|
Grades for the 1st string OL:
LT Eric Fisher: D. I thought Fisher looked good as I watched the game. Watching him specifically on each of his 11 snaps revealed the truth, however. Other than two or three snaps where Fisher legitimately dominated, he looked pretty terrible. I completely disagree with Trent Green on the strip-sack -- perhaps Smith held the ball too long, but Fisher was getting owned from the get go on that play. And that was a theme on too many pass plays -- I counted 3 -- where Fisher simply greeted the passrusher too high and got his shit pushed in. He blocked fairly well in the run game, but allowed Wallace Gilberry to ride him all the way to sideline to shut down a run by DAT. A truly lackluster performance in limited time.
LG Jeff Allen: D. I've never been a big fan of Jeff Allen ever since his rookie season, and that was only reinforced by this terrible performance. His runblocking was confused and average, his passblocking was confused and weak. Allen still struggles to anchor against bullrushes, something demonstrated on the strip-sack when Domata Peko, a 320 lbs DT that nobody on the Chiefs' OL had answers for, threw Allen into Smith's lap. Allen was consistently unable to make a play downfield on screens, and was consistently unable to move his guy up the gut.
C Rodney Hudson: C. Hudson's pass protection was pretty solid, but he faced zero passrushers and blitzes. His real test would be in the run game, where he would not only fail to make any noise, he would actually get blown up a couple times, such on the first 3rd down conversion of the game, where his DT rode him all the way into Jamaal, shutting down the play and forcing the Chiefs to punt.
RG Zach Fulton: B. I actually felt like Fulton looked like the 2nd best lineman out there. He was effective in passblocking, giving up zero pressures. What's most impressive is his get-up-and-go at the 2nd level. Zach Fulton is a fatass of a guard, but he can surprisingly get down field in a hurry. He didn't do much damage at the 2nd level this game, but it's clear he can get there, which is something that genuinely surprises me. He's also an effective run blocker -- he wasn't lining up against Geno Atkins, but he was able to reliably push his man all game and get some room for the RBs. He gets a bit confused with his blocking assignments, but that'll right itself soon.
RT Donald Stephenson: B+. Best lineman of the game for the Chiefs. It's a shame Fisher can't get his shit together right now, because he would give the Chiefs perhaps the most athletic tackle duo in the country. Whereas Fisher's extra weight seems to have slowed him down to slightly-above-average speed, Stephenson can flat-out book it. His work in the passing game was extremely good, with hardly anybody really challenging him (the only one who did was Robert Geathers, who came close to riding Stephenson into Smith, but Stephenson slowed them down). His work at the 2nd level was great, and he looked efficient getting push.
That said, all Chiefs starters really suck at chip blocking right now. I don't know what they've been teaching them, but 100% of their chip blocks were weak and ineffective. At one point, Fulton chip blocked so horribly he actually blocked Stephenson, freeing up both of their guys to pursue the ball.
|