I have been working my way through last seasons games starting from the first colts games when Cann got his first start. So far I have made it through the colts, Bucs, and texans games paying specific attention to Cann. So far he's been pretty impressive for his first three games as a starter.

 

IMO he excelled in the pass game. He is very stout against pass rushers and has a pretty good anchor. He struggled some against Watt which is no surprise but he was very good against Gerald McCoy.

 

He is solid in the run game, nothing spectacular or dominant but he does his job. So far there has been maybe 1 or 2 plays in the run game where he was beat or manhandled easily.

 

I plan on making my way through all the games so I hope to return and share more thoughts.

 

Some other things I've seen while watching Cann.

-Beadles: was horrible too many times last season. I honestly can't imagine the next LG doing any worse.

-Joeckel: Easily the most inconsistent guy of the starting five last season. He looks like a stud LT on many plays and like a scrubeenie on many others. It's really frustrating.

-Parnell: Great in the run game. Dude is a mauler and looks strong as an ox in the run game. Decent in pass pro, he is really tall and plays high pretty often. I've seen him struggle too often with the bull rush because of how high he plays.

-Staring OLine: It seems like everybody struggles when the defense runs games. For example, any TE or ET stunt run by the dline seems to give the guys fits and results in Bortles being hit, hurried, or sacked. As a whole this needs to be corrected to keep Blake on his feet.

 

Hopefully Linder will be solid at center and somebody will man the LG spot better than Beadles did. Bortles sure did get a lot and hard way too many times in just the three games I've watched so far.

Excellent analysis!

 

I formed my initial impressions of Cann in preseason, and to me it seemed he excelled anchoring in pass protection, but got little movement in the run game.  Glad to see someone else seemed to see the same things as I did.

 

What do you think it will take to correct this team's deficiencies against stunts?  For me...talent and time.

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

Excellent analysis!

 

I formed my initial impressions of Cann in preseason, and to me it seemed he excelled anchoring in pass protection, but got little movement in the run game.  Glad to see someone else seemed to see the same things as I did.

 

What do you think it will take to correct this team's deficiencies against stunts?  For me...talent and time.

 

 

If I can cut in here...

 

For a line group to be proficient at picking up stunts, it usually comes down to communication. If a line blocks well, but can't pick up games it's that there's confusion as to who "gets" whom. They can block, they just don't know who to block. 

 

Essentially I agree with you in that it will take time, but I don't know that talent is necessary.

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I'm trying to make myself more informed and less opinionated.

Stop saying whatever stupid thing you're talking about and pay attention to all the interesting things I have to say!

If I can cut in here...

 

For a line group to be proficient at picking up stunts, it usually comes down to communication. If a line blocks well, but can't pick up games it's that there's confusion as to who "gets" whom. They can block, they just don't know who to block. 

 

Essentially I agree with you in that it will take time, but I don't know that talent is necessary.

I say talent because if a lineman is surprised by a stunt, he usually would have taken a false step/step in the wrong direction-just enough to get him in poor position.  A more talented OL will have the feet to recover.

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

If I can cut in here...

 

For a line group to be proficient at picking up stunts, it usually comes down to communication. If a line blocks well, but can't pick up games it's that there's confusion as to who "gets" whom. They can block, they just don't know who to block. 

 

Essentially I agree with you in that it will take time, but I don't know that talent is necessary.

 

 

I say talent because if a lineman is surprised by a stunt, he usually would have taken a false step/step in the wrong direction-just enough to get him in poor position.  A more talented OL will have the feet to recover.

I think it is a combination of a few different things. I would say that both of  you are correct. IMO it appears to be both communication and talent/technique. I just finished the Jags v. Bills game and again noticed times when line stunts gave the guys problems. The Bills run a four man front with Rex Ryan's exotic blitzes added in. I will give an example of where I feel lack of talent/technique was the problem. The Bills ran Tackle End stunt where the defensive tackle crosses the guards face looking to occupy both the guard and tackle so the defensive end can loop behind him and sack the QB. On this play Zane Beadles was overwhelmed by the defensive tackle and allowed the DT to collapse his punch and was essentially catching the dlineman. Because this happens he is not able to keep the DT away from him and the DT collapses Beadles into Joeckel and occupys both Joeckel/Beadles. Beadles therefor does not see the looping DE and has no chance to pick him up and Joeckel basically catches the DT who is overpowering Beadles as well. 

 

This is  a case where Beadles can't handle his guy which prevents him from smoothly passing a stunting lineman off to Joeckel and picking up the looping end. This seems like it is both communication and lack of talent/technique on the part of Beadles. However I feel that even if the communication is there, because Beadles is getting whooped communication won't do much because he just can't keep his assignment at bay.

 

On a side note regarding AJ Cann. It seemed like a light went on between week 6 and 7 because in the Bills game he was getting much better push in the run game. Prior to this game his feel would stop on contact during the run game but in week 7 it looked like his feet kept pumping and he got much better in the run game. He also did a very good job all game against Marcel Dareus in both the run and passing game.

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"Sucess Is Not a Goal, It is a By-product"

I hardly noticed Cann at all last year which is a good thing.

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I hardly noticed Cann at all last year which is a good thing.

100%

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I hardly noticed Cann at all last year which is a good thing.

Agreed. I didn't have the time to review games during the season last year but because we heard so little from Cann I was curious to see how well he truly played. Through his first four games (weeks 4-7) he's been the best offensive lineman of the starting group.

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"Sucess Is Not a Goal, It is a By-product"

Excellent analysis!

 

I formed my initial impressions of Cann in preseason, and to me it seemed he excelled anchoring in pass protection, but got little movement in the run game.  Glad to see someone else seemed to see the same things as I did.

 

What do you think it will take to correct this team's deficiencies against stunts?  For me...talent and time.

 

 

Keep in mind that was his rookie season, and he's bound to improve. With a little focus I can see him improving considerably both in the run game and in diagnosing stunts.

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'02

Keep in mind that was his rookie season, and he's bound to improve. With a little focus I can see him improving considerably both in the run game and in diagnosing stunts.

Oh make no mistake, I don't think Cann was bad at all.  If the rest of his career plays out like his rookie year, I'd be very happy with him because he'd likely have a very long career as a Jaguar.

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!