I'll start. One of my best friends from high school got hitched this weekend this weekend in Cleveland. Though I don't live in the city right now, I was one of three groomsmen from in town, so I pretty much played the role of fixer all weekend. I finally got a chance to sit down and watch the replay I had taped yesterday.
Cleveland's local NBC affiliate, WKYC, broadcasts the preseason games in the local market, and their presentation isn't very sophisticated. You basically get one, high-angle shot from the south sidelines. This isn't bad, though, since it's more or less the angle high school coaches get on the film they break down for the next week's game--you get to see a lot of the field, and you get to the full play (or at least 10-15 yards on both sides of the line of scrimmage, so you can at least find the safeties and identify coverage).
Anyway, I mostly closely the right side of the Browns' line, and specifically RG Shawn Lauvao (#66). He started and was lined up against Ndamukong Suh for most of the first half. I missed one Browns series based on the replay chop, but I get to see all but three of Lauvao's snaps and he did a nice job of keeping a guy like Suh in front of him. I got to see, too, how he worked with Pashos and Mack, as well as Marecic in blitz pickup. On the whole, I have to give Lauvao a good grade for the half. His only penalty was a personal foul for cleaning up the pile just a bit late, and that's not the worst thing I can imagine my right guard doing. No holding penalties, kept Suh from murdering McCoy; that's a good day. As far as blocking technique, I'll defer to experts, but his base looked solid- he wasn't off-balance, and kept his man in front of him. Playing next to a good young center and having a quarterback who gets the ball out quickly helps too.
The schemes the Lions were running weren't very extravagant, and McCoy did take some hits. The right guard position wasn't the problem, though, and that's very good news after last season.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks