Sidy Sow - Conflicting Opinions

[SammyBlueCat]

As some posters have already implied: we cannot rush to judgement after (1) pre season game

 

[upstater1]

Pretty misleading because Sow was helping with the 3-tech and then washed Anderson outside. Counting winning vs losing reps for an OL is misleading as well. The OL will typically win the majority of their reps against individual DL because the OL has some inherent advantages. They know the snap count, they have a lead on when they need to pull, chip/help, and know if it will be run vs pass. Even back-ups will win the majority of their reps against a starting rusher.

What we should be looking at is how often the team left Sow in a phone booth with Anderson, and he was often alone in those reps.

Agree, this seems like the typical Patriots scheme which is pushes the edge rusher downfield.

They WANT Zappe stepping up. But not into a jailbreak up the middle.

 

[SlowGettingUp]

FWIW, Lazar still seems negative on Sow. In his latest 53 he actually had him on IR (unless that's a mistake).

Lazar - a non-controversial projection except he somehow has Sow and Jake Anderson on IR (Foxboro flu outbreak?):

Lazar's Roster Projection 3.0: Projecting the Initial 53-Man Roster After the First Preseason Game

Taking another stab at projection the Patriots initial 53-man roster after viewing the preseason opener and two-plus weeks of training camp.

www.patriots.com

 

[Kontradiction]

Agree, this seems like the typical Patriots scheme which is pushes the edge rusher downfield.

They WANT Zappe stepping up. But not into a jailbreak up the middle.

Important to note that this is also a small sample size. Five reps against Anderson. So, it’s important not to rush to judgement either way. Then again, this is a fan message board so I suppose I’m just screaming into the ether there.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

This is how I see it. First Russey gets beat to the outside and Sow is faced with two defenders. Notice in this clip that Russey, #66, at Right Guard is turned outside (it is hard to see his number). You can also see Ferentz, #65, who is blocking no-one. The Texans defensive tackle headed towards Sow and Ferentz is turning towards Russey (you can see the #65 on his back) as he turned the wrong way. Ferentz should be helping the left guard, not Russey.


Maybe this is a bit more clear. It is a split second later. Now you can read the #65 Ferentz and #66 Russey as they both turn towards the Right Tackle Sow, and neither one is blocking anyone. At this point notice that Russey is beat and Sow's left arm is trying to punch the defensive tackle. At this point if Sow is going to keep Zappe from being destroyed he has to try to chip both the defensive tackle (that beat Russey) and Anderson, the defensive end.



Here you can clearly see that Sow has both the defensive tackle and the defensive end, Sow's left arm is on the tackle and right arm is on the end (Anderson). Russey is completely turned because you can see #66 almost heading upfield. Ferentz is turned to the right for some reason as the second defensive tackle is rushing up the middle (Ferentz should be turned left and helping the left guard). I do not know who #68 is, left guard.



Here Sow disengages from the defensive tackle (you can clearly see that Russey is completely beat, and that Ferentz is turned the wrong way. The delayed blitzer is now entering the picture. Also note that the left tackle, McDermott #75, is one-on-one and is beat as well. Sow at this point is trying to engage Anderson and push him upfield. Note at this point, 1. McDermott is beat, 2. Ferentz is turned the wrong way and doing nothing, 3. Russey is beat, 4. the left gaurd #68 (I don't know who this is) is still engaged, and 5. Sow is still engaged after punching the defensive tackle as well.

Overall in my opinion, Sow did OK. Sow was trying to punch the defensive tackle who beat Russey and then recover to get outside and engage Anderson. Clearly McDermott, Ferentz, and Russey are completely blownup on this play, not Sow. Sow looks fairly athletic and quick to me trying to help Russey while he blocks Anderson. This is only one rep, but based on this rep I am not surprised Sow is with the 1st team. I do not see this the same as @Family .

 

[Family]

So you think that in order “win” a rep, an OT has to stonewall the DE/OLB at or near the LOS. That’s adorable.

Ok, Sow won that rep.

Let's see what you will say when it counts.

 

[SlowGettingUp]

FWIW, Lazar still seems negative on Sow. In his latest 53 he actually had him on IR (unless that's a mistake).

BTW, earlier in TC Lazar had pointed to Sow's first step in pass protection needing polishing - not too surprising as he played guard in college.

 

[Family]

This is how I see it. First Russey gets beat to the outside and Sow is faced with two defenders. Notice in this clip that Russey, #66, at Right Guard is turned outside (it is hard to see his number). You can also see Ferentz, #65, who is blocking no-one. The Texans defensive tackle headed towards Sow and Ferentz is turning towards Russey (you can see the #65 on his back) as he turned the wrong way. Ferentz should be helping the left guard, not Russey.


Maybe this is a bit more clear. It is a split second later. Now you can read the #65 Ferentz and #66 Russey as they both turn towards the Right Tackle Sow, and neither one is blocking anyone. At this point notice that Russey is beat and Sow's left arm is trying to punch the defensive tackle. At this point if Sow is going to keep Zappe from being destroyed he has to try to chip both the defensive tackle (that beat Russey) and Anderson, the defensive end.



Here you can clearly see that Sow has both the defensive tackle and the defensive end, Sow's left arm is on the tackle and right arm is on the end (Anderson). Russey is completely turned because you can see #66 almost heading upfield. Ferentz is turned to the right for some reason as the second defensive tackle is rushing up the middle (Ferentz should be turned left and helping the left guard). I do not know who #68 is, left guard.



Here Sow disengages from the defensive tackle (you can clearly see that Russey is completely beat, and that Ferentz is turned the wrong way. The delayed blitzer is now entering the picture. Also note that the left tackle, McDermott #75, is one-on-one and is beat as well. Sow at this point is trying to engage Anderson and push him upfield. Note at this point, 1. McDermott is beat, 2. Ferentz is turned the wrong way and doing nothing, 3. Russey is beat, 4. the left gaurd #68 (I don't know who this is) is still engaged, and 5. Sow is still engaged after punching the defensive tackle as well.

Overall in my opinion, Sow did OK. Sow was trying to punch the defensive tackle who beat Russey and then recover to get outside and engage Anderson. Clearly McDermott, Ferentz, and Russey are completely blownup on this play, not Sow. Sow looks fairly athletic and quick to me trying to help Russey while he blocks Anderson. This is only one rep, but based on this rep I am not surprised Sow is with the 1st team. I do not see this the same as @Family .

He blocked no one.

I agree that the interior line has blame, but even if they did their job, Sow is beaten off the snap as he was all night. He is off balance on nearly every play.

Maybe coaching cures this, but to me it looks like he's just slow to react.

 

[upstater1]

I know this isn't saying much but Sow looks better on this play than McDermott did 20x last year on similar plays when the edge rusher blew past him totally. If Sow can do just this consistently, I certainly want him there over McDermott.

 

[Ross12]

Looking at things again, things were much worse on the left than the right. The good news is that their LTs were McDermott and Steuber. Neither of them will play LT in the regular season. Brown, Anderson and probably Reiff will all play LT before you would see McDermott at LT.

If Sow can win the RT job we are in a great spot. He will hold up better next to Onwenu than he would next to Russey. I would probably guess they still start the year with Reiff at RT just to give Sow more time to acclimate, then swap them after a few weeks and make Reiff the backup. McDermott could become practice squad fodder.

 

[Brotherblues]

This is how I see it. First Russey gets beat to the outside and Sow is faced with two defenders. Notice in this clip that Russey, #66, at Right Guard is turned outside (it is hard to see his number). You can also see Ferentz, #65, who is blocking no-one. The Texans defensive tackle headed towards Sow and Ferentz is turning towards Russey (you can see the #65 on his back) as he turned the wrong way. Ferentz should be helping the left guard, not Russey.


Maybe this is a bit more clear. It is a split second later. Now you can read the #65 Ferentz and #66 Russey as they both turn towards the Right Tackle Sow, and neither one is blocking anyone. At this point notice that Russey is beat and Sow's left arm is trying to punch the defensive tackle. At this point if Sow is going to keep Zappe from being destroyed he has to try to chip both the defensive tackle (that beat Russey) and Anderson, the defensive end.



Here you can clearly see that Sow has both the defensive tackle and the defensive end, Sow's left arm is on the tackle and right arm is on the end (Anderson). Russey is completely turned because you can see #66 almost heading upfield. Ferentz is turned to the right for some reason as the second defensive tackle is rushing up the middle (Ferentz should be turned left and helping the left guard). I do not know who #68 is, left guard.



Here Sow disengages from the defensive tackle (you can clearly see that Russey is completely beat, and that Ferentz is turned the wrong way. The delayed blitzer is now entering the picture. Also note that the left tackle, McDermott #75, is one-on-one and is beat as well. Sow at this point is trying to engage Anderson and push him upfield. Note at this point, 1. McDermott is beat, 2. Ferentz is turned the wrong way and doing nothing, 3. Russey is beat, 4. the left gaurd #68 (I don't know who this is) is still engaged, and 5. Sow is still engaged after punching the defensive tackle as well.

Overall in my opinion, Sow did OK. Sow was trying to punch the defensive tackle who beat Russey and then recover to get outside and engage Anderson. Clearly McDermott, Ferentz, and Russey are completely blownup on this play, not Sow. Sow looks fairly athletic and quick to me trying to help Russey while he blocks Anderson. This is only one rep, but based on this rep I am not surprised Sow is with the 1st team. I do not see this the same as @Family .

What we're told: Ferentz gets a spot because he knows the system, can make the line calls, smart guy, gets everyone in place.

What we see: Ferentz can't see jack, doesn't block anyone, doesn't help anyone, and can't do anything better than his jersey alone on the grass would. He literally didn't lay a finger on a single defender on the play.

 

[Sicilian]

I know this isn't saying much but Sow looks better on this play than McDermott did 20x last year on similar plays when the edge rusher blew past him totally. If Sow can do just this consistently, I certainly want him there over McDermott.

Especially since there's a chance Sow gets better as he gets more reps, whereas McDermott is who he is at this point.

If Sow can be serviceable with a chance to improve at RT, and they get Anderson back as their top swing guy, then you can let Reiff and McDermott battle it out for the 4th OT spot (who will probably be inactive on gameday until someone gets hurt). That might also be why they're trying Reiff out at guard, to try to keep both while having some insurance if Onwenu isn't ready for week 1.

 

[Ian]

Looking at things again, things were much worse on the left than the right. The good news is that their LTs were McDermott and Steuber. Neither of them will play LT in the regular season. Brown, Anderson and probably Reiff will all play LT before you would see McDermott at LT.

If Sow can win the RT job we are in a great spot. He will hold up better next to Onwenu than he would next to Russey. I would probably guess they still start the year with Reiff at RT just to give Sow more time to acclimate, then swap them after a few weeks and make Reiff the backup. McDermott could become practice squad fodder.

I looked at McDermott over the weekend, and he wasn't terrible. He had the play where he missed a block on Greenard (who helped Ridgeway drop Harris for a loss), had the false start, and also had one snap where he got driven back into Zappe, and it led to a throwaway. But he wasn't horrible. Like you said, the inside pressure was the bigger issue and like @One-If-By-Sea pointed out, they clearly didn't communicate things well up front given that Ferentz didn't seem like he knew what to do on a couple of those blitzes.

They're clearly just trying to get McDermott some additional experience and give themselves some depth, but he ended up not being as bad as I initially thought. Although do I want to see him out there for any extended time on that side during the regular season? Obviously, that wouldn't be ideal.

 

[Ross12]

I looked at McDermott over the weekend, and he wasn't terrible. He had the play where he missed a block on Greenard (who helped Ridgeway drop Harris for a loss), had the false start, and also had one snap where he got driven back into Zappe, and it led to a throwaway. But he wasn't horrible. Like you said, the inside pressure was the bigger issue and like @One-If-By-Sea pointed out, they clearly didn't communicate things well up front given that Ferentz didn't seem like he knew what to do on a couple of those blitzes.

They're clearly just trying to get McDermott some additional experience and give themselves some depth, but he ended up not being as bad as I initially thought. Although do I want to see him out there for any extended time on that side during the regular season? Obviously, that wouldn't be ideal.

I put McDermott in a similar bucket as Myles Bryant. He seems to have a good understanding of his job but he’s not very athletic, so he is more held back by his physical limitations than mental. He can be counted on to be in the right place and not make too many mental errors but he’s not going to beat many talented players 1 on 1. Not the worst player but can definitely be improved. It would be nice if he could be a depth swing tackle behind Anderson and Reiff on the PS.

 

[Sfpat]

This is how I see it. First Russey gets beat to the outside and Sow is faced with two defenders. Notice in this clip that Russey, #66, at Right Guard is turned outside (it is hard to see his number). You can also see Ferentz, #65, who is blocking no-one. The Texans defensive tackle headed towards Sow and Ferentz is turning towards Russey (you can see the #65 on his back) as he turned the wrong way. Ferentz should be helping the left guard, not Russey.


Maybe this is a bit more clear. It is a split second later. Now you can read the #65 Ferentz and #66 Russey as they both turn towards the Right Tackle Sow, and neither one is blocking anyone. At this point notice that Russey is beat and Sow's left arm is trying to punch the defensive tackle. At this point if Sow is going to keep Zappe from being destroyed he has to try to chip both the defensive tackle (that beat Russey) and Anderson, the defensive end.



Here you can clearly see that Sow has both the defensive tackle and the defensive end, Sow's left arm is on the tackle and right arm is on the end (Anderson). Russey is completely turned because you can see #66 almost heading upfield. Ferentz is turned to the right for some reason as the second defensive tackle is rushing up the middle (Ferentz should be turned left and helping the left guard). I do not know who #68 is, left guard.



Here Sow disengages from the defensive tackle (you can clearly see that Russey is completely beat, and that Ferentz is turned the wrong way. The delayed blitzer is now entering the picture. Also note that the left tackle, McDermott #75, is one-on-one and is beat as well. Sow at this point is trying to engage Anderson and push him upfield. Note at this point, 1. McDermott is beat, 2. Ferentz is turned the wrong way and doing nothing, 3. Russey is beat, 4. the left gaurd #68 (I don't know who this is) is still engaged, and 5. Sow is still engaged after punching the defensive tackle as well.

Overall in my opinion, Sow did OK. Sow was trying to punch the defensive tackle who beat Russey and then recover to get outside and engage Anderson. Clearly McDermott, Ferentz, and Russey are completely blownup on this play, not Sow. Sow looks fairly athletic and quick to me trying to help Russey while he blocks Anderson. This is only one rep, but based on this rep I am not surprised Sow is with the 1st team. I do not see this the same as @Family .

I believe on this play, McDermott stays with his man and pushes him behind Zappe (don't have the tape in front of me). Unfortunately, Zappe wasn't able to step up due to the blitzer.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

He blocked no one.

I agree that the interior line has blame, but even if they did their job, Sow is beaten off the snap as he was all night. He is off balance on nearly every play.

Maybe coaching cures this, but to me it looks like he's just slow to react.

Please notice that in the last clip that Zappe is 9 yards deep and has to step up (move up in the pocket). Mac did the same thing last year during the first half of the season, he didn't "feel the pressure" and didn't time stepping up in the pocket properly. He who is to be unnamed was a master at feeling the pressure and stepping up. If Zappe shuffles forward Sow would have pushed Anderson past Zappe.

I agree that Sow might have been a half step too shallow in his drop. He is trying to protect against the inside pass rush as well. I do not see that as a major issue - I agree with Bedard that Sow looked "OK", and I will add "better than McDermott". Having said that, McDermott was on the left side which might have been tough for him. For a college guard with little tackle experience I thought Sow did quite well. Sow's testing also showed the athleticism to play tackle, so, IMO, there is a chance, but Sow might need a year to transition (as expected).

Having said all that, Ferentz, Russey, and McDermott all looked worse than Sow on that play. No idea why people singled out Sow.

 

[patfanken]

He blocked no one.

I agree that the interior line has blame, but even if they did their job, Sow is beaten off the snap as he was all night. He is off balance on nearly every play.

Maybe coaching cures this, but to me it looks like he's just slow to react.

When you keep on defending an indefensible position, you are by definition....a troll

 

[Family]

Having said all that, Ferentz, Russey, and McDermott all looked worse than Sow on that play. No idea why people singled out Sow.

Ferentz and Russey are career jags. A good play is what's noteworthy. McDermott is playing on the left side, so I let it pass, but yeah.

Sow is really all I cared about. If the backup guard play is this bad, why just trash Sow's entire year?

 

[Family]

When you keep on defending an indefensible position, you are by definition....a troll

Did you see the video? And at least one local guy, Lazar agrees, though it's not the elite company.

I've been two thumbs up on all the draft picks except Sow.

It's not ok to think differently than you?

 

[moosekill]

Ferentz and Russey are career jags. A good play is what's noteworthy. McDermott is playing on the left side, so I let it pass, but yeah.

Sow is really all I cared about. If the backup guard play is this bad, why just trash Sow's entire year?

Russey is a 2nd year player. Kind of early to say he is a Jag, although he probably is.