The Final Countdown: D’Brickashaw Ferguson
On the verge of camp, and we’re counting it down …
Position: Left Tackle
Player: D’Brickashaw Ferguson
Summary:
Brick made big strides during the 2008 season, it cannot be denied. Now was it all due to his own improvement or was it Faneca’s fault? I think that both contributed. While Brick let up double digit sack totals in his first two seasons, that number dropped to just four during his 2008 campaign. The improvement was impressive, but where Brick still continued to lag was in his run-blocking. Now in his fourth year in the league, it’s clear to see that it will never be his strength, but it’s probably harder to find a top tier pass protector that Brick is rounding into.
Moving Forward:
Brick has seemed to come out of the shaky “boom or bust?” discussion from many fans that plagued him earlier in his career, but as he’s now grown into his frame and his game, he still needs to work on his run blocking, especially with the additional emphasis that Ryan has put in running the ball already for this season.
Working with Bill Callahan will continue to improve his skills, but Brick needs to work better in space and at the point of attack on run plays. The more nastiness (we saw some last year from him) he can gain via osmosis from Alan Faneca, the better it will be for his game long-term.
Questions:
How much better can he get at run-blocking? Is Faneca propping his game up, or is it his own improvement? Can he continue with another lower sacks allowed total this year?
4 Responses to The Final Countdown: D’Brickashaw Ferguson
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Bent says: Brick’s always been a good pass protector, despite the high sacks allowed numbers (by my count, over half of the sacks allowed in 2007 were either due to Adrien Clarke, coverage sacks or plays where Clemens felt pressure – often from Clarke’s man – and took off, only to still get tackled by Brick’s man behind the line…similarly in 2006, he got off to a good start, then hit the rookie wall – Aaron Schobel had 3 in one game towards the end of the season).
Two things made the difference last year. The first was that Favre has good pocket presence and a good sense of when the rush is coming and when to get rid of the ball. Many have commented that he held the ball too long, but that could have been because either the receivers couldn’t get separation or (once his arm was damaged) he could only throw short-to-intermediate routes and the other teams knew this, so were able to pile up defenders accordingly.
The other thing was that Brick added a bit of weight and strength. NFL pass rushers are talented, so left tackles are always going to get beat, but if, once they do, they can use their strength (and Brick is blessed with long arms too) to push the rush off course, then it shouldn’t lead to a sack. Especially when the QB has the pocket presence to step up like Favre, for all his faults, undoubtedly did.
(This may be the key for whoever will win the starter’s job. For Clemens to win it, that’s the one area he must improve, although with Clarke’s poor play, you can hardly blame him for not having had confidence in the pocket in 2007. For Sanchez, to show a similar level of unflappability in the pocket as a rookie would be huge).
Brick’s run blocking also obviously improved, even though the Jets were better running right (this is mainly because Faneca is better pulling right than Moore is pulling left). Part of this was due to his increased strength, but credit must also go to Faneca and Callahan, of course.
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I wouldn’t take any other player in the top 10 from that 2006 draft. He has become the player we needed. Yes…. there were some scary moments but he has filled out to be a excellent LT
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RKNYC says:
Just more proof that calling a player a bust in his first year or two is just as important as preseason rankings.
Faneca is definitely helping remember last year when Brick and Ellis got into a little scrape and everyone was like wow we never seen Brick be that aggressive, so of Alan must be rubbing off.