(11-07-2023, 06:22 PM)empty Wrote:

(11-07-2023, 04:41 PM)Caldrac Wrote: It's a designed run to the left. With the lineman all tasked with pulling and flowing the line of play towards that side to get the runner isolated on the parameter with what I would imagine a LB or CB on a successful blocking effort up front. It's five lineman there Vs. just a base three front. It was pretty clear how it was supposed to be blocked. 

RT gets LE
C gets DT/NT
LT gets RE

LG and RG were working their way up towards the 2nd level to get after the LB's. Fortner [BLEEP] the bed, completely whiffed his block and allowed it to get blown the [BLEEP] up. Fortner was already trying to drive his body to the left before he actually got his hands on his defender, anchored in and initiated the block.

It's piss poor technique continuing to show up on film with this kid. Look how low his hands are after the snap. He let Bryan get his hands inside his chest before he could even get his hands up from his waist. Look where his head was at. The body goes where the head goes. He was out of position and thinking run before block. I have seen enough. 

I think he needs to be moved to RG next year to compete for a starting job against Scherff maybe but we need to draft a viable replacement at Center. Such as Van Pran out of Georgia or Frazier out of West Viriginia at this point. I don't completely fault Fortner for his shortcomings as an NFL Center. He only had one year of starting experience at Center during his last year at Kentucky and prior to that he had been a full time guard for the previous four years. 

This is clearly a combination of failures. Failure in evaluations and trajectory by the personnel department. Failure on the player to improve in the off season. Failure on the coaching staff for not addressing this as a clear elephant in the room.

If the run is supposed to go inside of Harrison (which I'd hope, because he lets his guy get upfield blocking off a run to his outside), then it makes more sense for Shatley to block Bryan on the play.  If Fortner is responsible for Bryan, he's just going to block him towards Harrison's inside which will shrink the hole the RB has to run through.  If Shatley moves to block Bryan, it (with a good block) will keep that hole wide and allow Fortner to run through to the second level and block the guy Shatley ended up blocking.

There's a clear miscommunication, but I don't see how Fortner having to block left towards the only hole the RB would have to run through is a wise blocking scheme if that's how it was supposed to be.  Shatley blocking right with a pulling Fortner keeps hole wider while allowing a lineman to get to the second level.  I also don't think you can really critique his technique on this play in particular since it appears he was preparing to pull, and not block Bryan.  Not at all saying he's been good in that area overall, just don't think you can make a judgement on this play specifically.

Fully agree though that we need to find a viable replacement in the offseason, regardless of how Fortner plays the rest of the season.

The play is going to the left, not the right. Harrison letting up on his defender to play backside pursuit is smart because him holding that point there does nobody any good other than potentially exposing himself to the stripes for a holding call or some form of penalty. 

If Fortner did his job, the LE and NT/DT are completely blanketed out of this run design. As, again, it's flowing to the left which would fall on Robinson holding his edge against the RE and it would be up to Shatley and Scherff, which they were in the process of doing, of, trying to hit the 2nd level of the defense to block the LB's on the play. 

Instead of getting knocked back for a TFL? They may have had a shot at maybe a 3 - 5 yard gain. I cannot see on that clip where the WR was at on his blocking assignment but I can see Shatley and Scherff at least trying to do their job. The most glaring and obvious call out on that play?

It's Fortner being off balance, out of position and getting whooped for poor technique. It's a combination of a lot of things. Communication, etc. For me though, the most glaring standout is Fortner's sloppiness while the guards were clearly on the same page of getting downfield against a 3 man front to hit the LB's with a designed run to the left.

And, again, if it IS communication being an issue? That's on Fortner. It's the center's responsibility to call out assignments and reiterate the plan of attack on that play. There's a disconnect virtually every game with Fortner at some point. He's not good enough at this level. The amount of pressures he's given up already in eight games is rough.

Not sure if he's been flagged a lot but he also has an issue holding his point and is simply not strong enough at times to create any lanes in the running game. This is something Lageman stressed late last year and earlier this year. He called him out for needing to get stronger in the off season in the weight room and at his technique.

He's a 3rd RD pick. I cited my concerns earlier with him. I think you at least give him a shot at RG next year.

Maybe just focusing on one side of the line instead of being responsible for holding the middle down with the assignments plus snapping the ball, getting his head up and hands up quickly will bode well for him. His job is tougher than it looks. People don't realize it until it's glaringly obvious.

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