My Jake Long Analysis,.........no really I did.

Seeing as we’ve been debating J. Long back and forth I thought I’d weigh in with my analysis after re watching some highlights of him. I know you’ve all been waiting for this one, I can feel it. Or, is that the “oh man, here he goes again” thing? Obviously I am not an expert at this but here’s what I have seen from watching this stuff again.

Jake Long has worked very hard to get to this point I will say that about him. Jake has obviously practiced for many hours trying to get better at his kick slide, hand placement, recognizing defenses and all of the things necessary to be considered for the top of the Draft. His work ethic is unquestioned, and there is no secret as to why. That trait; dedication will serve him well in the NFL. If the Draft were based solely on work ethic, desire and willingness to sell out, J. long would be on a very short list.

Now on to his style of play; Jake will never win any dance competitions unfortunately. But he will maul you to death if you let him. Honestly, after watching this guy, he really is an engulfing tackle, not a technician. He has worked very hard, you can see that and he is technically proficient. However, he is not so technically sound as say Chris Williams (mind you Williams has better feet). Some may see that previous statement as contradictory, but it isn’t. Being technically proficient at something doesn’t mean you are a technician/mirror/chess match type player. It simply means to me at least, that you have practiced until you are very well rehearsed, and comfortable. A technician doesn’t kill himself to do the job at LT, it comes much more naturally. Other guys have to use all out effort and will to play the position, and to me that’s Jake. Basically I’m saying that Jake isn’t the type of guy that will wow you with athleticism, but he doesn’t underwhelm you either. Jake prefers to get his hands on you, and manipulate you, almost to a fault. It will cause him to rely on his arm length and hand punch too much, which in turn causes him to overextend and bend at the waist, which leaves him off balance. When he does that, is when he appears at his worst; flat-footed and lunging.

Jake also has a big hitch in his kick slide. If you watch tape of Long against Florida in the Bowl game you wil see Jake is routinely the fastest man off the line in pass pro. He is busting his *** to get back there. His first two steps are fast and furious, after that he tries to really set himself up to absorb the defender. Here is where Jake’s work ethic and maturity etc. com into it IMO, he’s obviously been watching tape and seen that the DE’s he’s facing are gonna getup the field. It also looks as though the game plan is not to leave Henne back there forever. That is the good part about his kick slide, when he really buckles down and busts his *** to get back there he can do it, and be in the right spot. However, the bad part is that Jake routinely has to bust his *** to get back there. He relies on hustle and effort and practice to get there, not sheer athleticism. Chris Williams for instance doesn’t exert himself in nearly the same way to take those first two steps, he seems much more effortless. Also, Long has a habit of moving laterally on his kick slide rather than at an angle. It is almost like he is so intent on getting out of his stance in pass pro that he blanks out for a second. He just pushes off so hard with his inside foot that he goes outward instead of backward at an angle. It’s like his hustle is working against him. This is why sometimes being a hustle guy is a problem. Now you might say what is wrong with having to be a guy who lives on hustle, and effort?

Let me put it this way, ever watch the guys who are the DE/OLB tweeners at the Combine do the LB drills? Most of the guys are really bustin’ it to get back in their drop backs and their arms are outside of their body, and they tend to get too tall. When you are too tall, your center of gravity is out of position to allow you to move laterally or horizontally (forward and back, I think the term applies here). It’s just a matter of physics. That’s the problem I see with Jake; he is so intent on getting back there, pushing off and driving back that he tries too hard. His arms can come outside of his frame, and he can be a little “out of control”. I say that for lack of a better term, he’s just off balance, and if he does that he relies on those arms of his and he reaches, and so on and so forth. Now, every OT gets off balance, or isn’t perfect in their drop into pass pro, but the problem Jake faces is that he is just not as naturally athletic as he needs to be. If you compared him to Joe Thomas last year, Thomas’s feet are much more nimble, allowing him to get himself back in front of his man on a more consistent basis. Thomas was the reverse of Long really, he is much more of a technician, and somewhat softer in his approach. Thomas would wall you off in the run game far more than Jake will ever do. If Jake gets the chance to drive block you, he is salivating. He wants to mix it up, manipulate you with his hands and frustrate you with his reach.

An example of Jake’s hustle getting him into trouble; is the play you see all the time where Gholston comes on the inside and gets to Henne. On that play, watch Long, I mean really watch him. If you took that one play and compared it to most in the Florida game you’d see a massive difference. On that play Long is so intent on getting out of his stance that he moves laterally rather than dropping back at an angle. After his first step he has given up the inside. The split between Long and the LG is like a running play rather than a pass. All Gholston did was to take the path of least resistance. It was like Long was so intent on getting back that he didn’t even see Gholston, Jake never even noticed by the time he took his second step he was dead, and then he saw what was happening and tried to react. The problem was, Long had taken himself out of the play from the start. To me that “Charlie Hustle” killed him there. To be honest, that’s the price you pay for having a guy like that. He will try so hard sometimes that he actually takes himself right out of plays. IMO you could expect the same from Chris Long, where he goes so fast that he actually runs by the play. It happens, but you live with it because the guy is busting his *** out there, and you know it.

Now, personally I like C. Long, but that is neither here nor there………….

Jake Long can play LT, in the right system. Mike Martz won’t be calling, but Bill Cowher would love to talk to him. The question with Jake is will he be a good LT or a great one. Honestly I don’t think he will ever be great. Will he be a guy to give maximum effort and sell out? Yeah, in a heartbeat,…..will he wow you with his mirror ability? No. Does Flozell Adams, or Vernon Carey? I mention those names because to me they are both engulfing LT’s. They are much happier to beat the crap out of you in a slugging match. They don’t want to hand fight, dance or adjust. They want to lock up on you and use their size, and strength to control you, If they get in front of you, it’s really over. You won’t push them back, and you’ll get controlled. That is what Jake Long is to me, an engulfing LT. The problem I have is that engulfing LT’s are rarely considered the best player in the Draft. Technicians on the other hand are often considered.

Now, there only real reasons I can see for us to draft him are these:

The offense we run will primarily be a run first, protect the QB style, especially in the beginning. Henning is hardly the type to just wing it around. He wants to attack vertically sure, but with the WR’s not the backs, TE’s etc. They all run the underneath stuff. Also, I have briefly touched on it before that the system by design, would allow us to protect Jake somewhat. Henning uses a great deal of 2 TE sets, and the H-back which means many times Jake will either be covered or be shading a H-back etc. having such alignments offers an ability to provide more protection for Jake. Henning isn’t a guy who trots out 3-4 WR sets all the time. Meaning that Jake won’t be exposed as much as in say a Mike Martz offense, or even a WC system like Seattle etc. In Carolina, Henning’s offense was primarily based on the two starting WR getting most of the attention in the passing game. The backs get some work too, but no one is even close to the two outside guys. If you look at who had the next best number of catches amongst WR’s totals such as 25, 27 etc. Here’s a link to check it out for yourself, just check the catches by the third best option at WR. (2002 – 2006, Henning was fired in Jan. 2007) http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/teams/...=car&year=2002

Now, I don't know if I'm completely right about the offense having an innate ability throguh design to ceover Jake a little. I am probably off here, but I am just going on my gut reaction to this aspect, and memory of what I saw from Henning's offense.

The type of O-line blocking I expect is more of the inline/man type. Honestly, that is the best type of offense to put Jake in. He doesn’t have the athleticism to be a zone blocker, so our offensive strategies are actually better for Jake to be in than most others. And, this brings me to another point, teams must find the players that fit their systems the best. Many rely on the overall BPA and other things to come up with picks………..really I look at what value does this guy have to the team. Not necessarily just in terms of draft position. Now many may not agree with this, but I try to fit players based on the schemes I see the teams using, and from what I see.

The contract: I have used these links before to illustrate what I feel may one reason why we are talking to him I because the of the difference between the salaries of O-lineman in comparison to other positions, such as DE, their main nemesis. Just compare the figures here for a minute. Now the overall difference may be small, say 6 mill,………..but that may be 2 second tier guys we can afford to keep etc. It all helps. Anyway here is the link(s):
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3253922 Jordan Gross Franchised

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3269703 Flozell Adams resigned

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3272497 Faneca contract/highest paid

Now the defense:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2863826 Smith Franchise/ Grant contract

In that link above you can see that Charles Grant got 63 million over 7 years = 9 million a season. Freeney’s contract is as follows:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2935483 Freeney contract

Now, all of this is brief as usual, sorry. Now, I must reiterate that I personally like C. Long, and want him at #1. However, seeing as we are talking to the guy, I thought I should at least do some research about what J. Long could bring to the table. For the record, I see Jake as an engulfing style of LT, that will have issue with lateral agility so long as he overextends or tries too hard. The hustle he shows, can be his down fall as it sometimes causes him to get out of whack in his set up. If you want a guy to wow you with natural ability then look somewhere else. If you want a guy who will sell out, and give you everything he’d got then Jake is your man. Also Jake can play in the right system, where he is not expected to be on his own every play. I’m not saying I love it, but I could live with it, albeit a little nervously. And, I am not a fan of engulfing OT’s as #1 overall. I still think low balling C. Long is a part of this thing too, but that may be because I like Chris. I like to play Devil’s Advocate, and hopefully I’ve done that. Now go ahead and tear me a new one.