Field Gulls
The Seattle Seahawks rookies combined for 124 snaps in Week 2, just five more than in Week 1, but the impact was much more positive. More than half of those snaps came from first-round pick Grey Zabel, offensive lineman. This is the first time I’ve written this series of articles and we haven’t seen anything on defense with snaps.
All data used in this article was taken from PFF.
Let’s analyze some of the important plays from this game!
Zabel’s Week 2 numbers, according to PFF, weren’t impressive and were quite different from Week 1. He led the way in pressures with four, of which three were hits and one pressure, resulting in a pass-block grade of 30.3. His run-block performance wasn’t much different either, with just 54.3 (the worst among Seahawks offensive linemen).
PFF uses rules to assign these grades and assign who yielded pressure. The Steelers used a lot of long stunts, putting the edge on one side and crossing the defensive end on the opposite side. He often ended up going into Zabel’s gap, but based on the OL’s call (BoB, Full Slide, or Half Slide), it didn’t seem like Zabel’s fault.
In fact, he seemed more alert and quicker to react to these types of plays. In the play above, TJ Watt leaves the D gap on the right side of the OL to attack the B gap on the left side of the OL. The purpose of this “delayed” stunt is to catch the OL by surprise after they commit to their blocking. Zabel slides to the right side (following the OL’s call), but this time he doesn’t keep his eyes fixed on the DL in front of him, keeps his head up, and identifies the EDGE’s stunt.
Zabel was once again involved in a rushing TD. This time, he blocks the safety at the third level to facilitate Ken Walker’s arrival in the end zone. He moves with ease and fluidity.
He doesn’t take a good angle to block on the DL. When the center tries to help with a double-team, he ends up getting in the way, and Zabel lacks the strength to stay engaged, forcing Ken Walker to improvise.
As I said, his performance in the running game had its ups and downs, as did basically the entire OL. In this play, he makes a beautiful combo block showing speed coming out of his stance and strength to move the defender and then turns to the backside opening the gap for the RB.
Injured.
He had three targets for two receptions and 31 yards. His usage in Week 2 was much closer to my projection for him in Klint Kubiak’s scheme. Of his 26 snaps, only seven were blocks.
Arroyo received a 74.3 run-blocking grade (second on the team). Most of his blocks didn’t have a significant positive impact. Furthermore,...
