Nate Davis signed a three-y🐠ear contract worth $30 million in March 2023 an♈d it has yet to look like that was money well spent by Chicago Bears General Manager Ryan Poles.
And on Sunday, — for all the wrong reasons:
Everyone is talking about this one, so I’ll cover it to🦂o. Just a whole lot of bad
— Matthew Rooney (@mrooney23)
There✅ are a few issues on this play from Sunday ꦿNight Football.
First, Darnell Wright’s first step is fine, but I would have liked to see him gain a little more ground. It’s outside zone left, Nate Davis has a man head up on him. On outside zone, you’re usually responsible for your play-side gap, starting with the first level, and if no one is there you can make your way up to the second level.
Wright, seeing Davis has a man head up, should know there’s a chance that defensive lineman becomes his. He gains some ground left but doesn’t step all that flat and his second step doesn’t really come along either. Getting his head across to the play side shoulder of that DL is going to be tough, but at the same time, he did himself no favors with his footwork.
Moving on to Nate Davis…
On the first level, he’s actually likely correct in passing over his DL. On outside zone, if you have a defensive lineman that slants away from your gap you get a hand on to slow him up but otherwise, just keep moving toward your assignment. Once they get up to the second level, Davis and Jenkins just completely overshoot their linebacker. They actually both took fine angles up to the second level and put themselves in a position to cover up their linebacker at the right spot. But then they both get indecisive and can’t choose whether to come back to their man or keep moving outside.
Once an offensive lineman gets up to the second level, they have to be decisive. Linebackers (and defensive backs) are almost always going to be quicker, so any hesitation and you’re putting yourself behind the eight-ball. Once they both get up to the second level, go hit the first wrong-color jersey you see instead of trying to keep moving down the line.
If you’re going to make a mistake on the offensive line, make it aggressively. Don’t stand around and hit no one.
If there is one saving grace on this play, it’s that there are no visible issues here with center Coleman Shelton. With his defensive lineman shooting that far over, he is right to just seal the shoulder and make sure he doesn’t get too deep into the backfield.
