Week 6 Film Room - Rookie OT Review: Slater, Darrisaw, & Sewell
For the Week 6 film room I put three first-round rookie offensive tackles under the microscope starting with Chargers LT Rashawn Slater against the Ravens, Vikings LT Christian Darrisaw (starts at 16:51) making his first career start against the Panthers, and Lions LT Penei Sewell (starts 32:59) against the Bengals in what may be his last start of the season at left tackle before switching back to the right side to make room for Taylor Decker’s return.
Some key points that we will cover in this edition of the film room:
How an offense/quarterback can make life easier and more difficult for the OL
Slater’s body control, contact balance, and weight distribution continue to shine
How arm length concerns manifest themselves and ways to combat them
In-depth discussion on the depth of the QB’s drop and how that is directly related to the outcome of a play for the OL, particularly tackles
Sewell’s special explosiveness at 330 pounds continuing to translate from college to the pros
Sewell’s ability to adapt mid-game on display
How Darrisaw’s build/girth and play strength are significant boosts for the Vikings offense
That was great Brandon, especially seeing the 3 rookies back to back.
Darrisaw has some tough competition in the next few weeks with Dallas, Baltimore and the Chargers. It will be interesting to see how he performs against some tough pass rushers. I noticed last week with the limited reps played he got beat inside quickly a couple times, and that happened again this week. I hope he can clean that up quickly.