Could Zach Banner become a legit starting RT?

[colts52761]

how long kelly out?

[BlueShoe]

4 minutes ago, colts52761 said:

how long kelly out?

 

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000830657/article/colts-center-ryan-kelly-will-undergo-foot-surgery

 

Probably at least a couple of months. 

 

My best guess is he will miss nearly half the season. 

[rockywoj]

16 hours ago, BlueShoe said:

 

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2017/profiles/deyshawn-bond?id=2557968

 

His size hurt him the most. 6'2" 287 is small in today's NFL. 

ANALYSIS

STRENGTHS

 Powerful upper body. Initial contact contains pop. Creates strong leverage points as base blocker. Explodes into down blocks and snaps hips under his hands to seal the deal. Capable in zone and in combo blocks, taking solid angles to second-level targets. Good snap to set quickness in pass protection. Able to handle a strong bull rush. Athletic with good foot quickness in his pass slide from gap edge to the other. Reactive quickness enables his recoveries. Good torque in his punch. Uses plus body control to mirror and engage pass rushers. Uses quick hands to catch and control twisters. Solid games against Houston's Ed Oliver and Purdue's Jake Replogle.

WEAKNESSES

 Undersized with short arms. Doesn't generate much drive off the snap. Leg drive gears down after contact. Can do better job of working feet into position after initial contact on both first and second levels. Slightly below average sustaining blocks. Can be beaten to the punch by length. Needs improved arm extension in his pass protection to keep rushers out of his frame. Will short his first block if he thinks a blitz is coming behind it. Needs to do better job of diagnosing blitz packages coming off the edge.

DRAFT PROJECTION

 Round 7-PFA

NFL COMPARISON

 Patrick Lewis

BOTTOM LINE

 Four-year starter with a combination of core strength and foot quickness that lends itself to success on the interior. Smaller than desired with below average length and that could hurt his draft stock, but he's a plus in pass protection and decent in run blocking and could become an eventual starter with time.

[Coffeedrinker]

On 8/20/2017 at 4:54 PM, Horse Shoe Heaven said:

I agree Bond has looked good, my question then is why wasn't he drafted??

Small, short arms and a smaller school all equals undrafted.  I will also say, I could see Bond moving to the LG spot when Kelly comes back if Haeg doesn't start run blocking better.

[OHColtfan]

If this really is about competition for spots, no reason Banner can't start. Doesn't say that he is really good, but that he is just better than whoever he is competing against. If he can beat out Clark, stick him on the field and let him play.  We need 5 best guys playing period. What Clark did last year isn't relevant right now.

 

 

[Horse Shoe Heaven]

On 8/22/2017 at 8:23 AM, Coffeedrinker said:

Small, short arms and a smaller school all equals undrafted.  I will also say, I could see Bond moving to the LG spot when Kelly comes back if Haeg doesn't start run blocking better.

You think Bond is a better run blocker than Haeg?

[CoachLite]

I guess I see our current O-line personnel differently than many on this forum. While none are absolutely perfect, I think the talent is there - with the proper coaching and player development - to be a very good front line. I'm somewhat concerned that they won't get developed, though. Hope I'm wrong.

[CoachLite]

On ‎8‎/‎22‎/‎2017 at 10:36 AM, OHColtfan said:

If this really is about competition for spots, no reason Banner can't start. Doesn't say that he is really good, but that he is just better than whoever he is competing against. If he can beat out Clark, stick him on the field and let him play.  We need 5 best guys playing period. What Clark did last year isn't relevant right now.

 

 

Again, my concerns with the O-line are that this isn't about individual performance, but how the O-line functions as a whole. There is a missing coordinated "choreography" to the play of the O-line that should have been easy to fix (true IMO for the past several years).

[Coffeedrinker]

1 hour ago, Horse Shoe Heaven said:

You think Bond is a better run blocker than Haeg?

 Bond did well run blocking against both Detroit and Dallas, but I don't know how is run blocking would be from the guard position... a bit of a different dynamic.  I just know that Haeg was not run blocking well against the 'Boys.

[Horse Shoe Heaven]

30 minutes ago, Coffeedrinker said:

 Bond did well run blocking against both Detroit and Dallas, but I don't know how is run blocking would be from the guard position... a bit of a different dynamic.  I just know that Haeg was not run blocking well against the 'Boys.

Ok will be more of an eye on Mr Bond!

[Coffeedrinker]

1 hour ago, CoachLite said:

Again, my concerns with the O-line are that this isn't about individual performance, but how the O-line functions as a whole. There is a missing coordinated "choreography" to the play of the O-line that should have been easy to fix (true IMO for the past several years).

If it were easy, everyone would do it.  But I do think the pieces are in place.

[Rally5]

On 8/20/2017 at 10:44 AM, BlueShoe said:

It is becoming clearer by the day that Banner is our most talented RT. After two games of tape, Banner looks like a man playing with boys in the second units. He has a lot to learn, and the coaches might need to hold him back until he gains the experience. 

 

Its obvious they're already experimenting with the starting RT spot. Vujnovich started, and Clark did not see action until the third drive. If Pagano keeps making comments about Clark (post game press conference) then Banner could be thrown in the fire sooner than later. 

 

I think we should all be ready for big #72 to get an opportunity, because he is knocking on the door.

 

I am really impressed with Banner's timing on his first step. He is kicking out at the same time the ball is being snapped. It is approaching Tarik Glenn territory. Go back and look at the tape. I am not sure how he is even doing it. Just like Glenn, Banner will probably be unfairly called for some false starts in his career.

 

Another very noticeable topic from watching the Dallas game is that Banner tends to do a much better job without a tight end lined up next to him. I think that also shows his lack of experience. He does a better job when things are less complex which is typical for a rookie. When he smashes inside, he appears to be expecting the tight end to cover outside. However, the tight end might run a route leaving the defender unblocked. We see some mental pass protection breakdowns, and would have to know the assignments to know who is responsible. 

 

Also, when defenders are lining up in 7 and 9 techniques then it becomes a little more challenging for Banner to get his big body out there, and it's very difficult for him to recover from double moves. He might struggle (at this point in his career) against some quick-twitched athletes, especially if they're lined up outside the tackle.

 

Banner played RT the entire second half, and improved as the game moved along. It could be that he just got more comfortable or it could be a drop in the level of competition. Maybe it was a little of both. Whatever it was, when Morris took over under center, that is when Banner started to do everything right. He dominated the opposition in the last 8 minutes of the game.

There's a few reasons I see that I like Banner over the other guys:

 

1. He's an absolute mountain of a man and sometimes physics simply wins.

2. He doesn't make mental mistakes, so he knows his assignments. At USC he had zero assignment errors his senior year which is impressive.

3. He can win in the run game.

4. He should only get better with reps.

5. I think he stands out when he plays against the 2's and 3's, I'd like to see him play with the 1's.

6. I watch Clark and don't see anything that says he's a real deal starter in the NFL, he plays like a back up.

 

I'm not an oline expert but I tend to agree with all your observations.  

 

-Go Colts!