Resisting the Demby Narrative

I feel as if I am living in an alternative universe with this Demby thing. A narrative is settling in not just on this board but in the press and even, apparently, in coach and team comments. But when I look at the tape, I see a completely different reality.

The narrative is that Demby is a noble back up who stepped in during an emergency, struggled at first, and then “settled down,” contributing to an offense that kept chugging along. Vinnie B., whom I respect in general, just posted a puff piece on him, although I notice that he really didn’t say anything about how Demby actually played.

What I see when I actually look at him out there is bush league incompetence mixed with lack of effort. I mean, this guy is going to get Goff killed. So, I’m sorry. I’m going to go full-on RFL on this sucker and push back. I doubt it’ll do much good, but there’s some, like, evidence out there.

If you don’t like long-form pieces, stop reading. If you don’t want to hear about a serious weakness threatening to short-circuit our offense and hurt our QB, click out of this post. If you are committed to a positive Demby narrative, this stuff is not for you.

Hey, the coaches are backing Demby. Don’t you think they know better than you do?

I always hate this gambit. Of course it is abundantly clear past any question that McV and Kromer and the team itself know vastly more than I do about football and about what is specifically going on. If, for you, that concession cancels out what a fellow fan SEES, well, I’ll see you in other threads.

You know, people only seem to use the “coaches know better than you” shtick when the coaches back their viewpoint. As soon as the coaches do or say something they don’t like, people suddenly feel authorized to put their feet to the fire.

Look. McV is a fine leader. He is not exactly a Delphic oracle at the podium or on the record. He has his own brand of coach speak and he is way too savvy to speak frankly about a backup who struggled when pressed into service.

Still, McV and Kromer did pick Demby over others for the roster, the game roster, and the 6th man for the OL. I can’t really figure out why, although I have a couple of suspicions to mention later. Yet these choices do say something. McV, Snead, and Kromer do have a pretty good track record on these decisions, and they see the guys in practice, the weight room, lecture halls, and PrS games. They DO know a lot more about Demby than I do.

However, even a guy with a track record of player development like Kromer’s is not foolproof. No one is. And I can easily imagine a guy who has developed limited athletes beginning to over-trust his theories and think he can develop a guy who really doesn’t have it. I mean I dunno. Maybe this, maybe that.

What I do know is what I SEE on the bleeding field. I SEE a guy who just cannot physically do what he needs to do. Not just on a couple of plays, but throughout games. I see his breakdowns fouling up plays and getting Goff hit a lot more than I like. Those are realities, and coach-speak doesn’t wipe them away.

The Tale of the Tape: Pass Blocking

Demby enters the game at 6:45 of the 2nd quarter. 2nd and 20, ball on the 24. On the first play, Goff tosses to Malcolm away from Demby. We did a lot of that, and indeed much of the success of the offense, run and pass, was predicated on going away from Demby.

Demby’s 2nd play … well, that was from a NO perspective “the play”: the pick/slash fumble that “cost them a TD.” It’s 3rd and 7 on the 11. We’re in a shotgun with Brown, slot left and double wide right. NO are very widelky spread out. There’s a stack—Nose and ILB—over Allen and the Des are wide—our OGs and Ts are uncovered. NO rushes 4, including the 2 in a stack.

Now, the nose shades left and the LB approaches Allen and Demby. He hits mainly into Allen and the Nose stunts into Demby. Initially, the two square off, but then the LB pushes back to Demby’s inside. Demby simply lets him go. Fumble. Blown call. NO outrage.

So this is Demby’s 2nd play. According to the narrative, it’s one of his “rough start” moments before settling in. But, I want to pause here to say some words about OL play.

We run the zone blocking game which reduces the degree to which an OL is required to master the defender physically. The OL works as a coordinated unit, using movement to string out the defense and then seal defenders off, leaving running or passing lanes. This is why individual OL play can be hard to assess, since they aren’t necessarily asked to blow a guy off the ball and it isn’t always clear what their responsibilities are. Lateral movement also tends to pull DL/LBs along so they move down the line more than penetrating. In this coordinated dance, OL with perhaps limited talent can learn to fit into the synchronicity and serve as effective screens. Blythe and Hav are good examples.

However. No matter how much lateral motion you can manage, DL/LBs do fairly frequently penetrate up-field. Even in a zone scheme, an OL must be able to handle penetration. When people talk about that, they often think of footwork, and it is obvious when an OL simply can’t keep up with a rusher’s feet.

What people don’t think about is the physical encounter. It is key to understanding why I am so down on Demby. In this play, he did not hesitate from indecision. He didn’t fail to take on his man out of confusion. The nose didn’t leave him in the dust with footwork. The initial stick is solid and, for a split second, Demby has the guy squared up. Then, just as fast, he loses him. Why? For 2 telling reasons.

In the initial contact, a pass blocking OL must do two things. First, he has to deliver a blow—they call it “punch”—that stands the guy up and takes away his momentum. Second, he has to maintain an effectively wide base, not just with footwork but with the upper body, to keep the rusher from simply running through the shoulders. He has to keep the guy, shall we say, inside his pads, at least for a second or so.

Poor OL can’t do both and may do neither. IMO, this is the case with Demby. He gets squared up on the guy, but doesn’t slow him down and then his left side completely collapses and the guy goes through his left pad like a crowd through a turnstile. Even after a time consuming stunt and that moment of initial contact, the nose gets freely into Goff and causes the fumble.

2 plays. Directly responsible for a fumble, a should-have-been TD the other way, and a hit on our prize QB’s arm that could easily have been as devastating as the one on Brees.

Oh, yeah, but everyone acknowledges he had a rough start. But then, apparently, he settled down.

“Settled down”—that magic phrase that seems to absolve his struggles. But did he settle down? I see no evidence that he did. Here are some plays from later in the game.

2nd Q, 0:14, 3 and 3, NO 4: Demby again faces the stack over C. The LB blitzes to his outside shoulder. OK, that’s to Demby’s advantage: he has inside position and his first contact is into the shoulder of a LB turned awkwardly away from his route to the QB. He ought to be fine. But, as if Demby isn’t there, the LB runs around him the long way, to the outside, and rushes Goff’s throw. Demby basically whiffs.

3rd Q, 15:00, 1 and 10, Ram 25. Rams empty with 5 wide. Demby faces a tackle on Hav’s inside shoulder. The tackle completely whips him to the inside and gets in on Goof, who is also hit by NB’s man. Goff just barely gets the pass off.

3rd Q, 14:54, 3 and 10, Ram 25. Rams in the gun with TG, 4 wide. Demby completely uncovered. The nose slants to Allen’s right. Allen decides to try to help NB, who is totally whipped, and Demby tries to block down on the nose. Demby stands up, pushes on the guy’s shoulder pad, moving him a bit, and then just watches as the guy goes past and in on Goff who somehow manages to hit TG for a near 1 down.

3rd Q, 9:23, 2 and 7, Ram 43. Rams in the I with TG, tight bunch right. A rare case of a decent pass block by Demby, who is covered by a DT. The DT initially moves laterally to the outside, then comes back, laterally, to the right. Demby stays with him—his footwork may be his best asset. Kupp makes a catch for 27 and Demby is visibly excited. But in a sense this play proves my point. He handles lateral movement, but the DT never really attacks him up the field. That’s where his problem is.

3rd Q, 8:41, 1 and 10, NO 30. The next freaking play! Rams in an I with bunch tight right, flanker in motion. NO: straight 4/3 with Demby covered. Let me say that again: DEMBY IS COVERED, WITH A DT ON HIS HEAD. RIGHT THERE! So when Goff drops back, what does our hero do? He freaking ABANDONS the DT and wanders off to the right to help Hav. The DT runs hard into TG stepping up, knocks him back, and rushes Goff. And by the way, attempting a double team with Hav, Demby doesn’t get there either. The DE gets there about the same time as the DT. And Demby stands there, letting the play go by him.

3rd Q, 8:34, 2 and 20on the NO 40. After the successive false starts by other people. Rams empty, 3 wide right, 2 wide left. NO in ¾ with Demby covered. It’s a flanker screen to Demby’s right. He happily lets the DT rush (you’re supposed to chip a bit) and goes up-field. Woods is cutting up to his right and Demby sees 2 LBs in front of him, both with possible shots at Woods. Hav is trying to get a block, but Demby is apparently disinterested. He turns upfield and scoots along, completing the play by tripping over a fallen DB. Like, maybe try a bit? Show you’re interested?

4th Q, 9:31. 3 and 2, Ram 33. Were you as excited for this play, Kupp’s long bomb, as I was? Well, it almost didn’t happen.

Rams are trips left, slot right. NO has a nose on Allen and then wide gaps, leaving Demby uncovered. The DE is standing outside Hav and steps over toward Demby, who leans an awkward right shoulder out there, his head turning away. Demby gets no punch at all, the DE goes through that weak base, and gets within 6 inches of Goff’s arm as he releases the ball. Horrific pass blocking but superb QBing.

Demby does have a couple of decent pass blocking efforts to go with his multiple failures. I count, maybe 3?

Tale of the Tape: Run Blocking

So what of run blocking? Well, the pattern holds. When he can move laterally with a mirroring DL/DB, he can be, uh, non-disastrous. And it needs to be pointed out that the somewhat more successful Ram rushing attack that has people saying that Demby “settled down” was almost always lateral, with stretch blocking along the line. Most of the time, they simply ran away from him. However, when he had to take a penetrating DB/LB on physically, the results were not good.

2nd Q, 2:39. 1 and 10 after the hold on 4th down. NO 48 yard line. Rams: bunch tight right. Counter toss right to Gurley who gets the corner for 20 yards. Demby does OK here, fitting our pattern. The play is out around him. He stretches right and the DT mirrors him. Demby’s feet are OK and the 2 neutralize each other. He doesn’t really contribute to the play, but move him laterally and he can hold his own some. As long as that DL doesn’t turn upfield on him.

2nd Q, 1:18. 1 and 10, NO 11. This is where McV critics say, “Why didn’t you pound Gurley?” Well, he tries. Tight slot left, tight bunch right. NO in a standard 4/3. The play is a toss right which gains only 3. Now, Demby is covered directly. In the zone blocking scheme, however, he steps past the DT, leaving him to Allen. He lines up the LB, but is slow and the guy runs through his reach—and through Woods, gamely trying—and his LB makes the tackle in inside-out pursuit. Again, a physically penetrating defender blows right through him.

3rd Q, 7:06, 1 and goal, NO 8. Rams in I, 2 wide left, TE and tight flanker right. NO in 4/3 with a DT in the C/G gap to Demby’s side. TG dives over LG. Allen doubles down left, so Demby must handle that DT inside him. 99 runs right through his inside shoulder and gets upfield, forcing TG back to the right where the pursuit swallows him up for a loss. Demby, who can’t handle the guy physically, could have created a seam with a decent block. He didn’t.

3rd Q, 3:37. 1 and 10, NO 26. Right after the Natson return. Goff tosses left to Brown, away from Demby, who slides along laterally matching the mirroring DT. Then Brown cuts way back inside Demby, who suddenly finds himself in a target-rich environment. He makes a half-hearted effort to screen off the over-pursuing DL, but turns quickly away, too late to try to help on the pursuit guys who get Brown. He does manage to pump his fists in celebration after Brown gets 11 without his help.

3rd Q, 3:20. 1 and 10, NO 15. Rams in an I, split L, TE right with a slot outside and the flanker in motion to left side. This pulls LBs in the NO 4/3 to the left of center. 2 defenders to the right—DE and DT on Demby’s head. The play is a stretch draw right. Demby stretches with the DT and has his typical half second of contact, only to lose the DT to the outside. The DT reads Browns cut back to the middle. At this point, after over-committing to the outside, he SHOULD have been sealed off by the OG. But Demby has decided he has done his duty and quits on the play. The DT is able to cut back, unopposed, and tackle Brown.

Let me wrap up this sad list of gaffes with a moment that just captures who I think Demby is. 3 Q, 9:33, Ram 44. The play is a toss left to TG, who gains 5. Demby is on the backside of the play, essentially irrelevant. He and the DT move laterally play-side, and the DT cuts upfield, outside but easily around him—no real resistance from Demby—and in pursuit. The play is long gone, both guys out of it. But Demby finds himself with his back to the DT, sensing the guy moving. For half a second, he apparently thinks he is boxing out for a rebound in basketball, and he gives this sadly hilarious little bump with his butt, back into air. That’s his idea of OL play. Wander into a spot and act like a screen. Don’t really hit anybody. Just waggle your butt and hope it knocks someone who may or may not still be there off course.

Final Assessment

So why do the Rams keep Demby on the roster and turn to him when an OG goes down? I mean, I really don’t know. However, I can see one asset: he has good, quick feet. He does not get beat because he can’t keep up. Also, he has a little experience and may have a decent grasp of the offense and what Kromer wants him to do.

Good feet? Sounds encouraging. But I have three major problems with Demby.

1. Pattern: the pattern of lousy play seems to me to be overwhelming. Lots and lots of weak efforts and collapses. Some anonymous plays in which he did little one way or another, but very few decisive contribution to successful plays.
2. Weakness: physically, he is overmatched in contact. He has little punch and cannot sustain blocks because he lacks that wide base.
3. Attitude: he just does not show evidence of wanting to get in the fight. He frequently wanders around, avoiding the action, even when it is right in front of him. He does, however, like to cheerlead for good plays made by other guys!

And see these issues are not related to experience or nerves or rhythm. I saw ZERO evidence of a “settling down” effect. I see a guy who is underpowered and under-motivated. I’ve never seen such a guy flourish—I’ve seen scores fail. I will be shocked if Demby ever makes it to league-average capability.

Sadly, Demby was not alone in his poor performance. As I watched Demby, NB and Hav often showed up in the stinker column as well. I still need to do a long look at NB and Allen (I like him in general). Overall, our OL is simply not a strength and may be emerging as a liability.

What saves us is the really clever zone blocking scheme. If there was any “settling down,” it was, as far as I can see, far more a matter of McV and Kromer moving the game laterally, stretch runs and tosses, QB half rolls, bootlegs. They keep forcing the defense to move laterally, creating chances for seams to open. And don’t forget Goff, who repeatedly made plays under huge pressure. Demby had a lousy game, but the coaches and QB managed to minimize the damage he did and take our eyes off his lousy pass blocking.

But how long can clever blocking schemes support a weak and/or green OL? See, I like Goff. I want to see him remain healthy. I am not a big fan of Blythe, but he could manage adequate. With Demby in there? Man, I figure we’ll be seeing Bortles fairly soon and Goff’s career could be on the line. One hit to the knees …