problem though FInfan...

In no way am I saying Wade Smith is a bust.
He looks good in passing protection. Great potential but a team that is pressed to go to the super bowl NOW cannot hitch their wagon to a rookie that can "hold his own for a rookie". That won't be good enough. Sure he'll progress in the future but that dosen't help this year!
The guys is weak in run blocking. His lack of strength is obvious there. As everyone knows players tend to lose a little strength and weight as a season goes on. Smith won't be progressing there as needed. Dixon is a key to come back and I think it's time to bring in a Vet OT as insurance.