Question about Flower's Technique

, if he's on his toes, an arm is swatted away and he will lose balance and fall forward.

If he's on balance and his shoulders are over his feet and power base, he can re-punch and re-establish contact.

but I can tell you that they are supposed to use their punch to slow down aggressive/fast pass rushers. This is why some players (Pugh) are not projected to LT because their arms are not long enough to get out there in time to really slow down a speed rush.

Flowers is just so inconsistent with those punches. Sometimes he doesn't get his hands up at all, sometimes he just seems to miss, and sometimes he seems to make some kind of soft contact that has no effect on the rusher. What I think you are seeing is these third type of punches - if your punch turns into a grab it's easy to swat away by the defender.

Now, having said that, we need to keep in mind that Ansah is a very good pass rusher, and he's going to win some of the battles he gets in even against the top LTs in the league. So finding a couple of times where his swat is effective against a punch is no surprise.

The problem is that Flowers really struggles to have any consistency with his punch. Miss with your punch and you end up off balance, then your head goes down your arms go out and you're grabbing what you can. How many clips of Flowers in this position do we see?

grab defenders by the shoulder pads and steer them around? Why don't our linemen seem to do this?

Often the swat down causes him to lose his balance, no ability to re-punch, or he drops his head where he can't see his man any longer and totally loses his technique from that point. He seems to lack the kick and lateral quickness for some speed rushers for sure.

In comment 13608477 fivehead said:

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grab defenders by the shoulder pads and steer them around? Why don't our linemen seem to do this?

Green Bay has been effective coaching this technique. I don't have an answer for what's being coached here. Whatever or however it's being coached here, it isn't working.

Downward Facing Dog

Head down, arms down, ass up

In comment 13608498 Dan in the Springs said:

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In comment 13608477 fivehead said: Quote: grab defenders by the shoulder pads and steer them around? Why don't our linemen seem to do this? Green Bay has been effective coaching this technique. I don't have an answer for what's being coached here. Whatever or however it's being coached here, it isn't working.

Forgot to mention - I think that this technique might be better when you are trying to block defenders with contain responsibility. This would make sense when rushing mobile QB's like Rodgers and less sense vs. Eli. In those cases the defender is not going all out on a speed rush but trying to attack with leverage. Grabbing the shoulder pads should work better in those situations.

I also wish B in ALB would chime in on this, or others who specifically work the OL (players/coaches). Not sure how much OL work JonC does but I respect very much his opinions in general on football - he's very knowledgeable.

technique is part of it, but talent is another part. Some people have great technique but not enough strength or quickness to play. Some have the perfect size and quickness, but for some reason aren't agile enough to combine that with the proper technique. In High School and College you can get by with just technique (many undersized OL play) or just great size and strength (Flowers at Miami), but in the NFL you need both.

We can sit here are scream about improving his technique, but he just doesn't seem to be able to move quick enough with his technique and feet to play the position in the NFL.

.. but watching Ansah work Monday, just how strong does a guy have to be to throw around a 325-pound man like he's a damn rag doll?

it will be fine cause he is at the facility working hard.

In comment 13608546 Beezer said:

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.. but watching Ansah work Monday, just how strong does a guy have to be to throw around a 325-pound man like he's a damn rag doll?

If the 325 pound man doesn't have proper balance, flexibility, and technique (like Flowers) he might as well be about 175 pounds to these DEs. They'll toss him aside like it's nothing

B, Joey, dorgan, Anish all far exceed my OL knowledge.

once his hands get swatted down, it's what to do to stop them from being swatted. You hear a lot about a lineman's "punch", this is him aggressively using his hands to establish control. The reason Flowers was getting his hands swatted was because he wasn't punching, he was simply extending his arms and hoping that Ansah ran into them.

Think about a boxer, he aggressively punches is opponent with an amount of speed and force abling him to accurately contact his opponent. He does not hold out his hands hoping the other party literally "walks into a punch".

This brings up another concern with Flowers I don't see being mentioned. Could his flaws literally be due to a lack of coordination? Remember there is nothing at the combine that tests hand/eye for lineman.

Doesn't matter what he does with his hands if he's not coordinated or nimble enough to position himself BETWEEN the defender and the QB consistently.

No amount of coaching and/or good intentions and hard work will make any difference.

It's a lot more obvious with NFL cornerbacks (that inadequacy); for linemen, much of it has to do with strength, but the best are the "Dancing Bears" of the NFL - Super Large human beings with the grace of ballerinas.

It seems like the DE he's blocking is an excellent football player. I know Ansah is very good one, but really makes everyone look good.

Put his head down and lunge forward, its a good indication that he has F'd up the technique and Eli is about to get his ass planted

and OL in general, because "technique" is thrown around here like a poorly thought out catch phrase. If someone is off balance, it doesn't matter how quick, disciplined, or technical they are. They won't be able to be use it. They are rag-dolled because their weight is used against them. Here is a draft analysis done in 2015 by Lance Zierlein, whom thought he was a guard.

WEAKNESSES Pass protection needs plenty of work. Footwork gets sloppy and undisciplined, causing base to narrow. Ducks head into contact and is a leaner in pass pro, creating balance problems. Rarely flat-footed upon initial hand contact. Throws hands rather than firing authoritative punch. Hands ride too high and too wide. Content to become grabby around framework of defender. Flagged for six holding penalties over last two seasons. Slow to secure and climb on combo blocks and is often lacking balance on the way to target. Doesn't bring feet under him to sustain second-level blocks. Knocked off balance by smaller pass rushers due to poor balance. Hips looked tight and struggled to gain ground when asked to pass set in combine drills.

BOTTOM LINE Flowers has good size and short area foot quickness, but he also features some lower body tightness and struggles to get proper depth quickly to consistently meet edge rushers. Some of Flowers' pass protection issue may be difficult to overcome. On the hand, his strength as a run blocker and ability to uproot his man and get them turned is undeniable. Flowers may be drafted as a tackle, but his best position could end up being as a guard where I would put a draft grade on him of 6.12.