FanPost

Ball vs. Bibbs: 2015 Preseason Week 4

Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

With all the talk about Ball's performance in this preseason game, I decided to go and do a little film study (even though I usually just stick to the numbers).

I wanted to compare Ball's numbers in the 1st half to his numbers in the 2nd half with different blockers in the game. I also wanted to see how Bibbs performed given he was playing behind the same offensive line as Ball in the 2nd half.

HOW I GRADED

I graded both the blocking and running on a scale of 1-5, 5 indicating the best.

Here is the general scale for the blocking grades:

  1. RB is hit in the backfield or has to elude a defender immediately after the QB hands the ball off to him
  2. RB has no immediate defender near him, but the o-line did not open any running lanes for him to go where the play was intended
  3. The o-line opened a running lane for a brief moment, but the RB has to fight through tacklers
  4. The o-line opened a solid running lane without any defenders attempting a tackle in the immediate running lane
  5. The o-line opened a significant running lane and no defender is in position to impede the runner for a few yards (minimum)
The scale for the running was based on the criteria above. If the RB exceeded the grade of the blocking, then he was given a running grade of 1 or 2 scores above the blocking grade, with 5 being the max.

MONTEE BALL

Here is his chart of all 16 runs. The first 7 were in the 1st half, the final 9 were in the 2nd half.


M. Ball

Dwn/Dist Yds Gnd Blocking Run Grd
1 2nd 10 8 4 5
2 3rd 2 4 4 5
3 1st 10 2 2 2
4 4th 1 1 2 3
5 2nd 11* 2 2 2
6 1st 10 5 2 4
7 1st 10 3 3 3
8 1st 10* 1 2 1
9 3rd 24* 5 4 2
10 2nd 10 -2 1 1
11 1st 10* 1 2 1
12 2nd 9 0 1 2
13 2nd 2 2 2 2
14 2nd 10 -2 1 1
15 1st 10 0 1 1
16 1st 10 -2 1 1

This 2nd chart will indicate Montee Ball's carries, yards gained, average blocking grade and average running grade.


M. Ball

Car. Yds Avg Blck Avg RG
1st 6 22 2.7 3.5
2nd 9 3 1.7 1.3

Observations

  • Ball's YPC average in the first half was 3.7
  • The average blocking grade for Ball in the 1st half was only a 2.7, which is less than average (3.0).
  • Ball actually outperformed his blocking grade in the first half, with a respectable score of 3.5.
  • The 2nd half is where everything fell apart, and mostly for the offensive line. The o-line and receivers had a blocking grade of 1.7. This means Ball had no running lanes and was getting hit in the backfield on every 3rd run (on average) during the 2nd half.
  • As a result, it's no coincidence that his running grade dropped to an awful average of 1.3. The pressure really got to Ball and he stopped running with any confidence. On Ball's final 7 runs, the o-line and receivers got a blocking grade of 1 (5x) and 2 (2x).

KAPRI BIBBS

Here is a chart with all 6 of his runs, 5 of them occurring in the 2nd half.


M. Ball

Dwn/Dist Yds Gnd Blocking Run Grd
1 1st 10 4 3 3
2 1st 10 8 3 5
3 2nd 2 9 4 5
4 2nd 10 1 1 2
5 1st 10* 1 2 1
6 1st 10 4 3 3

Here is the 2nd chart indicating the averages for the blocking and running grades.


K. Bibbs

Car. Yds Avg Blck Avg RG
1st 1 4 3.0 3.0
2nd 5 23 2.6 3.2

Observations

  • Not much to take away from the 1st half (1 run). Bibbs had solid blocking and did what you would expect. Solid run for 4 yards.
  • Bibbs had 2 really good runs for 17 yards, and then 3 average runs that gained 6 yards. His 4.6 YPC in the 2nd half was pretty good, but it was also a small sample size, just like Ball's first half totals.
  • Bibbs had average blocking, or better, on 3 out of his 5 runs in the 2nd half. He gained 21 yards on those runs. On the 2 runs where the team got a 1 or 2 blocking grade, he gained a total of 2 yards.
  • The blocking was much better for Bibbs than it was for Ball in the 2nd half and it showed.

SUMMARY


Ball looked good in the 1st half but had no help in the 2nd half and was consistently getting hit in the backfield as soon as he got the ball.

I did put an asterisk next to some of the runs to indicate something important about Ball. He runs the plays as they are designed in a playbook. Since this offensive line struggles opening a ton of running lanes, he has to be able to decide very quickly when the running lane is closed he is going to look on the perimeter.

On 4 or 5 occasions, there was good enough blocking (or a lack of defenders on the outside due to the receivers running routes) that he could have bounced it out and tried to outrun defenders. Now, on a couple of these plays, there were DBs or linebackers simply waiting for him and it may have resulted in no gain or even negative yards.

However, there were a couple of occasions where Ball could have very quickly changed direction and gained a lot of yards because of good blocking by receivers or simply a lack of defenders in the area. In my opinion, this can be resolved if the coaches really teach Ball to get the mental aspect of running down. If the o-line hasn't opened any running lanes and it isn't a short yardage situation, he needs to try to bounce it to the outside in order to gain positive yards.

I can't sit here and say what the coaches are asking him to do, but this is what I would ask him to do. There were also many occasions where Ball did hit a running lane very well but the defense did a good job closing in and making the tackle.

Bibbs makes decisions more quickly than Ball and doesn't seem to wait for the perfect running lane as much as Ball. He ran well, but he also had better blocking. If we compare his numbers in the 2nd half to Ball's in the 1st half they are very similar.

There was 1 run, and maybe a 2nd as well, that Bibbs could have bounced it to the outside as well but instead went straight up the middle. I would say Bibbs looked better than Ball in this game, but only because he was more confident in where he was going. I also don't think there was as big of a difference in their running as most here are suggesting due to the downright awful blocking that Ball received to finish the game.

One thing that I do feel is important to mention is: Of the 22 run plays for Ball and Bibbs, about 6 or 7 of them were completely closed off at the point of attack and potentially could have turned into big gains ONLY IF the running back changed directions immediately upon receiving the hand off (going in the opposite direction of where the play was intended) AND eluded at least 1 edge defender.

I don't know how realistic that is to expect a running back to do that on over 33% of his rushing attempts, but that was my observation.

What I will say is after watching the tape, I feel worse about the depth at the o-line position than I do about either of our 4th string RBs.

This is a Fan-Created Comment on MileHighReport.com. The opinion here is not necessarily shared by the editorial staff of MHR.