Peyton Manning: Should we worry about his left tackle situation?
When Tarik Glenn announced his surprised retirement, it got some attention in fantasy football circles but I don’t feel it got enough. Our Chris Smith, who handles a lot of the offensive line analysis for Footballguys, posted his thoughts on the implications on the day of the announcement. He points out that this will be a real test for the Colts offense, including Peyton Manning:
We will get a true look at Manning’s greatness to start this season. If he steps in and doesn’t miss a beat with a new left tackle that will be a truly special feat. If anybody can do it, he will be able to thanks to his mental preparation each week.
After watching last night’s Colts vs. Cowboys preseason game and then hearing ESPN’s Mark Schlereth break down game tap on rookie LT Tony Ugoh’s performance, I think we need to take a long, hard look at just how much Manning has benefitted from great pass protection.
First, let’s state the obvious: Manning hasn’t been sacked a lot in his career.
- 1998 — 22 sacks
- 1999 — 14 sacks
- 2000 — 20 sacks
- 2001 — 29 sacks
- 2002 — 23 sacks
- 2003 — 18 sacks
- 2004 — 13 sacks
- 2005 — 17 sacks
- 2006 — 14 sacks
But it’s simply not enough to say the loss of Tarik Glenn will hurt the line play. We pretty much KNOW that to be true, but we have to look a little deeper before deciding whether Manning and the passing game deserve a downtick. Here are some thoughts (probably more talking points than hard answers):
- The rest of the line remains solid – Ryan Lilja, Jeff Saturday, Jake Scott and Ryan Diem are a cohesive, effective unit. It’s not as though the Colts are completely rebuilding their line.
- Manning has excellent pocket awareness – Manning’s sack totals aren’t merely a byproduct of his line, he’s got great awareness and knows how and when to get rid of the ball
- Manning has a quick release — See #2
The point here is: Tony Ugoh OR Charlie Johnson don’t have to be as good as Tarik Glenn. They just can’t be sieves (like Ugoh was last night).
For the sake of argument, let’s say the left tackle position IS a major liability. What could we then expect from the Colts passing offense?
- Consistent pressure rattles ANY QB, including Manning — The few times we’ve seen teams successfully pressure Manning (i.e., sacks, knock downs, pressures); he has looked mortal. Because his baseline is higher than most, mortality isn’t necessarily a fantasy death knell, but if you’re relying on him as your 1st round pick; it could be somewhat tenuous.
- Joseph Addai and Dallas Clark may lose touches, at the margin — Both Addai and Clark are in line for a lot of targets as you know. But both would be put in the position of having to stay in as blockers more often (and/or be benched on a few more plays for better in-line blocking backs and TEs, respectively)
What do you think about the Colts offense? Not worried at all? Need to see the LT situation develop a bit more over the next few weeks? Would you still draft Manning as QB1 in the late 1st or early 2nd round?
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Here’s a quote from Dallas Clark in January:
“It’s very enjoyable because if they asked me to do anything else I probably wouldn’t have a job,” says Clark. “If they asked me to down block on D-ends all day like some teams … I can’t do that very well.
“But as much as they let me run and catch balls and block here and there, block out in the slot, I love it.”
Clark isn’t very big and he’s not known as a great blocker, and he certainly doesn’t sound like he wants to be a blocking TE. The problem is, when you lose your tackle, your TE is often used to help your backup tackle. I expect the Colts to use a tight end to block a lot more, but that might not be Dallas Clark. I think he suffers the most from the Glenn retirement, because he’ll likely be on the field less and be running routes less often when he is out there.
Comment by Chase Stuart — August 12, 2007 @ 10:31 am