Faine Tops Turnstile List, Zuttah Shines
June 15th, 2011
The obsessive stat geeks at ProFootballFocus.com have completed poring over endless NFL game film to come up with another one of their homemade stats: pass blocking efficiency.
Now Joe rarely takes their data too seriously, but it’s always interesting, sometimes useful, and at times shines a harsh or happy spotlight on a player.
Today, Jeff Faine gets their Sean Mahan award. Their pass blocking analysis tags entrepreur/captain Faine as the worst pass blocking center in the NFL by a significant margin in 2010. He played in eight games (24o passing blocking snaps). Yet Jeremy Zuttah checks in as the seventh best (443 snaps).
As for guards, Davin Joseph and Ted Larsen are ranked as the fourth and sixth worst, respectively.
Now that probably proves Raheem Morris’ line that stats are for losers. The Bucs finished 10-6, which is all that matters, and Josh Freeman wasn’t exactly running for his life all the time.
But one has to wonder if Faine could find himself on the bench or off the Bucs. He earns five times Zuttah’s salary, is five years older, and simply may not be better. He’s certainly not as durable.
There’s no need for the Bucs to hurt their depth by cutting Faine, but would the captain embrace a reserve role?
June 15th, 2011 at 10:25 am
No, I don’t think Faine would take too kindly to a reserve role. And I imagine he’ll start it healthy. But this year will be his swan song, I think this is his last year with the Bucs.
I truly believe our offensive line is going to be the one thing that holds us back this year. Freeman worked magic this year and I just don’t see that happening again next year.
We doubled up on DTs, then DEs. My advice is to double up on the OL in next years draft.
June 15th, 2011 at 10:38 am
Hmm, just like I’ve been saying, our highly touted linemen( Faine, Joseph, Trueblood) are major underachievers. Our rookie FAs waaaaay outperformed them. Time to restructure that line.
June 15th, 2011 at 10:38 am
Hmm, just like I’ve been saying, our highly touted linemen( Faine, Joseph, Trueblood) are major underachievers. Our rookie FAs waaaaay outperformed them. Time to restructure that line.
June 15th, 2011 at 11:12 am
I don’t usually respond to bloggers, but….
Sincerely,
Jeff Faine
June 15th, 2011 at 11:16 am
Two flaws in PFF’s equation:
1. “Pressure” is subjective and shouldn’t be included in the analysis. (Josh Freeman threw very few INTs). A perfect screen pass should have 3 or 4 “pressures”…
2. “Timing” is crucial and should be a part of any analysis of O-Linemen. (Bucs were ranked 10th in pass plays of 40+ yards, 12th in passes for 20+) How long after the snap did the lineman maintain his block?
IMO…
June 15th, 2011 at 11:22 am
Freeman was chased from the pocket on a regular basis and was still able to make things happen on the run. As a matter of fact; I can’t remember that many times where he was able to stand in the pocket while not being pressured in some way. Then you have Brady & Manning who can crack a beer and read the paper back in the pocket.
June 15th, 2011 at 11:23 am
Which is why when Faine went down, our offense really started to shine.
June 15th, 2011 at 11:37 am
@Bucnjim “Then you have Brady & Manning who can crack a beer and read the paper back in the pocket.”
Brady maybe, but definitely not Manning, at least the past few years.
June 15th, 2011 at 12:12 pm
Faine has become expendable. The only real advantage he had over Zuttah was experience but Zuttah’s intelligence is quickly closing that gap.
Agree with Joe, no reason to cut him, but he must compete and earn that starting spot in camp. If he doesnt like coming off the bench, he can hit the road.
June 15th, 2011 at 2:57 pm
To the point..I don’t think Faine will be a captain this year.
June 15th, 2011 at 6:20 pm
Offensive lines look better when your able to run the ball. I think faine, joseph would look alot better if lagarrette was playing with them. Tim dont forget that blount started right after they got injured, the threat of a running game really makes everyone look better. Wow caddy was horrible in the full time roll, if we have to spend some cash lets give some to r. bush, or sproles.
June 15th, 2011 at 7:27 pm
I agree with Jarrett, teams were teeing off on Tampa last year, until we showed a running game.
I still think we need more draws and screen plays in our offense, to keep opposing defenses honest.