In Ferentz's media day yesterday, he was saying that Jake Christensen had a great spring, deserved playing time, and was pushing Drew Tate hard. He then said Tate being a righty and Jake being a lefty presented "problems" for the Offensive line... with the left tackle being the "stud" position for Tate and the right tackle being the stud position for Christensen. So here's my question for you experts. Is that because the left tackle protects a righty's blindside and vice versa... or is it because usually the left tackle is "alone", meaning the tight end is on the right side as righty QB's generally are better rolling right? Hey... a real football question for a change!!!!:shock:
My interepretation would be which tackle is protecting the QB's blind side. Of course, multiple tight end formations and those formations where the tight end is in motion complicate the issue a bit.
It is the blind side one. This is exactly why the falcons got a very good RT when they drafted Mike Vick. And why most great Tackles ex. Wille Roaf has always played LT for a Right handed QB.
Plus some guys can't just move from the left to the right. Just like people are either right handed or left handed, people favor one foot to the other, just not as much as the hands. Why does this matter? Because as a tackle your first step is everything, if you can not get back quick enough a good DE will blow right by you.
first step and outside hand as well.. if you are a right handed person, playing the left side isnt as easy... also, teams generally run more toward the qb's strong side, because of the playaction pass... playaction to the left for a right handed qb takes alot longer.. so.. left tackle protects the backside, right tackle is a roadgrader..
A left tackle has to have quick feet to keep a quick defensive end from getting around him. Not every big man who can overpower an interior lineman has the quickness and agility to drop back quickly and consistently push that DE to the outside. If he misses that block on the blind side the quarterback will never see the tackle coming. If the right tackle misses the block, a QB can see it and possibly evade or throw the ball away. If the left tackle misses, it is often a sack.
Hawker, I've always seen it put as the best lineman/athlete on the OL is your LT because that's a right-handed QBs blindside. More specifically, defenses tend to line up their best DEs on that side for the same reason (i.e., it's a right-handed QB's blindside), which is why you'd want your best OLineman on your opponent's best DLineman. Interesting comment on the TE, however, as it would make sense to have a better blocker on the side where the TE doesn't normally line up and could help out...though most TEs get the OLB on his side as a blocking target more often than helping out on a DE (or so I would think).
There is a little clarification out of our camp. Dace Richardson (6'6", 300) is our starting LT and is our best pass rush blocker. He is also left-handed. He will stay on the left side regardless of the QB. On the right side, Marshall Yanda (6'4", 315) is a better plow horse and will start when Tate is QB. When the lefty comes in, Yanda will be replaced by Dan Doering (6'7", 300), who is quicker against the rush. Leave it to Ferentz to figure all this out!!!! "We gonna have some offense this year!"
Hey Hawker, I'm compiling my short-list of national title contenders who are getting sweet odds (I love betting futures) and part of me wants to add Iowa to the list (running about 50-1 these days). What's keeping me from pulling the trigger is the Big 10 schedules. I just think it's going to be extra tough for a Big 10 team to run the table without having the benefit of bye weeks during the season..and, even if one does go undefeated during the regular season, you're looking at a *51 day layoff* from last reg. season game to the Fiesta Bowl. That's over 7 weeks! An undefeated SEC or Big XII champ, by comparison, has a 5 week gap. I just don't see it, Iowa going undefeated...oh, and if they do they better hope their in cahoots with, say, W. Va and their joke of a schedule because that non-conf. sched. (Syracuse, Montana) isn't doing you any favors.
