Ask
a random sampling of Seahawk fans their opinions regarding Chris Gray and
you'll get a plethora of conflicting answers. It does seem that Seattle is
torn between, "Chris Gray rocks!", "Chris Gray sucks!"
and "He's alright, but who else can we put there?" It is easy to
see where each side is coming from regarding their opinions on Gray. Supporters
will point out that he has been on a mainstay on Seattle's offensive line
for several years, and is consistent in his ability to stay healthy while
playing at an acceptable level. Critics will argue the definition of "acceptable
level" and point out that Gray has, for several years, consistently been
the weakest member of the line. This begs the question: who is right?
If
you're expecting that clear-cut an answer from me, you're in for a disappointment.
Only the coaching staff knows where Mansfield Wrotto and Ray Willis are in
their development, and if Chris Gray is a better player than them. Of course,
it should be noted that the coaching staff is quite capable of misjudging
talent - just last year they started the season with a banged-up Burleson
as the number two wide receiver, while D.J. Hackett sat inactive. While I
can't tell you if Ray Willis is a better guard than Chris Gray, I hope I can
shed some light on whether or not Chris Gray is an effective football player.
This
week, I charted every offensive snap, focusing specifically on the play of
#62. In typical iron man fashion, he was present for every play the offense
ran. He was assigned a grade (A, B, C, D, or F) based on his impact on the
play. For example, if Chris Gray stopped a defensive tackle in his tracks
but the tackle managed to get his hands up before the ball cleared the pocket,
he would score a B for an overall good job. In order to provide some comparison,
I also rated the Cardinals starting RG, Deuce Lutui, the
same way.
Why
this game? There are a couple of reasons that I felt this game would provide
the information needed to answer questions regarding Gray's value. The first
is that neither Chris Gray nor Deuce Lutui appeared to have a spectacular
or horrendous game. Perhaps the biggest complement you can give an offensive
guard is that you didn't hear their number called all game, and for the most
part neither did anything noteworthy.
The
second reason is that they are such opposites. Gray is of average size for
a guard, has declining physical skills, but plays with an excellent understanding
of the offense and great technique. Deuce Lutui is a 2nd-year giant from USC
who has exceptional physical skills but faces questions about his conditioning,
work ethic, and technique. Lastly, the both faced fairly similar starting
defensive tackles. Rocky Bernard and Darnell Dockett are both quick tackles
with decent size but great explosion off the snap. Bernard is undeniably better,
but the Cardinals rotate Dockett less and it's safe to assume Dockett is better
than Craig Terrill, Bernard's primary backup.
Run
Data
| Run
Grade |
| Chris
Gray: |
77.63% |
| Deuce
Lutui: |
86% |
The quickest and easiest answer to this question is that Lutui appears to
be a better run-blocker, while Gray has the edge in pass protection. After
charting the data, I assigned a point value to each letter grade and found
the percentage. On running plays, Lutui graded out around 86%, while Gray
scored a 77.63%. This backed up what I observed and also would seem to support
standard NFL dogma that bigger guards are better in the running game. After
a horrible start in which he amassed 2 Fs, 2 Ds, and 3 Cs in his first seven
runs, Gray started delivering much better blocks. His improvement in the second
half of the game seems to coincide almost perfectly with the greatly improved
running statistics Shaun Alexander put up in the second half.
Lutui
was much more inconsistent than Gray in the running game, starting and finishing
strong but with a series of mediocre plays during the middle of the game.
This could relate to conditioning, since Lutui also played in ever snap and
perhaps needed a halftime breather after the Arizona offense spent most of
the first quarter driving down the field. Interestingly enough, despite his
mammoth size Lutui pulled often and was quite effective (especially against
Peterson, who seemed to be constantly be blocked out of plays by Lutui) in
that role.
Pass
Data
| Unweighted
Pass Grade |
Chris
Gray: |
86% |
| Deuce
Lutui: |
72.3% |
| Weighted
Pass Grade |
| Chris
Gray: |
84.14% |
| Deuce
Lutui: |
77.9% |
Chris
Gray's advantage in technique doesn't appear to make up for his declining
physical skills in the running game, but he did grade higher as a protector
for his quarterback. Gray graded out at 86% as a pass protector, while Lutui
scored only a measly 72.3%. Those numbers are a little deceiving, however,
for while Gray scored significantly higher than Lutui he also was asked to
do much less.
In
addition to noting the result of Gray's blocking, I also kept track of whether
or not he had help from C Chris Spencer and whether or not the play called
was a designed "short pattern" where Hasselbeck would release the
ball almost immediately after the snap. For example, Chris Gray earned 17
"Bs" and 8 "As" in pass-protection over the course of
the game, making a total of 25 plays where he graded out 85% or better.
Because
I double-scored certain plays (meaning that Gray and Lutui could be knocked
for both receiving double-team help and a 3-step drop on the same play) Chris
Gray received a total of 24 "black marks" on those 25 plays. In
comparison, on the 19 plays where Lutui scored 85% or higher, he was only
given a total of 8 "black marks".
Because
our goal is to grade the individual players, not their teammates, this presented
a bit of a problem. How reliable is Chris Gray's grade if he was receiving
help nearly twice as often as Lutui (and from an undoubtedly better C) and
benefited from several more quick pass plays designed to make things easier
for the offensive line?
In
the interest of more reliable numbers, I decided to weigh the scores based
on the number of "black marks" on each play. While this sounded
like a good idea, the mathematics I employed only corrected the situation
slightly, which would indicate either I didn't weight the "black marks"
heavily enough or that Gray was still noticeably better than Lutui as a pass-blocker.
Even though I am not sure they were weighted enough, I do believe that the
weighted numbers are more accurate than the unweighted numbers.
Conclusion
I
will admit that while I tried to keep an open mind in this data, I am one
who doesn't believe that Chris Gray should be starting for an effective offensive
line. However, this data would seem to support the conclusion that he is serviceable
enough, even if he does have some weaknesses that require the coaching staff
to adjust for. Most surprisingly was his ability to get quickly out of his
stance, he was rarely beaten on the first step. Chris Gray isn't going to
make it any easier for Shaun Alexander, but he might just keep Hasselbeck
alive.
Game Notes:
1.)
After reviewing this play a dozen times, it really does appear that the majority
of the blame for "The Fumble" lies with the backfield. Alexander's
feet are set like he is expecting to block, which would agree with the belief
that he thought Hasselbeck audibled. More importantly, Strong completely missed
his block on Cardinals SS Adrian Wilson, who would've had Alexander for a
big loss even if Alexander had correctly heard the play. For the record, Chris
Gray was opening a large hole for Alexander to run through if he had the opportunity.
2.)
Matt Leinart may have strafed Seattle pretty badly, but he is far from a mature
quarterback right now. Despite a fairly promising rookie year, he doesn't
have the poise an NFL Quarterback needs to have to lead his team to the playoffs
- on several plays, I felt the need to note how often Leinart threw flat-footed
for no reason and how he seemed nervous.
3.)
Lutui's agility is seriously underrated. It's easy to lump him in with maulers
like Shawn Andrews of Philadelphia, but he is far quicker on his feet than
any 330-pounder has a right to be. I was actually impressed by his overall
promise, if not his play. He picked up the blitz exceedingly well, got to
the second level quickly on running plays, and pulled better than anyone in
Seattle. I did detect a flaw that some time will exploit in the future - he
has absolutely no idea how to handle a spin move. Twice Craig Terrill was
able to employ spins to get right past Lutui with good results. Rocky Bernard
tried, but his spin moves make me think he should stick to stunting and shooting
gaps.
4.)
Speaking of Terrill, for a guy who was considered a training camp casualty
he gets a ton of snaps in Seattle's defensive rotation. My analysis focused
primarily on the right guard for each team, so this is just subjective opinion,
but I saw significantly more of Terrill than I did of rookie Brandon Mebane,
who might have had better success against Lutui.
Plays of the Day:
Seattle's Defensive Line (9/12/07)
Kyle
Rota writes for Seahawks.NET, and he can frequently
be seen on our message boards under the handle “Rotak”. Feel free to e-mail him here.
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