All-22 reason for optimism = Cam Heyward

[kethnaab]

ok, full disclosure. I've only had one standard rewatch. My process is to watch it once, rewatch it with a focus on the dude I'm watching, a rewatch with All-22 where I reconfirm everything, and a final All-22 rewatch with a focus on graded plays to see if I missed something "odd" that could've caused either an excessively high or low grade.

Now, with that disclaimer, I will post the following:

Cam Heyward is damn good.

Yes, one game. Yes, small sample size. Cam Heyward made almost as many impact plays this game as Ziggy's made since he's worn the uniform.

So, the INITIAL EVALUATION of Heyward and Hood:

Hood 10 graded snaps (12 total):
*3 plays, -1.0 score
*5 plays, -0.5 score
*2 plays, +0.5 score

total score, -4.5. What I saw on several occasions was that Hood was left 1 on 1 vs. Yanda and got dominated. The 2nd series of the game (started with Snack's TFL) Hood did decently and got his 2 positive plays, but the 1st and especially the 3rd series, he got dominated, mostly by Yanda.

Heyward 20 graded snaps (~40ish total, don't feel like counting):
*3 plays, +1.0 score
*11 plays, +0.5 score
*6 plays, -0.5 score

total score, +6.0

The +1s were in the first series of the 3rd quarter on 2 runs up the middle by Rice that netted 1 yard total. On both plays, Heyward used some violent hands to throw Osemele (2nd and 2) and Yanda (3rd and 1) to the turf, helping to force a pileup and make the tackle. On the 3rd and 1, it looked like he actually split a double team between Yanda and Birk, threw Yanda down, and helped force the pileup which prevented a 1st down on 3rd and 1, but I need to rewatch this one. I also gave him a +1 on Woodley's sack because he stunted inside and drove Bobbie Williams straight into Flacco.

Of his 3 negative plays, 3 were against Osemele and 3 against Yanda. Overall a really good game on first watch, but 4 of the 6 negative grades so far were on that last series starting at 4:13 of the 4th quarter.

I mentioned this elsewhere, but there are a few things I notice that Heyward does SUBSTANTIALLY better than Ziggy

1) Hand use - I cannot recall seeing Ziggy push/pull/ragdoll anybody. I saw Heyward do it 3 times this game. Heyward showed a much greater ability to get off blocks once engaged.
2) Outside pressure on contain - From 5tech, often our LDE plays contain and basically "stunts" outside of the RT and contains that side of the field. Ziggy has gotten a bit better at getting his hands up in these situations, but he almost never generates any type of pressure. Heyward generated pressure on 4 occasions from outside contain.

3) Ball awareness - There are a lot of times where Ziggy will get solid interior pressure and really push the pocket, but the ball carrier will step right past him, and Ziggy won't realize it, as he continues to drive the OL backwards. Heyward showed a better ability to locate the ball and make a play on the ball.


That said, here are my disclaimers:

1) I reserve the right to disavow anything I wrote above, based up on what the tape shows on the All-22

2) This is one game. If the All22 does correlate Heyward's play, this is still only one game

3) Ziggy looked pretty darn good in 2010 too, before his neutering was complete.
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[Bobikus]

Ziggy's had some good games even recently and would probably improve a lot if Lebeau stopped trying to pretend he can play the role Smith did.

Heyward looks like he could be a legit star if he got to see the field more.
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Geno Smith, Tavon Austin, Stedman Bailey, and Bruce Irvin will all have at least 1 pro bowl season each by the end of the decade.

[at23steelers]

[1BackInBlackFan]

Not that I'm happy that Hood got hurt but hopefully this will show the coaching staff that Heyward needs more playing time than what he was getting. Get him in there and lets see him do that on a more regular basis.
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The cool high-flying Troy sig courtesy of Lysar529. Great work!

[kethnaab]

3rd quarter, 13:41 remaining. 3rd and 1.

This is something that I've never seen Ziggy Hood do. Ironhead Jr. took on a double team from Marshal Yanda and Kelechi Osemele, shrugged Osemele to the ground, got low on Yanda, push-pull/ragdolled him, and stuffed the hole. No gain, 4th down.

beautiful.

In the top part, you get the end zone view just off the snap, and you see that they are running right at Heyward, and both Yanda and Osemele attack him.

In the bottom part, you see Osemele after Heyward shrugged him aside, and you can see Heyward lower than Yanda, about to turn him and throw him down.

I would really pay money if the All-22 would be full 1920x1080.



Here's a close up of the bottom one, at least, a fairly similar time. Can't quite get the perfect time to show Yanda getting flipped though


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