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Good read from Dehner today on Carmen (I can paste here but can't paste over the screenshots he used):

 

https://theathletic.com/2874353/2021/10/07/dissecting-the-good-bad-and-future-after-jackson-carmans-first-two-bengals-games/?source=emp_shared_article

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Dissecting the good, bad and future after Jackson Carman’s first two Bengals games

 

After two games, 105 snaps and 57 pass-block reps for polarizing second-round pick Jackson Carman, we can start to draw early conclusions about his potential impact on the 2021 Bengals and beyond.

 

Said future undeniably looks rosier today than it did two months ago for the Clemson and Fairfield High School product. A rocky start working from the back of the depth chart and offensive line coach Frank Pollack’s doghouse finally ended in confidence to insert Carman into the lineup two weeks ago when starter Xavier Su’a-Filo went down with an ankle injury. Whether coincidental or not, a turnaround for the entire line happened at the same time, going from nine sacks allowed in the first two weeks to just one since Carman was promoted in Pittsburgh. The Bengals won both.

 

That tells only a sliver of the story, which I will dive into further, but I did unearth the most important theme considering where this stood at the beginning of camp: Playing Carman won’t kill you. In fact, it might do the opposite.

 

“He’s just getting better and better,” Joe Burrow said. “He really pops off the field athletically. He does a lot of things that a lot of offensive linemen can’t do, so when he really catches up mentally — like he’s starting to do, and he’s starting to play really well — it’s going to be fun to watch.”

 

Burrow will take “safe to watch” for now. Carman has allowed only one pressure in 57 pass-blocking snaps, according to Pro Football Focus. You’d better believe the Bengals will take that. Compare it with five pressures allowed by Su’a-Filo in 68 pass-blocking opportunities to start the season, two resulting in hits on Burrow.

 

On the surface, the assumption would be: “Wow, the rookie played great. Nothing left to see here.” PFF would disagree. It graded Carman 76th out of 76 qualifying guards this season. His 28.0 grade would be the worst recorded by a guard since PFF started grading in 2006.

 

Now, PFF might be disgusted, but the Bengals aren’t. You won’t hear them claiming success, he’s obviously been up and down, but Joe Mixon averaged 4.6 yards per carry the last two weeks and Burrow stayed upright. Those facts matter more than any grades.

 

“He’s a rookie,” Pollack said. “He’s had his moments, but he’s improved and he’s really shown more physicality in his play, which has me real excited. He showed it a couple of times up in Pittsburgh, and that’s been real fun to watch.”

This has remained the internal argument for Carman at this point. He might not always know what he’s doing, but his physical traits help make up for it. Sure, Su’a-Filo typically knew the assignment and what to do, but he couldn’t always complete the play. Those physical losses would blow up plays.

 

Even when he’s doing the wrong thing — and that’s happened plenty — Carman’s physical ability has helped keep bad plays from turning into disasters. Thus the internal assumption that, barring disaster, Carman will hold the right guard spot. That was always the plan for the long run, and Carman entering and the group holding its own in the process allowed it to fast track.

 

The arrow is pointing up.

 

“Oh, it’s certainly going up,” head coach Zac Taylor said. “With every rep he gets, he’s going to see a different style of defensive tackle and defense end and the way the backers play. It’s not a rush to judgment on Jackson; we just want to see improvement every day and every week. Just like I used to talk about with Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase, there are going to be new things he sees every week. You’ve just got to move on to the next play and listen to Riley (Reiff) and listen to Trey (Hopkins). I’ve been pleased with the direction that Jackson is heading.”

 

To know where he’s going we must evaluate where he’s been, and five plays stand out when assessing the pros and cons of Carman’s early performance.

 

First, the original negative. The most notable mistake of all came on one of his first plays against Pittsburgh when a miscommunication left a blitzer running free on Burrow — the exact type of play that can’t happen and will get you benched.

 

Burrow would eventually spin out of it and make guys miss, but it could have been a kill shot.

 

As much as the error stood out, the fact no major mental miscues followed spoke just as loudly. He didn’t make the same mistake twice.

 

“Turned a guy loose we shouldn’t be turning loose,” Pollack said. “That’s how the game has slowed down for him a little bit, especially on the road, in that environment. That’s a good way to welcome him to the NFL. That what it’s about. It happened early on. It happened real fast. Unsure what was going on, what he actually was seeing out there — and not seeing, more importantly. But there’s been improvement in that regard.”

 

Left tackle Jonah Williams hasn’t even completed 16 games as a pro but can speak about the recent memory of his first games in the NFL and the lessons you are forced to learn on the fly. Hearing him try to describe the mental adjustments shows how difficult the league can be for an offensive lineman before even touching the fact the best athletes on the field regularly line up across from them.

 

“In college maybe you can get away with it, sometimes you can out-athletic, out-strong someone; it’s just not going to work in the NFL,” Williams said. “That was the thing for me. You have to think a lot, but you have to eliminate the thinking. You have to think about how to eliminate thinking. It takes a little bit of time to do that, but I haven’t really seen a lot of Jackson Carman panicking or being anxious. It seems like he’s figured that out, and that’s the first step.”

 

Like any baby steps, having adults in the room to hold your hand can make all the difference. Pollack looks at the work Reiff, Quinton Spain and Trey Hopkins, with a combined 265 career starts, have done in keeping him on track as a big reason for fewer moments like the Pittsburgh free runner over the course of the two games.

 

“Credit to X and Q chirping in his ear, helping him out, talking to him in between series, in meetings, helping him,” Pollack said, also with an eye toward fellow rookie backups D’Ante Smith and Trey Hill. “Kudos to the professionalism of the room. We need to bring everyone along in that room. Everyone’s working in the same direction, and they’ve done a great job helping that kid accelerate his learning curve in that environment, for sure.”

 

When Carman does use his technique and rare physical traits correctly, the payoff can be seen directly in the run and pass game. On the drive to tie the game at 21 against Jacksonville, one of the most forgettable plays was a deep shot that fell incomplete to Chase against tight coverage. It was one of the few incomplete passes of the half for Burrow, but it still was a deep attempt to his primary weapon — a big deal for a team accused of not taking enough of them. Well, it was possible because of the brute strength of Carman in pass protection.

 

He locks on to defensive lineman Adam Gotsis and stones him for four seconds by the time Burrow releases the ball. Not only that, but Carman also pushed him back to where, when pressure came around Reiff at right tackle, Burrow had plenty of space and time to step up and launch the deep ball to Chase. That morphed pocket doesn’t exist without Carman winning with authority.

 

Maybe next time the deep ball ends up complete for a touchdown.

 

Carman also flashed potential in the run game, as he can bully bodies down the line in the wide zone. You can see from these two screenshots how Mixon is able to cut back off Carman’s behind as he pushes his man horizontally.

 

The run would end up going for 11 yards right up his back.

 

Before becoming too overjoyed at the power of this play, you have to reconcile with the fact there will also be plays like this run up the middle in which Carman gets beaten across his face by the three-technique, then attempts to make up for the mistake by lunging out of his shoes. The result is the defensive tackle right in Mixon’s face, and he’s forced to flush the middle run outside for no gain.

 

Poor footwork, poor technique and a panic lunge are the holy trinity of rookie moments.

 

While PFF grades can scare fans into wondering how much of a disaster is actually happening on the interior, the argument on the side of coaches and players is that PFF doesn’t always know what the play was meant to be or player was being asked to do, specifically on the offensive line.

 

One play that stands out as a major negative for Carman, which certainly he could have done better on, wasn’t actually as bad as it appeared. The play was a screen to Mixon on second-and-8 from the Jaguars’ 25 on the first drive of the game.

 

On the play, the Bengals catch Myles Jack blitzing, which is ideal for any screen. The space behind him leaves nothing but wide-open green for a potential big play. Carman takes a piece out of the nose tackle but holds it too long — to the point he’s way too late to get out to the second level and get a body on No. 54 Damien Wilson.

 

If Carman gets this block, Mixon probably runs in for a touchdown. Instead, the drive stalled on a Chase offensive pass interference and missed field goal soon after.

 

But the timing is thrown off because of how quickly Jack sprints around for the blitz. Mixon chooses to bluff the block on Jack and slip out. The technique is typically ideal, but because Jack came so fast it put the timing of the screen too early. Mixon could have squared up Jack, hit him to slow him down, then slid off into space; potentially, Carman makes it out and the running back scores.

 

Screens can be tough that way, and while Carman was too slow advancing off his block to clear the way for the screen, it wasn’t as egregious as the eye would suggest because of the timing being ahead of the play design.

All of these examples point back to the primary point. You can see the potential in Carman, and the Bengals will take the overall output put forth while the rest of the veteran group helps the rookie along. Thus far, he hasn’t come off like a lost student.

 

“When you hear a call in the huddle, you can’t be sitting in there saying, ‘What does this mean?'” Williams said. “You have to hear the call and immediately be able to apply it to going out there and doing that, and I think that starts with mastering the playbook. And I’ve been impressed with that. I think he understands the plays really well and he kind of knows nuances, and then from that knowing exactly what techniques to use. The hard part of our job is being able to execute the techniques. It takes focus, studying and all of that to know what the techniques are, and he’s done a good job of that.”

 

The job gets harder Sunday. Packers defensive tackle Kenny Clark has lined up across every spot on the defensive line and most certainly will be testing Carman repeatedly. The former Pro Bowler who racked up 2 1/2 sacks in the playoffs last year can ruin game plans.

 

If Carman’s arrow continues to trend up, it will serve as a major determinant of whether Clark ruins this one for the Bengals.

 

 

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UncleEarl Hall Of Fame

UncleEarl

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9 minutes ago, membengal said:

Good read from Dehner today on Carmen (I can paste here but can't paste over the screenshots he used):

 

https://theathletic.com/2874353/2021/10/07/dissecting-the-good-bad-and-future-after-jackson-carmans-first-two-bengals-games/?source=emp_shared_article

 

 

Great detail.  Tough to start as a rookie OL in the NFL. 

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claptonrocks Hall Of Fame

claptonrocks

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4 minutes ago, UncleEarl said:

 

Great detail.  Tough to start as a rookie OL in the NFL. 

If Hopkins cant go will they insert Hill or go with Lamont Gilliard?

Having 2 rooks sude by side could be

risky in a game such as this..

The Raiders are doing it with Leatherwood and Tre Smith though..

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UncleEarl Hall Of Fame

UncleEarl

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17 minutes ago, claptonrocks said:

If Hopkins cant go will they insert Hill or go with Lamont Gilliard?

Having 2 rooks sude by side could be

risky in a game such as this..

The Raiders are doing it with Leatherwood and Tre Smith though..

 

Let's just say it would not be optimal in any game.  You have one guy that is struggling with assignments and a rook at center is supposed to make assignment calls at the line?  🙈

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