Mike Williams

[THATHURMANATOR]

I was listening to WGR the other day an they had John Clayton on and he had Big Mike as his All AFC right tackle. I was under the impression Mike was struggling. Clayton said it was a tough choice but he spoke to a number of personnel evaluators around the league and they concurred with him. What are your thoughts?

[Patrick76777]

Sometimes we’re Hyper-critical!

[THATHURMANATOR]

Sometimes?

[socalfan]

He plays next to puck..cillo. Anyone would look good standing next to him. Actually, I think he does a decent job and if he were next to someone that could play, then it would really show up.

[stuckincincy]

The playcalling and the statue at QB would make Reggie McKenzie, Anthony Munoz, Tony Boselli, Art Shell, etal look like pikers. NO defense of Puck-O, but the game PLAN is very poor.

This franchise has a sickness...

[THATHURMANATOR]

I agree.

[mchurchfie]

I was watching Big Mike during the Dallas game and the little times they did run he did a good job....I saw him pancake one Dallas player. Obviously runblocking is his strength..he still looks confused with passblocking. Its unfortunate that Gilbride doesn't power run the ball more and let Big Mike and the rest of the OLinemen get in a rhythm and build some confidence. I hope that they run Gilbride out of town before he ruins him.:shakeno:

[THATHURMANATOR]

We all do church!

[E-Klips]

Although he struggles with pass protection, I think he's a good RT. In the running game, which a RT should excel in, he's a monster! Of course, with Killbride here as the offensive (very offensive!) coordinator, his abilities in that area are hindered. I was at the Dallas game and there were numerous times I saw him going inside to either aid Puke-cillo's sorry butt on a block or block his guy altogether. They need to get rid of him and probably shift Teague into the guard spot or use Teague as a backup.

[mchurchfie]

Big Mike will be a Probowler in the near future...mark my words.:up:

[socalfan]

I think you are right....that is right after they get a guard to play next to him.

[Jan Reimers]

He's not a great pass blocker, and since we don't run a lot to the right, he's not a real road grader, either. I think he's the new Ruben Brown - establish an undeserved reputation early on, and spend the rest of your career living off of it.

[Ð]

Yep. As a tackle, you're only as good as the guard next to you. If he's constantly having to adjust for pussywillow's mistakes and the defense constantly blitzes the B gap, then you'll never be able to run off-tackle and forget about pass protection. Basically, Pucillo makes Big Mike look worse than he actually is because he is not concentrating on what his proper blocking assignments are...might as well be playing sandlot ball.

[ArcticWildMan]

Originally posted by Jan Reimers
He's not a great pass blocker, and since we don't run a lot to the right, he's not a real road grader, either. I think he's the new Ruben Brown - establish an undeserved reputation early on, and spend the rest of your career living off of it.


Exactly! His size and draft spot are blinding too many people. He's not a bad player by any stretch, buit he sure isn't a Pro-bowl player. Another Reuben Brown is born.

[Ð]

There's another side to this, too. If you have a weak side of the line & can read the blitz, then a smart QB/Center combo can adjust & call a blocking scheme/play that gets the runner to the other side to counter the biltz, basically trapping the blitzers to make them pay.

We don't have an OL coach capable of giving that value added to the line...I bet no counter-schemes exist and we don't have a smart center or QB.

[Michael82]

Originally posted by mchurchfie
Big Mike will be a Probowler in the near future...mark my words.:up:

Yeah, he will be! :D

[TedMock]

D hit the nail on the head. An OL has to ALWAYS look inside first, especially when cosidering a pocket QB like Bledsoe. With Pucillo playing so poorly next to him he's blocking down or checking inside first and then has to take the outside guy a second too late. Also, the TE's aren't blocking well which is a huge reason DE's are coming off the corner. Henry's holding his own blocking in the backfield but he turns the wrong way quite a bit too. There are so many more factors than people realize when it comes to pass blocking. It's not just "...well I saw him get burned".

[WG]

Agreed TM!