Wade Smith vs Hugh Douglas...19 matchups, Detailed | Page 2 | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Wade Smith vs Hugh Douglas...19 matchups, Detailed

Originally posted by ckparrothead
Hi folks. Just cuz I love doin this kinda stuff, I detailed every time that Wade Smith went up against Hugh Douglas.

1st matchup (1st and 10) Hugh on Wade, Hugh Douglas puts an inside move on Wade Smith and Wade finds himself recovering well, which is his strongsuit, however, when he recovered he was practically on Fiedler's jock and the ball intended to Chambers fell incomplete. Fiedler MIGHT have felt Wade Smith being a little too close...dunno.

(Next play run toward the left Wade Smith released clean off the line 5 yards downfield onto a LBer...I assume he was supposed to).

2nd matchup was definitely good job by Smith. I'm looking, it was a shotgun play, Fiedler had a good amount of time (not a LOONG time) to look around and tossed deep down the sidelines incomplete to Chambers. Smith bounced Hugh outside and kept him outside on the play, outside then way behind Fiedler.

3rd matchip 1st and 10. Also a good protection by Wade Smith. Hugh started to try and bull a path straight toward the QB pushing Wade back, but Wade quickly got a handle on the bullrush, dug in, and forcefully turned Hugh Douglas to the outside leaving Fiedler just standing in the pocket with a jersey cleaner than a virgins undergarments. Complete to Ricky Williams.

4th semi-matchup 2nd and 4. Good run blocking on Wade Smith's part. It was a toss to the right hand side but Wade Smith on the snap turned inside toward Center and made a dive block on #98 (DT Stroud or Henderson dont know which) but also ended up keeping Hugh Douglas out of the backside pursuit because Hugh had to go around Wade who was tangled on the ground along with #98.

5th matchup 3rd and 1. Good thing it was a short drop screen type of pass to Obafemi Ayanbadejo. Smith released up and into Hugh Douglas like it was a run play and he slowed Hugh down but Hugh started to bust through just as Fiedler tossed it to Femi. Wade did his job sure enough, but his job wasn't particularly hard to do in this play is what I'm sayin.

(Next play Wade Smith released inside of Hugh once again, it was the reverse to Sam Simmons....Wade chipped on a DT then released into the 2nd level where he just kinda searched for people to block and didn't find them...I could fault Wade on one small thing he could have helped block #95 a little better and if you notice it was #95's backside pursuit which distracted Fiedler and made Fiedler think that he was going to need to block #95 for Simmons...but he ended up not needing to and he wasn't able to get out to #55 in time to keep him from bracketing Simmons toward the sideline and #25 who was being blocked by Ruddy...definitely a little thing but you see how things cascade in football).

(Next play once again Wade Smith fires off inside of Hugh Douglas leaving #85 Donald Lee to block Hugh. Play goes right side but #98 flew by Todd Perry and disrupted the backfield just a little bit, enough to force Ricky to bounce it outside where he was met easily by #55).

6th matchup 3rd and 2. 3 step drop and its a good thing the play was designed to be fired off quickly to #81 Randy McMichael because Hugh Douglas gave a good bull push then bounced to the outside and was fending off Smith on a good line right to where Jay was standing until Jay fired off that ball. Wade Smith MIGHT have recovered in time to save Fiedler's hide, but he definitely would have disrupted Fiedler's throw if Jay held onto that ball a little longer.

7th matchup 1st and Goal at 13. Poor Hugh. After being taken out of the action all this time now he gets a screen thrown on him to keep him honest. Interesting block by Wade Smith. You could tell he almost didn't WANT Hugh to get by him and pursue the QB even though it was a screen. Wade popped Hugh into the inside and stayed with him moving diagonal right and backward, getting all the way to like 5 yards behind the RG before letting Hugh go after Jay Fiedler while Jay dumps to Ricky for the screen. Unfortunately, Randy McMichael failed to take #55 out of the play. He (McMike) ran an out route with #55 covering behind him, then when the ball was thrown McMike just kinda jogged a little behind Clark while Clark went up and contained Ricky and prevented him from following the blocks. R-Mac should have planned his route and subsequent block better than that. If he sells his route more toward the sideline, Ricky gains 8 yards or so. If he stays to the inside of #55 so that he can push him, Ricky gains 8 yards or so. By giving a half-@ss effort, Ricky gained practically nothing.

(Next play 2nd and Goal at 11...Hugh Douglas and the RDT dont know which guy, stunted. Hugh crossed into the LG and the DT crossed over to Wade Smith. Wade handled it easily...quick out to Derrius Thompson).

8th matchup 3rd and Goal from 4 yard line. Ultra quick drop and throw TD to Ricky Williams. I'll try to give you a good idea of what happened on the play. Prior to the snap the Jags actually gave a look of having 6 people rushing on the play. 4 down linemen, with #55 blitzing in between the RDT and Hugh Douglas, and another linebacker (I think #51 Oyadele) blitzing between LDT and LDE. Wade Smith easily handled Hugh Douglas, but hey he only had to do it for literally like 1.5 seconds. Anyway #55 was picked up by Nails, the RDT was picked up by Ruddy, the LDT was picked up by Perry, and #51 was picked up by...nobody. The LDE, dropped back and covered Ricky out of the backfield. Todd Wade, picked up nobody on this play, just sat out there in space lookin for someone that was gonna rush the passer. I'm not sure why he didn't make an effort to block #51 as he streaked right toward Jay Fiedler, but give the DC credit it was a zone blitz with 5 rushers loaded left and a LDE dropping into coverage. But, give Jay Fiedler and Ricky Williams even more credit because they read it PERFECTLY. Ricky saw he had a DE covering him (eh hem, MISMATCH) and he cut off his route to the inside and Jay Fiedler, backpeddling for his life in the face of #51 made a great read and great touch pass to Ricky's forward shoulder while Ricky abused the DE that dared try and cover him. This play happened so quickly it was ridiculous...give these guys credit for knowing each other really well. Jay is our QB.

9th matchup...1st and 10. This was a draw play, simulating a dropback pass then handing off to T.Minor. Hugh initially stepped to the outside thinking passrush, then after one step tried to move inside recognizing the draw play. I think that was pretty fast recognition actually, but one step to the outside was all Smith needed. He kept Douglas way away from the play.

(Next play 2nd and 1 was a handoff up the gut to Femi. Wade Smith fired out to the 2nd level immediately...Hugh was chipped by a TE then chipped by a pulling Perry and the play was away from Hugh anyway...for what its worth Wade Smith did handle #55 pretty well I think)

10th matchup 1st and 10. Weird block right here. Femi before the snap was lined wide in the slot and motioned into an Off I fullback position left. Fiedler dropped back into a 7 step drop. Wade Smith initially blocked Hugh Douglas to the outside and was handling him well. Then #55 began to rush into the fray a little delayed so Wade actually disengaged Douglas and blocked #55, leaving Femi to block Douglas. Well, Femi did not block him needless to say...I think he recognized like one step too late that he needed to be blocking Hugh. But either way Fiedler had already found his man Travis Minor out of the backfield for a 10 yard play and 1st down. Hugh didn't end up affecting the play I don't think. My instinct is to say good block and good read by Wade Smith, bad reaction by Femi Ayanbadejo. But overall too bad Wade disengaged...this was a 7 step drop I dont know why Femi couldn't have just been responsible for #55 who was blitzing in between LG and LT. Anyway either Smith or Femi screwed up here. Either Wade was supposed to pick up 55 or he was supposed to stay on Hugh. We won't know.

11th matchup 1st and 10. Shotgun formation tailback right. Wade Smith once again kudos. Fiedler stood in the pocket all day long and tossed a long ball incomplete to Chambers...overthrown. Wade had Hugh just plain handled on this play I think. Meanwhile Jamie Nails was definitely having some trouble with his DT who looked very quick. Its either Stroud or Henderson, but both are high picks...young guys with lots of potential.

12th matchup...2nd and 10. On the 12th day of matchups his true love gave to Hugh....yup finally, 12 times a charm, Hugh Douglas finally beat the heck out of Wade Smith with a great swim move inside that left Wade Smith wondering what in the heck just happened. Unfortunately for Douglas, the RDT that was going up against Jamie Nails was having trouble getting around the wide body and decided to step left a little, leaving Nails to disengage him and pick up whoever he needed to and in this case it was Hugh Douglas streaking on an inside route right for Jay Fiedler...and Nails managed to get enough push to keep Fiedler's jersey clean while Fiedler, who sensed the collapsing pocket, ran straight forward for a good short gainer. This is the play Wade Smith says Hugh got him on but fortunately Nails was there to help him a little. Was bound to happen.

13th matchup...3rd and 6. How do you bounce back? Well the entire Jax DL rushed left and Wade pretty much stayed on top of Hugh. But it doesn't matter, cuz this was a quick 3 step drop throw slant to Oronde Gads...errm...I mean, Derrius Thompson on a slant. And you know what? Someone did his homework. Fernando Bryant knew Derrius was taking over OG's routes (ie the slant, fade, etc) and he positioned himself PERFECTLY on the inside shoulder of Derrius Thompson so that he was there immediately to break up the pass. Good heady play by Bryant. That was just textbook.

(Next play 1st and 10 Wade Smith released out on a left pitch to Minor...just kinda crashed around a bit didn't make any key blocks but then again the play was all happening outside of him and the guys he was buttin heads with).

14th semi-matchup...2nd and 8. Boy you know Hugh must have been gettin frustrated. But he wasn't sweatin it, this is preseason and by this time I think he resigned to the fact that he wasn't gonna get to make a play against this rook for various reasons. Weird block, not particularly good, it was McMichael who made the particularly good block on Hugh. He dove in front of Hugh's legs and tripped him him, while Wade Smith kinda stuck his body forward toward the DT while keepin his legs behind to help trip up Hugh. They were both just preventing backside pursuit on a Minor run to the right. But Wade got up and gave Hugh a good shove (not illegal, but one of those 'mean' shoves) while the play was ending and Hugh just took it in stride. Gave no lip, didn't get angry at this rook acting like he had the best of the great Hugh Douglas.

15th matchup 1st and 10. Once again a run play to opposite side of Hugh Douglas. Once again Hugh was cut blocked by Wade Smith just to prevent some backside pursuit which Hugh Douglas probably had no intention of giving anyway.

16th matchup 2nd and 8. Griese's in at QB btw. Griese drops back on a 5 step drop, I count about 2.5 seconds at the most before he throws a beautiful floater left sidelines to Derrius Thompson who just goes up and makes an INCREDIBLE grab. Boy the coaches found a guy who can replace OG pretty easy. Anyway Hugh Douglas couldn't overcome Smith....they locked horns and Smith stopped Hugh's progress about 2 yards away from Griese while Griese tossed it. Good blocking, but again...about 2 seconds was all Griese wanted and needed.

17th matchup 1st and 10. I cant believe Hugh is still in the game at this point. On the play 99 or 98 whichever the LDT is ran a stunt to the outside evading Perry and eventually giving chase to Griese on a deeeeep dropback. It looks like Griese kept dropping back cuz Todd Wade was allowing his man to take an inside route deep into the backfield. Eventually Griese completes what looks like it could have been a designed screen to Minor. Wade Smith engaged Hugh Douglas, but eventually Griese just dropped back so far that Smith lost Hugh and he gave chase to the QB but not before Griese was able to complete the pass to Minor. Can't fault Smith, he's not going to outsprint Hugh Douglas in a 10 yard sprint back-peddling the whole way.

18th matchup 2nd and 8 and it looks like Hugh wants out of the game. He's tired of this ****. None of the plays are going towards him, he's catchin all kinds of bad breaks, and on this double TE set even when Hugh was initially blocked by Wade Smith then stunted inside, only to be pounded by Nails and Ruddy together while the play was happening on the other side of the field. I'm not sure what made Griese decide to tuck and run here...the Two Todds were lettin their guys penetrate a little bit but looked like they'd have gotten them under control, but either way Griese rolled right and ran OOBs. Nothin doin for Hugh Douglas.

19th matchup 3rd and 9. Wade Smith's only mistake was a moments hesitation here but you can't blame him as it looked once again like the RDT was going to stunt to the outside. However Hugh Douglas did not stunt outside, he stayed the course and Smith's hesitation gave him an opening to run toward the QB until bam he was popped by Femi Ayanbadejo who got help from Wade Smith as he recognized that the stunting DT was literally no threat to the play. Still Hugh was a little closer than he should have been and that combined with Todd Wade's man getting deep back to within a few yards of Griese, might have made Brian dump this ball off to Minor who couldn't get near the 1st down marker.

And thats all. From here out I don't believe Hugh Douglas played a down. This is probably normal for a DE, but on the majority of plays Hugh didn't even really have a chance to make something happen. Yet he got his opportunities and he was for the most part handled by Smith. I counted 3 times when Hugh was able to actually affect the play maybe just a little. The 1st matchup, the 12th matchup, and possibly the final 19th matchup. Two of them were minimal effects at best. On one of them, Hugh definitely caused Fiedler to sense things going badly and tuck the ball and run forward for positive yardage, and had Nails not picked up Douglas he probably would have gotten a sack. But by the very end Hugh looked uninspired, like he didn't even want to be there anymore in this game that means nothing, getting embarrassed by a rookie.

I count 7 matchups where Hugh Douglas could have made something happen...plays where the QB dropped back long enough or whatever. Hugh got what I would consider 1 QB pressure with those 7 opportunities...when he forced Jamie Nails to cover Wade Smith's butt and Fiedler tucked the ball and ran. Even then, if Fiedler stands strong I don't think Douglas touches him.

Post of the year! :up:
 
Right guys thats what I'm sayin man. Wade Smith did a great job, but its not like he went one on one with Hugh Douglas every play and made Hugh look like a fool. He didn't, and that would be expecting too much out of him. He played like a rookie who is playing pretty well. Not like Richmond Webb as a rookie, and no, he did not grade out as well as Mark Dixon has in the past at LT.

No it doesn't, when WS and the OL coach sit down to grade him they will see Nails did not help him, WS helped himself on that play. I'm watching the play right now (for prob the 25th time now), and all Nails did was place his left arm on Douglas's back after Douglas had already passed Nails, while Douglas was being pushed to the outside by WS.

Dude, I'm seriously looking at the play RIGHT NOW, frame by fricking frame, and I haven't got a clue what you are talking about. You must seriously be talking about a different play. This one I am talking about is 1st quarter, with 2:47 left on the clock, 2nd and 10. You watch it, and you clearly see Hugh Douglas push Wade Smith to high right, then streak by him while Jamie Nails moves over to the left and pushes Douglas while Douglas is streaking toward Fiedler, just barely keeping him off Fiedler's jock. Meanwhile, the DT that I say stunted, it wasn't really a full STUNT per se, he was slant rushing to his left which coincides with Douglas' slant rushing to his own left. But because the DT slanted left it afforded Tim Ruddy the ability to pick him up while Jamie Nails looked over to his left hand side and got his hands on Hugh Douglas. Wade Smith did not do jack **** on the play. He moved to his own left which was the last thing you need to do when the DL is rushing slant left, and his body ended up to the complete left side of Hugh Douglas. Smith feebly attempted to toss up an arm and turn a little but it did practically nothing to stop Hugh's progression towards Fiedler. It wasn't until Nails bailed him out that the sack was saved. Meanwhile, all the time Jamie Nails blocking Hugh Douglas, Wade Smith cut his losses, stayed at the line of scrimmage and helped Tim Ruddy block the DT that had slanted left. That right there, was a good decision by Wade. He knew he got beaten, and he knew that Nails was forced to pick Douglas up whereas Nails was probably SUPPOSED to help Ruddy contain the RDT...so Wade Smith let Nails handle Douglas and switched onto the RDT so as not to make the play worst by allowing two guys to get into the backfield.

Oliver, you act like we're all blind here. Like, even looking at the game tape, we can't see anything because we're not coaches. If you have the tape and the ability to look at it over and over again, in slow-mo etc, any semi-intelligent person can pick up these things. I mean, if Junior Seau rushes toward the backfield on a play I taped, and he goes after the QB and I review it and say "Junior Seau blitzed into the backfield" are you gonna correct me and say "Only the coaches know for sure if Seau blitzed..." Jesus christ dude give me a break. I use to play football. I've been watching my whole life. I know NFL 2k and Madden playbooks pretty damn good and I know football terminology about as well as a non-coach can. There are things that are pretty easy to see and there are parts where I note that I'm not particularly sure if the guy was SUPPOSED to do this or not.

And then, there's the TRUMP CARD that you keep completely ignoring! WADE SMITH HIMSELF SAID HE GOT BEATEN. HE SAID IT HIMSELF HE SAID "I GOT BEAT"

My god man. How long are you going to point at the sky and argue with me that it is NOT BLUE.
 
Great Post CK.

I watched WS all night long. I thought he played very well. Every lineman is going to get beat eventually when going up against an all pro like Douglas. I expected that to happen more often to WS last night. He proved me wrong, and for that I am very happy.
 
CK,

Does the word "Homer" :crazy: mean anything to you? Get over the dribble.
 
I'm glad CK is a Dolphin fan..:lol: Nowhere else could you get this type of analysis, not even on "NFL Matchup".. CK, once again, excellent job.. I myself saw the game at ESPNZONE again and missed many of the plays because of the socializing and talking sh*t.. That post kept me on the sedge of my seat picturing what went on in that play.. Very detailed and specific.. Nothing short of EXCELLENT
 
Oh ZOD I'm sorry I didn't mean to ignore ya dood.

Play 1- I saw this in the Titans scrimmage and noted it. Smith is excellent to his inside. They'll get nowhere trying to go inside of him.

I'll take your word for it, but on the play we keep talking about where Smith got beaten, it was to the inside as Smith mistakenly jumped to the outside. So, obviously he's not impervious to the inside rush.

Play 5- I saw this play somewhere. It looked like Smith was across the line of scrimmage when the pass was thrown.

I'm gonna look at it again for your benefit but I think you're right. It was weird because it totally looked like a run block for Wade Smith but I'm sure it was supposed to look like it. I mean the play was designed to be quick. If Smith sat back and bounced Hugh to the outside like any normal pass play he'd be bouncing Hugh toward where the ball was thrown and Hugh would be able probably to change direction better to go toward Femi. But since Hugh thought he got by Wade, he was thinking "Jay Jay Jay Jay" while the pass was sailing over toward Femi already. I mean it was a play-action. Hugh Douglas was too busy hurdling a fallen Wade Smith (and other players) to realize the ball was sailing to the left side of the field toward Femi.

Play 6- The bull rush/bounce outside. That's his weakness. It has been since the titan's scrimmage too. It seems as though he struggles after the bull rush to plant the right foot and get back.

Yeah I'm lookin at it, maybe because Wade starts to really dig in and plant with the bullrush, then finds himself a step slower when the DE goes from bull to speed. Either way it was a 3 step drop and I counted barely 2 seconds before Fiedler tosses that ball to the guy it was designed to go to, Randy McMichael in the middle of the field. So even though Hugh was developing a clear line to the QB, Wade Smith probably knew he'd done his job on that play. Fiedler was not hit on the play.


How often did they line the tight end up on Smith's side to help out?

Against the run, often. Against the pass, I'm not sure I noted a single time where I saw one of the TEs helping him out by chipping on Hugh Douglas AT ALL. But against the run, most of the time it wasn't even Smith's job to block Douglas, it was a TEs job be it Donald Lee or Randy McMichael. I think the coaches really wanted to toss Smith up against one of the best and see how he does without help.

On the long pass plays that required some time. Could you give me a snap to release? I interested to see if 3.5 could have been attained on at least one.

Man you got me workin overtime, but the question is interesting so I think I can field it. First play, the play where I speculate Fiedler might have felt Douglas presence just a tad bit, he had a good 3 seconds at least before he had to release. I think Wade could have held out a lot longer though cuz when Fiedler began his throwing motion Wade had already recovered from the double move and was bouncing Douglas way past Fiedler...but Smith was in such close proximity to Fiedler when that happened thats why I speculate Fiedler might have felt the temperature rise a few degrees. BTW, Smith tore Hugh's helmet off on this play. Two plays later from shotgun, the play was snapped at 19 seconds on my VCR, and Fieds toss it at 16 seconds on my VCR...so once again Fiedler had about 3 seconds. If Fiedler was feeling pressure on this play, it wasn't from Wade Smith's end...because Wade could have easily dealt with Hugh for another 2 seconds IMO. On the 3rd matchup 3 seconds seems to be the recipe of the day and once again, if Fiedler was feeling a little rise in the temp, it wasn't from Wade Smith's end (pressure was from inside), who was cleanly brought about 3 yards behind Fiedler and had no chance getting back to Fiedler within the next 2 seconds. 10th play, this is the weird play where I note that Smith disengaged Douglas and left Femi to deal with him while Smith engaged a rushing linebacker. I'm not going to pretend I know whether this is what Smith was supposed to do or not, but either way Fiedler tossed the ball within 2 seconds but had he held onto the ball merely 1 more second, Hugh Douglas would have NAILED his blindside...and badly too. I tend to think this was Femi's mistake but once again on this particular play it is not obvious who screwed up. 11th matchup was the deep pass to Chambers, and I count on this pass Fiedler threw it right on the cusp of 3.5 to 4 seconds and once again, if Fiedler was feeling the pressure it was from the middle and it had nothing to do with Wade Smith who could have held up Hugh Douglas easily for IMO possibly 3 or more seconds. 12th play and the more I look at this play the more I think Oliver is nuts no offense, but you could seriously tell that Wade Smith was supposed to have been the one blocking Douglas, because after Douglas swam Smith aside and rushed in, Wade Smith stood there just looking straight back at Douglas before he finally turned around and helped Tim Ruddy contain the RDT. Anyway, from the time the ball was snapped, to the time Fiedler tucked the ball in and prepared to run, I count 3 seconds with Hugh Douglas breathing down his neck as he tucked. This was I believe the last play Jay Fiedler was still in the game where he wasn't just dumping a short 3 step drop pass. I would say on average that so long as the play is not a shorty 3 step quick throw, or a screen, the average time Fiedler took to throw it was between 3 and 3.5 seconds. 3 seconds seems to be Fiedler's internal clock more often than not. If we're just talking about Wade Smith's blocking, Fiedler could probably have waited on average 4 to 5 seconds to throw the ball, but we're not just talking about Wade Smith and on the plays Wade Smith was doing well on Hugh Douglas we often had pressure comin up the gut forcing Fiedler to throw on that 3 second internal clock.

As for Brian Griese the first test was the 16th matchup 2nd and 8 where he floated the ball to the left sideline and Derrius made that beautiful catch...I initially reported about 2.5 seconds before Griese threw, on 2nd viewing that would probably be close to 2 than 2.5 seconds. But he floated it thats why it was able to go so long a distance (Griese btw displayed great touch in this game). Once again, if there was pressure it was coming from the inside, not from Wade Smith's end. 18th matchup Wade Smith and the whole left side faired well against a stunt, but the right side Perry and Wade not so good the stunt brought both of the OLmen deep into the backfield before they got hold of their guys and began turning them back, by this time though Griese got happy feet and ran to his right.

Play 17- The line picked up the stunts well in the titans scrimmage too. But Smith got beat to the outside? That's what I worry about.

Upon 2nd viewing play 17 really was a designed screen to Travis Minor, it just didn't play out particularly well. Play 19 might be the one you are talking about. You could see it, Hugh rushed toward Wade then used a swim move to get outside Wade...meanwhile the DT was kind of looping out to the right around the back of Douglas so for just a tiny moment, I think Wade Smith thought he was going to have to block the DT and let Femi handle Hugh Douglas, but chose instead to help Femi block Douglas because the looping DT had kinda taken himself out of the play and Jamie Nails gave him chase anyway. Hugh used a good swim move, but I think you could kinda tell it was more of a hesitation on Smith's part thinking he was going to have to block the DT, in which my best guess is it would be Jamie Nails' job to help Femi block Hugh Douglas.

I'm encouraged by this assessment because he displayed his strengths so at least we know he has them against pro bowlers. The outside has to improve though. The outside is the weakness that prevents 3 seconds or more in the pocket.

IMO the only thing that kept Fiedler from being able to wait more than 3 seconds was the interior OL going up against Stroud and Henderson. Nails had a lot of trouble, and Perry had his share too. Wade even had a little trouble on one or two plays that Spicer scrub or a stunt/blitz. Smith seemed decisive picking up blitzes, but whether he was correct or not I'll hand this one to Oliver cuz on a blitz we dont know the priority of blocking we can only guess based on what happened, body language, and how well it worked. As for the inside/outside thing...well the two times I saw Hugh Douglas develop a straight line to the quarterback, one was on an inside move, another was on a move to the outside where Wade left Douglas to be blocked by a FB. And on the final matchup Smith bit and was beaten by a swim move to the outside, much the same way he bit and was beaten by a swim move to the inside...so I don't think you can pidgeon-hole the man as being weak against outside rushes and strong against inside.
 
This pickiness on a player amazes me. Correct me if I'm wrong, but we ALL thought WS would be schooled last night. Instead he held his own. No sacks, no penalties, no obvious mistakes. Stop over analyzing everything. Bottom line is he exceeded out expectations and we should be happy about that.
 
We are happy about that. It was the whole business of Wade Smith starting to be compared to Richmond Webb as a rookie, and Wade Smith being called better than Mark Dixon already...thats when I take issue. People are acting like he had a perfect game out there. He didn't, and my analysis shows it. And yes, there are LTs in this league who could go up against Hugh Douglas 19 times and not let Hugh develop a path straight to the QB a single time. My analysis just points out that Wade had a lot of help in the play-calling even though he had no TE help on pass protection. And on the 7 times when the phins ran plays and Hugh Douglas had a real chance to get at Fiedler, Wade Smith got totally beaten on one of them.

So be happy, at the very least he's quality depth which we were not sure we had. But don't get ahead of ourselves envisioning Wade Smith as the opening day starter and future LT of the Phins for the next 15 years. He's got a little ways to go still
 
I agree with you there. He was not by any means perfect but I expected worse play than he gave. I think Norv also called a lot of quick hitting pass plays for that reason. However, the one time Jay went deep to Chambers (and missed), Hugh was handled.

What did you think of other players? Jenkins, Knight (I thought he dished out some solid hits), Oben (FB can't spell his name), the second string def line?
 
Quality thread, ck. Deserves to be in the "Flippers finest" forum. In fact, I`ll put a copy there myself. I don`t think anybody will disagree with that. :)
 
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Originally posted by ckparrothead
Right guys thats what I'm sayin man. Wade Smith did a great job, but its not like he went one on one with Hugh Douglas every play and made Hugh look like a fool. He didn't, and that would be expecting too much out of him. He played like a rookie who is playing pretty well. Not like Richmond Webb as a rookie, and no, he did not grade out as well as Mark Dixon has in the past at LT.



Dude, I'm seriously looking at the play RIGHT NOW, frame by fricking frame, and I haven't got a clue what you are talking about. You must seriously be talking about a different play. This one I am talking about is 1st quarter, with 2:47 left on the clock, 2nd and 10. You watch it, and you clearly see Hugh Douglas push Wade Smith to high right, then streak by him while Jamie Nails moves over to the left and pushes Douglas while Douglas is streaking toward Fiedler, just barely keeping him off Fiedler's jock. Meanwhile, the DT that I say stunted, it wasn't really a full STUNT per se, he was slant rushing to his left which coincides with Douglas' slant rushing to his own left. But because the DT slanted left it afforded Tim Ruddy the ability to pick him up while Jamie Nails looked over to his left hand side and got his hands on Hugh Douglas. Wade Smith did not do jack **** on the play. He moved to his own left which was the last thing you need to do when the DL is rushing slant left, and his body ended up to the complete left side of Hugh Douglas. Smith feebly attempted to toss up an arm and turn a little but it did practically nothing to stop Hugh's progression towards Fiedler. It wasn't until Nails bailed him out that the sack was saved. Meanwhile, all the time Jamie Nails blocking Hugh Douglas, Wade Smith cut his losses, stayed at the line of scrimmage and helped Tim Ruddy block the DT that had slanted left. That right there, was a good decision by Wade. He knew he got beaten, and he knew that Nails was forced to pick Douglas up whereas Nails was probably SUPPOSED to help Ruddy contain the RDT...so Wade Smith let Nails handle Douglas and switched onto the RDT so as not to make the play worst by allowing two guys to get into the backfield.

Oliver, you act like we're all blind here. Like, even looking at the game tape, we can't see anything because we're not coaches. If you have the tape and the ability to look at it over and over again, in slow-mo etc, any semi-intelligent person can pick up these things. I mean, if Junior Seau rushes toward the backfield on a play I taped, and he goes after the QB and I review it and say "Junior Seau blitzed into the backfield" are you gonna correct me and say "Only the coaches know for sure if Seau blitzed..." Jesus christ dude give me a break. I use to play football. I've been watching my whole life. I know NFL 2k and Madden playbooks pretty damn good and I know football terminology about as well as a non-coach can. There are things that are pretty easy to see and there are parts where I note that I'm not particularly sure if the guy was SUPPOSED to do this or not.

And then, there's the TRUMP CARD that you keep completely ignoring! WADE SMITH HIMSELF SAID HE GOT BEATEN. HE SAID IT HIMSELF HE SAID "I GOT BEAT"

My god man. How long are you going to point at the sky and argue with me that it is NOT BLUE.

OK now there no reason to say I act like everyone is blind, I only replied to you and I NEVER said you were blind. There's no "we" here I was replying to YOU alone.

I think you see things that aren't there, sometimes, just as you think I don't know what I'm talking about. Again I appreciate your original post, it was an excellent post. However I do not appreciate you putting words in my mouth and talking as if you are more than one person, and I especially do not appreciate you implying your opinion has any more validity than mine.

Wade Smith saying he was beaten does not mean he was. He and the coaches will see today if he actually was beaten when they grade their players on film. What a player thinks happens during a game often will be contrary to what actually happened once they review the film.

I don't agree with some of your detailed, second by second, blow by blow post, nor do I agree with WS with his assessment that he was beaten on that 1st play. Last time I checked that's why there are MBoards, and if you are looking for right and wrong on MBoards you are looking in the wrong places.

I have yet to discuss anything about what color the sky is. If you are implying that this is as cut and dry then IMO you are totally off base here. This is about an opinion; you seem to think what you type is fact, maybe. I do not agree with that. What you type may in fact be factual from time to time, like anyone else, but when you do a write up about what you saw in a game, there is nothing more opinionated than that.

Oliver...
 
Originally posted by ZOD
Oliver, The reason you always disagree with an honest assessment of the line is you are a 100% complete "homer" and I like it. :D


A couple of questions/comments CK.

Play 1- I saw this in the Titans scrimmage and noted it. Smith is excellent to his inside. They'll get nowhere trying to go inside of him.

Play 5- I saw this play somewhere. It looked like Smith was across the line of scrimmage when the pass was thrown.

Play 6- The bull rush/bounce outside. That's his weakness. It has been since the titan's scrimmage too. It seems as though he struggles after the bull rush to plant the right foot and get back.

This brings me to some questions in general.

How often did they line the tight end up on Smith's side to help out?

On the long pass plays that required some time. Could you give me a snap to release? I interested to see if 3.5 could have been attained on at least one.

On that note
Play 11- How much time did the QB have?

Play 12- The swim. Another professional move like the speed to the outside. Weakness.

Play 16- Glad to see Griese getting his time in pocket down.

Play 17- The line picked up the stunts well in the titans scrimmage too. But Smith got beat to the outside? That's what I worry about.

I'm encouraged by this assessment because he displayed his strengths so at least we know he has them against pro bowlers. The outside has to improve though. The outside is the weakness that prevents 3 seconds or more in the pocket.

Thanks again.

I'm a homer no doubt.

Oliver...
 
Originally posted by fairbanksb
CK and Oliver,
Where is the problem here? Wade Smith is a ROOKIE LT, in the second pre season game, going against a veteran Douglas. He did a good job. Not an exceptional job, but a good job. I'm pretty confident that he will get better and stronger as things progress. Dixon is expected back before too long. I'm also pretty confident that if you analyzed 19 plays of damn near any player on the team, not one is going to be perfect.

No problem here. Perfection is something someone else is looking for. I know that will never happen for any player while playing football. Anyone can do a break down play by play and make any player look far from perfect. What someone else sees as not perfect form I see as a successful play because there were no tackles, no QB hurries, and no SACKS. Every O-Lineman depends on the O-Lineman next to them. It seems someone wants to ignore that, I won't.

WS had an excellent game last night and we have not had a LT look as god for several years now. What will come of that for him and the Dolphins no one knows, but he's off to a GREAT start IMO.

Oliver...
 
Originally posted by ckparrothead
We are happy about that. It was the whole business of Wade Smith starting to be compared to Richmond Webb as a rookie, and Wade Smith being called better than Mark Dixon already...thats when I take issue. People are acting like he had a perfect game out there. He didn't, and my analysis shows it. And yes, there are LTs in this league who could go up against Hugh Douglas 19 times and not let Hugh develop a path straight to the QB a single time. My analysis just points out that Wade had a lot of help in the play-calling even though he had no TE help on pass protection. And on the 7 times when the phins ran plays and Hugh Douglas had a real chance to get at Fiedler, Wade Smith got totally beaten on one of them.

So be happy, at the very least he's quality depth which we were not sure we had. But don't get ahead of ourselves envisioning Wade Smith as the opening day starter and future LT of the Phins for the next 15 years. He's got a little ways to go still

What we? Why do you keep talking like you're more than one person? Please stop that! :D

Oliver...
 
Originally posted by ckparrothead
Hi folks. Just cuz I love doin this kinda stuff, I detailed every time that Wade Smith went up against Hugh Douglas.

1st matchup (1st and 10) Hugh on Wade, Hugh Douglas puts an inside move on Wade Smith and Wade finds himself recovering well, which is his strongsuit, however, when he recovered he was practically on Fiedler's jock and the ball intended to Chambers fell incomplete. Fiedler MIGHT have felt Wade Smith being a little too close...dunno.

(Next play run toward the left Wade Smith released clean off the line 5 yards downfield onto a LBer...I assume he was supposed to).

2nd matchup was definitely good job by Smith. I'm looking, it was a shotgun play, Fiedler had a good amount of time (not a LOONG time) to look around and tossed deep down the sidelines incomplete to Chambers. Smith bounced Hugh outside and kept him outside on the play, outside then way behind Fiedler.

3rd matchip 1st and 10. Also a good protection by Wade Smith. Hugh started to try and bull a path straight toward the QB pushing Wade back, but Wade quickly got a handle on the bullrush, dug in, and forcefully turned Hugh Douglas to the outside leaving Fiedler just standing in the pocket with a jersey cleaner than a virgins undergarments. Complete to Ricky Williams.

4th semi-matchup 2nd and 4. Good run blocking on Wade Smith's part. It was a toss to the right hand side but Wade Smith on the snap turned inside toward Center and made a dive block on #98 (DT Stroud or Henderson dont know which) but also ended up keeping Hugh Douglas out of the backside pursuit because Hugh had to go around Wade who was tangled on the ground along with #98.

5th matchup 3rd and 1. Good thing it was a short drop screen type of pass to Obafemi Ayanbadejo. Smith released up and into Hugh Douglas like it was a run play and he slowed Hugh down but Hugh started to bust through just as Fiedler tossed it to Femi. Wade did his job sure enough, but his job wasn't particularly hard to do in this play is what I'm sayin.

(Next play Wade Smith released inside of Hugh once again, it was the reverse to Sam Simmons....Wade chipped on a DT then released into the 2nd level where he just kinda searched for people to block and didn't find them...I could fault Wade on one small thing he could have helped block #95 a little better and if you notice it was #95's backside pursuit which distracted Fiedler and made Fiedler think that he was going to need to block #95 for Simmons...but he ended up not needing to and he wasn't able to get out to #55 in time to keep him from bracketing Simmons toward the sideline and #25 who was being blocked by Ruddy...definitely a little thing but you see how things cascade in football).

(Next play once again Wade Smith fires off inside of Hugh Douglas leaving #85 Donald Lee to block Hugh. Play goes right side but #98 flew by Todd Perry and disrupted the backfield just a little bit, enough to force Ricky to bounce it outside where he was met easily by #55).

6th matchup 3rd and 2. 3 step drop and its a good thing the play was designed to be fired off quickly to #81 Randy McMichael because Hugh Douglas gave a good bull push then bounced to the outside and was fending off Smith on a good line right to where Jay was standing until Jay fired off that ball. Wade Smith MIGHT have recovered in time to save Fiedler's hide, but he definitely would have disrupted Fiedler's throw if Jay held onto that ball a little longer.

7th matchup 1st and Goal at 13. Poor Hugh. After being taken out of the action all this time now he gets a screen thrown on him to keep him honest. Interesting block by Wade Smith. You could tell he almost didn't WANT Hugh to get by him and pursue the QB even though it was a screen. Wade popped Hugh into the inside and stayed with him moving diagonal right and backward, getting all the way to like 5 yards behind the RG before letting Hugh go after Jay Fiedler while Jay dumps to Ricky for the screen. Unfortunately, Randy McMichael failed to take #55 out of the play. He (McMike) ran an out route with #55 covering behind him, then when the ball was thrown McMike just kinda jogged a little behind Clark while Clark went up and contained Ricky and prevented him from following the blocks. R-Mac should have planned his route and subsequent block better than that. If he sells his route more toward the sideline, Ricky gains 8 yards or so. If he stays to the inside of #55 so that he can push him, Ricky gains 8 yards or so. By giving a half-@ss effort, Ricky gained practically nothing.

(Next play 2nd and Goal at 11...Hugh Douglas and the RDT dont know which guy, stunted. Hugh crossed into the LG and the DT crossed over to Wade Smith. Wade handled it easily...quick out to Derrius Thompson).

8th matchup 3rd and Goal from 4 yard line. Ultra quick drop and throw TD to Ricky Williams. I'll try to give you a good idea of what happened on the play. Prior to the snap the Jags actually gave a look of having 6 people rushing on the play. 4 down linemen, with #55 blitzing in between the RDT and Hugh Douglas, and another linebacker (I think #51 Oyadele) blitzing between LDT and LDE. Wade Smith easily handled Hugh Douglas, but hey he only had to do it for literally like 1.5 seconds. Anyway #55 was picked up by Nails, the RDT was picked up by Ruddy, the LDT was picked up by Perry, and #51 was picked up by...nobody. The LDE, dropped back and covered Ricky out of the backfield. Todd Wade, picked up nobody on this play, just sat out there in space lookin for someone that was gonna rush the passer. I'm not sure why he didn't make an effort to block #51 as he streaked right toward Jay Fiedler, but give the DC credit it was a zone blitz with 5 rushers loaded left and a LDE dropping into coverage. But, give Jay Fiedler and Ricky Williams even more credit because they read it PERFECTLY. Ricky saw he had a DE covering him (eh hem, MISMATCH) and he cut off his route to the inside and Jay Fiedler, backpeddling for his life in the face of #51 made a great read and great touch pass to Ricky's forward shoulder while Ricky abused the DE that dared try and cover him. This play happened so quickly it was ridiculous...give these guys credit for knowing each other really well. Jay is our QB.

9th matchup...1st and 10. This was a draw play, simulating a dropback pass then handing off to T.Minor. Hugh initially stepped to the outside thinking passrush, then after one step tried to move inside recognizing the draw play. I think that was pretty fast recognition actually, but one step to the outside was all Smith needed. He kept Douglas way away from the play.

(Next play 2nd and 1 was a handoff up the gut to Femi. Wade Smith fired out to the 2nd level immediately...Hugh was chipped by a TE then chipped by a pulling Perry and the play was away from Hugh anyway...for what its worth Wade Smith did handle #55 pretty well I think)

10th matchup 1st and 10. Weird block right here. Femi before the snap was lined wide in the slot and motioned into an Off I fullback position left. Fiedler dropped back into a 7 step drop. Wade Smith initially blocked Hugh Douglas to the outside and was handling him well. Then #55 began to rush into the fray a little delayed so Wade actually disengaged Douglas and blocked #55, leaving Femi to block Douglas. Well, Femi did not block him needless to say...I think he recognized like one step too late that he needed to be blocking Hugh. But either way Fiedler had already found his man Travis Minor out of the backfield for a 10 yard play and 1st down. Hugh didn't end up affecting the play I don't think. My instinct is to say good block and good read by Wade Smith, bad reaction by Femi Ayanbadejo. But overall too bad Wade disengaged...this was a 7 step drop I dont know why Femi couldn't have just been responsible for #55 who was blitzing in between LG and LT. Anyway either Smith or Femi screwed up here. Either Wade was supposed to pick up 55 or he was supposed to stay on Hugh. We won't know.

11th matchup 1st and 10. Shotgun formation tailback right. Wade Smith once again kudos. Fiedler stood in the pocket all day long and tossed a long ball incomplete to Chambers...overthrown. Wade had Hugh just plain handled on this play I think. Meanwhile Jamie Nails was definitely having some trouble with his DT who looked very quick. Its either Stroud or Henderson, but both are high picks...young guys with lots of potential.

12th matchup...2nd and 10. On the 12th day of matchups his true love gave to Hugh....yup finally, 12 times a charm, Hugh Douglas finally beat the heck out of Wade Smith with a great swim move inside that left Wade Smith wondering what in the heck just happened. Unfortunately for Douglas, the RDT that was going up against Jamie Nails was having trouble getting around the wide body and decided to step left a little, leaving Nails to disengage him and pick up whoever he needed to and in this case it was Hugh Douglas streaking on an inside route right for Jay Fiedler...and Nails managed to get enough push to keep Fiedler's jersey clean while Fiedler, who sensed the collapsing pocket, ran straight forward for a good short gainer. This is the play Wade Smith says Hugh got him on but fortunately Nails was there to help him a little. Was bound to happen.

13th matchup...3rd and 6. How do you bounce back? Well the entire Jax DL rushed left and Wade pretty much stayed on top of Hugh. But it doesn't matter, cuz this was a quick 3 step drop throw slant to Oronde Gads...errm...I mean, Derrius Thompson on a slant. And you know what? Someone did his homework. Fernando Bryant knew Derrius was taking over OG's routes (ie the slant, fade, etc) and he positioned himself PERFECTLY on the inside shoulder of Derrius Thompson so that he was there immediately to break up the pass. Good heady play by Bryant. That was just textbook.

(Next play 1st and 10 Wade Smith released out on a left pitch to Minor...just kinda crashed around a bit didn't make any key blocks but then again the play was all happening outside of him and the guys he was buttin heads with).

14th semi-matchup...2nd and 8. Boy you know Hugh must have been gettin frustrated. But he wasn't sweatin it, this is preseason and by this time I think he resigned to the fact that he wasn't gonna get to make a play against this rook for various reasons. Weird block, not particularly good, it was McMichael who made the particularly good block on Hugh. He dove in front of Hugh's legs and tripped him him, while Wade Smith kinda stuck his body forward toward the DT while keepin his legs behind to help trip up Hugh. They were both just preventing backside pursuit on a Minor run to the right. But Wade got up and gave Hugh a good shove (not illegal, but one of those 'mean' shoves) while the play was ending and Hugh just took it in stride. Gave no lip, didn't get angry at this rook acting like he had the best of the great Hugh Douglas.

15th matchup 1st and 10. Once again a run play to opposite side of Hugh Douglas. Once again Hugh was cut blocked by Wade Smith just to prevent some backside pursuit which Hugh Douglas probably had no intention of giving anyway.

16th matchup 2nd and 8. Griese's in at QB btw. Griese drops back on a 5 step drop, I count about 2.5 seconds at the most before he throws a beautiful floater left sidelines to Derrius Thompson who just goes up and makes an INCREDIBLE grab. Boy the coaches found a guy who can replace OG pretty easy. Anyway Hugh Douglas couldn't overcome Smith....they locked horns and Smith stopped Hugh's progress about 2 yards away from Griese while Griese tossed it. Good blocking, but again...about 2 seconds was all Griese wanted and needed.

17th matchup 1st and 10. I cant believe Hugh is still in the game at this point. On the play 99 or 98 whichever the LDT is ran a stunt to the outside evading Perry and eventually giving chase to Griese on a deeeeep dropback. It looks like Griese kept dropping back cuz Todd Wade was allowing his man to take an inside route deep into the backfield. Eventually Griese completes what looks like it could have been a designed screen to Minor. Wade Smith engaged Hugh Douglas, but eventually Griese just dropped back so far that Smith lost Hugh and he gave chase to the QB but not before Griese was able to complete the pass to Minor. Can't fault Smith, he's not going to outsprint Hugh Douglas in a 10 yard sprint back-peddling the whole way.

18th matchup 2nd and 8 and it looks like Hugh wants out of the game. He's tired of this ****. None of the plays are going towards him, he's catchin all kinds of bad breaks, and on this double TE set even when Hugh was initially blocked by Wade Smith then stunted inside, only to be pounded by Nails and Ruddy together while the play was happening on the other side of the field. I'm not sure what made Griese decide to tuck and run here...the Two Todds were lettin their guys penetrate a little bit but looked like they'd have gotten them under control, but either way Griese rolled right and ran OOBs. Nothin doin for Hugh Douglas.

19th matchup 3rd and 9. Wade Smith's only mistake was a moments hesitation here but you can't blame him as it looked once again like the RDT was going to stunt to the outside. However Hugh Douglas did not stunt outside, he stayed the course and Smith's hesitation gave him an opening to run toward the QB until bam he was popped by Femi Ayanbadejo who got help from Wade Smith as he recognized that the stunting DT was literally no threat to the play. Still Hugh was a little closer than he should have been and that combined with Todd Wade's man getting deep back to within a few yards of Griese, might have made Brian dump this ball off to Minor who couldn't get near the 1st down marker.

And thats all. From here out I don't believe Hugh Douglas played a down. This is probably normal for a DE, but on the majority of plays Hugh didn't even really have a chance to make something happen. Yet he got his opportunities and he was for the most part handled by Smith. I counted 3 times when Hugh was able to actually affect the play maybe just a little. The 1st matchup, the 12th matchup, and possibly the final 19th matchup. Two of them were minimal effects at best. On one of them, Hugh definitely caused Fiedler to sense things going badly and tuck the ball and run forward for positive yardage, and had Nails not picked up Douglas he probably would have gotten a sack. But by the very end Hugh looked uninspired, like he didn't even want to be there anymore in this game that means nothing, getting embarrassed by a rookie.

I count 7 matchups where Hugh Douglas could have made something happen...plays where the QB dropped back long enough or whatever. Hugh got what I would consider 1 QB pressure with those 7 opportunities...when he forced Jamie Nails to cover Wade Smith's butt and Fiedler tucked the ball and ran. Even then, if Fiedler stands strong I don't think Douglas touches him.

I wanted to ask you, but I kept forgetting because we were going back and forth so often.

Can I repost this post on another MBoard? I know alot of guys on that MBoard would love to read what you typed up here. Good stuff.

Olive...
 
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