Oldnotdead chimes in…

Here’s oldnotdead…

I've liked Young since his acquisition and could never understand the criticism he received. Too many people rely upon PFF grades and pass judgment based upon their skewed assessment. PFF is weighted towards fantasy football, not realistic game evaluation.

It's why I've always felt he and Reeder were underrated. Young is that new hybrid ILB/SS type of player that Seattle has for all these years in Bobby Wagner. I will say it again Reeder and Wagner are very good ILBs when utilized correctly. In Morris' scheme, he uses Young for his coverage abilities over Reeder and his ability to be stout at the POA. It's not a judgment of either player, it's all in the DC's idea of scheme fit.

Staley used Reeder to cover the A gaps, and he played a key role in Staley's run defense. Young plays in more like the Wagner/coverage LB role. If Morris wants to stop the run IMO we will see Jones and Reeder. When Morris is emphasizing pass defense I think Young will be the only ILB with Rapp subbing for the other ILB/SS role.

I think we began to see that somewhat (minus Jones) in the second half of Sunday's game. If people really focus upon their play, both Reeder and Young are pretty damn good ILBs. The media people look at stats and think that tells the story. But you need to watch the play and utilization to really put their value into context.

It's no different with Allen at center. His play in 2019 is still underrated and it's why I've never had any doubt he would play well as a starter. McVay wants to play power without a lead blocker, i.e. FB. That can be done but it needs a mobile OG and most of all center. We saw a beautiful example of that in Henderson's 4th quarter runs. Henderson was running inside behind the doubled blocks of Allen and Corbett. On Henderson's TD run, that was a thing of beauty. The OL execution was perfect. Allen chipped to his right then executed a beautiful gap block to his left while Corbett used the chip to take the handoff from Allen. OMG, that was textbook and testimony to Carberry. This OL has never blocked like that under Kromer.

Look for more of that type of "power" blocking inside with Allen and the OGs opening the holes between the tackles.

The bottom line is that this team is far better than most outside observers realize. The team is executing at a much higher level across the board on both sides of the ball.

Another unnoticed example is what went into the Donald / Hollins sack. J. Willams rotated in for Floyd and along with SJD took on 3 of the 5 OL. Williams and his power forced a double team by the RG and RT. SJD occupied the center. That allowed Morris to have AD and Hollins singled up on the LG and LT. And as we saw they plowed right through them. J. Williams had some quality snaps leading up to that. The Bear OL knew he was bringing speed and power in his rush and they responded with a double leaving them singled up on AD and Hollins (a huge mistake).

If you take the time to really look at the play of this team you will see some really good stuff going on and why I say no team can matchup with the Rams when they bring their A game. They have exceptional rotational depth in guys like J. Williams, Gaines, and Rochell who quietly allow the stars like AD, Hollins and Ramsey to do their thing. Without the solid depth behind them, Morris can't turn his dogs loose when he wants, the way he wants.