Even Red Raiders who are the most bullish on the prospects of Tech football this fall have to be, at least slightly, worried about the offensive line. I don't think it was the disaster that many on this website seem to think, but it's fair to be critical of the results and just the way it often looked on Saturday afternoons. The table below shows last year's offensive line stats, according to Football Outsiders.
Glossary
There are not many of those stats that really stand out except for the "Passing Downs Line Yards per Carry" and the "Standard Downs Sack Rate," and they stand out for opposite reasons. The "Passing Downs Line Yards per Carry" is the most alarming, but also the most telling when you watch the film. This unit, last season, could not make the most of advantageous situations. I would argue that this is not squarely on them, that it is very difficult to block when the defense knows what's coming; so even when the defense should be expecting pass, they had a pretty good idea that a run was coming their way. I would use that same argument for a number of unfortunate offensive situations last season, just keeping the defense on their toes will go a long way in improving their statistics. Before we move on, all the sack rates are good, but a lot of that is how quick the ball was out of the QB's hands. That quick passing game drove me insane, I would be willing to sacrifice a few more sacks if the Red Raider offense pushed the ball downfield some more.
That's enough of last season, this is a Kool-Aid article after all, and that's why I want to study the All-Big 12 tackle that Matt Wells and Co. added to fortify this offensive "weakness." TJ Storment followed Cumbie from TCU this offseason, after stops at Old Dominion, Fullerton College, and Colorado State. Storment did not immediately start at TCU, but after he became the starter at left tackle, TCU finished the season 5-2. Let's look at the difference he made...
Before we get to the film, here are Storment's grades and stats, from PFF, for all of his starts at TCU.
Feel free to ignore the ISU game, he only played two snaps.
Below is the key:
It's nice to see the stats back up what I watched on film, Storment is an elite pass protector that got better at run blocking as the season went along.
Let's look at some run blocking film first,
Like last time, this is a Kool-Aid post, so we'll save the serious film study for another time. What stands out in these plays is when Storment gets locked on to someone, it's over. He finishes blocks with authority. A lot of times, when guys have that characteristic, they may not move very well, but you can see in these plays that's not the case with Storment. He pulls around on a counter play against us, and then easily combo blocks to linebackers in several other plays. It's hard to ask for much more from a guy his size.
Now for the fun stuff, I am not exaggerating when I say that Storment is elite in pass protection. Not only is he good in one-on-one situations, like in the first play, but he seems to have an excellent understanding of pass rush schemes. He is not fooled by twists, stunts, zone blitzes, etc. He keeps his eyes up, looking for work, and expertly passes rushers off and engages with a new one. Speed rush situations, bull rushing ends, spin moves, swim moves, athletic linebackers, it doesn't matter, if Storment gets his hands on you, just like in the run game, it's over.
One guy, or even a few guys, does not make a good offensive line (although a bad lineman can break one), it's a unit, that must work together. Five average lineman who work together seamlessly can be more effective than one full of five-star guys with no chemistry. Adding Storment to a line led by Dawson Deaton is a great start for hopes of a cohesive and dominating unit because those are two guys that can hold their own in both the run game and pass pro. Cumbie and Farmer are not going to have to scheme wins for them, they can do it on their own, and can focus on making the best of the three other guys who fill out the open spots. Storment is a big time addition and I am excited to see the difference he makes.
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This is brought to you by our good friends at Gator's Bayou. If you are looking for a real, authentic Cajun restaurant in Lubbock complete with a fun, Louisiana-style atmosphere, Gator's Bayou is the place to go!"
Statistic | Number (Rank) |
| Line Yards per Carry | 2.62 (61) |
| Standard Downs Line Yards per Carry | 2.58 (69) |
| Passing Downs Line Yards per Carry | 2.66 (84) |
| Opportunity Rate | 50.5% (43) |
| Power Success Rate | 70.4% (57) |
| Stuff Rate | 18.3% (64) |
| Sack Rate | 4.2% (22) |
| Standard Downs Sack Rate | 2.7% (12) |
| Passing Downs Sack Rate | 6.0% (36) |
Glossary
Run-blocking stats
- Line Yards per Carry: For 2018, we are experimenting with a new definition for college line yardage based on film study and generalization. Instead of the ALY figure FO used for the NFL, this one is tighter: the line gets credit for rushing yardage between 0-3 yards (instead of 0-4) and 50% credit for yards 4-8 (instead of 5-10). Anything over 8 yards is quantified as a highlight opportunity, and credit goes to the runner. As with the pro definition, lost yardage still counts for 125%. (Garbage time is filtered out for all line yardage averages.)
- Standard Downs Line Yards per Carry: The raw, unadjusted per-carry line yardage for a team on standard downs (first down, second-and-7 or fewer, third-and-4 or fewer, fourth-and-4 or fewer).
- Passing Downs Line Yards per Carry: The same unadjusted averages for rushing on passing downs.
- Opportunity Rate: The percentage of carries (when four yards are available) that gain at least four yards, i.e. the percentage of carries in which the line does its job, so to speak.
- Power Success Rate: This is the same as on the NFL side -- percentage of runs on third or fourth down, two yards or less to go, that achieved a first down or touchdown.
- Stuff Rate: Same as STUFFED on the NFL side -- percentage of carries by running backs that are stopped at or before the line of scrimmage.
Pass-blocking stats
- Sack Rate: Unadjusted sack rate for all non-garbage time pass attempts.
- Standard Downs Sack Rate: Unadjusted sack rate for standard downs pass attempts.
- Passing Downs Sack Rate: Unadjusted sack rate for passing downs pass attempts.
There are not many of those stats that really stand out except for the "Passing Downs Line Yards per Carry" and the "Standard Downs Sack Rate," and they stand out for opposite reasons. The "Passing Downs Line Yards per Carry" is the most alarming, but also the most telling when you watch the film. This unit, last season, could not make the most of advantageous situations. I would argue that this is not squarely on them, that it is very difficult to block when the defense knows what's coming; so even when the defense should be expecting pass, they had a pretty good idea that a run was coming their way. I would use that same argument for a number of unfortunate offensive situations last season, just keeping the defense on their toes will go a long way in improving their statistics. Before we move on, all the sack rates are good, but a lot of that is how quick the ball was out of the QB's hands. That quick passing game drove me insane, I would be willing to sacrifice a few more sacks if the Red Raider offense pushed the ball downfield some more.
That's enough of last season, this is a Kool-Aid article after all, and that's why I want to study the All-Big 12 tackle that Matt Wells and Co. added to fortify this offensive "weakness." TJ Storment followed Cumbie from TCU this offseason, after stops at Old Dominion, Fullerton College, and Colorado State. Storment did not immediately start at TCU, but after he became the starter at left tackle, TCU finished the season 5-2. Let's look at the difference he made...
Before we get to the film, here are Storment's grades and stats, from PFF, for all of his starts at TCU.
Feel free to ignore the ISU game, he only played two snaps.
Below is the key:
It's nice to see the stats back up what I watched on film, Storment is an elite pass protector that got better at run blocking as the season went along.
Let's look at some run blocking film first,
Like last time, this is a Kool-Aid post, so we'll save the serious film study for another time. What stands out in these plays is when Storment gets locked on to someone, it's over. He finishes blocks with authority. A lot of times, when guys have that characteristic, they may not move very well, but you can see in these plays that's not the case with Storment. He pulls around on a counter play against us, and then easily combo blocks to linebackers in several other plays. It's hard to ask for much more from a guy his size.
Now for the fun stuff, I am not exaggerating when I say that Storment is elite in pass protection. Not only is he good in one-on-one situations, like in the first play, but he seems to have an excellent understanding of pass rush schemes. He is not fooled by twists, stunts, zone blitzes, etc. He keeps his eyes up, looking for work, and expertly passes rushers off and engages with a new one. Speed rush situations, bull rushing ends, spin moves, swim moves, athletic linebackers, it doesn't matter, if Storment gets his hands on you, just like in the run game, it's over.
One guy, or even a few guys, does not make a good offensive line (although a bad lineman can break one), it's a unit, that must work together. Five average lineman who work together seamlessly can be more effective than one full of five-star guys with no chemistry. Adding Storment to a line led by Dawson Deaton is a great start for hopes of a cohesive and dominating unit because those are two guys that can hold their own in both the run game and pass pro. Cumbie and Farmer are not going to have to scheme wins for them, they can do it on their own, and can focus on making the best of the three other guys who fill out the open spots. Storment is a big time addition and I am excited to see the difference he makes.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is brought to you by our good friends at Gator's Bayou. If you are looking for a real, authentic Cajun restaurant in Lubbock complete with a fun, Louisiana-style atmosphere, Gator's Bayou is the place to go!"
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