Here’s a little sneak behind the curtain of how I determine who or what I write these film review articles on this week: it’s all based off of vibes.
Usually while I watch each game there is a specific lineman or aspect of the game that is popping off the screen and I want to take a deeper look at it on film. I then essentially just share my findings with you guys, which you seem to like, which is fantastic. And originally I wasn’t planning on doing another review of Luke Wattenberg, especially considering
we just did one a couple of weeks ago. But there have been a handful of people on the site, in the comments, and on Twitter that think that Wattenberg had himself a solid game, especially considering he was going against a beast in Jalen Carter.
This wasn’t the feeling I necessarily got while watching, but I’m not always correct, and you guys catch some things that I don’t. So I figured I’d take a look and end up either proving those people right or proving them wrong.
Let’s take a look.
Stat crunch
Luke Wattenberg played all 70 offensive snaps for the Broncos on Sunday. They had thirty designed run plays and 40 designed pass plays.
The Broncos ran up either A gap eight times for a total of 35 yards (4.4 YPC). Three of the carries went for five or more yards (five, eight, 13 yard carries). The rest went for three or less yards.
Wattenberg had five blown blocks. Two of them were on run plays and two of them were in pass protection.
Wattenberg gave up zero TFLs. He also gave up two pressures, zero QB hits, and zero sacks.
Out of his 70 snaps, Wattenberg logged seven “Bad” blocks, eight “Meh” blocks, 10 “Alright” blocks, 45 “Good” blocks, and zero “Great” snaps. This is good enough for 56.5 points, or 80.7%. In run protection he scored 20.5 points (68.3%) and in pass protection he scored 36 points (90%).
In general
Luke Wattenberg did not have a good game on Sunday. Just like I assumed would happen, he stood little chance against Jalen Carter in the run game. And while he didn’t give up a TFL, he was shed many times right at the line of scrimmage and ruined what could be a strong gain for the Broncos.
Wattenberg struggles to get any vertical displacement, and this hurts the Broncos on their Inside Zone and Duo concepts. For the most part, the only time he is able to get guys moving is when he is aided by either of his guards. His best quality on Inside Zone and Duo concepts is getting up to the second level, where he normally gives a good enough blocks to sustain the crease.
He did struggle a bit on Outside Zone in this game as well. Not at the line of scrimmage though, but rather he struggled to get good blocks and playside leverage on the linebackers. He recovered decently enough a couple of times, being able to wash the linebacker since he wasn’t able to reach block him.
When it comes to pass protection, he was a lot cleaner. But mostly because he had help. But even when he was isolated, he was mostly good, outside of the two bad pressures that he gave up.
Essentially when Wattenberg is working in tandem with his guards, good things typically happen. When he’s stuck on his own, that’s usually when the struggles repeatedly show.
The specifics
Inside Zone Right – Bad Block
This play is D.O.A. and all you have to do is watch Wattenberg’s right foot and you can see why. The Broncos are running right behind him, and there is a cutback lane (at least briefly before Bolles stumbles) mostly due to Powers. All Wattenberg has to do is, at the least, anchor down with his head to the play side of the DT and put his butt in the rushing lane.
But on his first step he catches the DT, gets worked backwards, and the DT does a great job extending his arms and reading the run, and then sheds Wattenberg and makes the play. Wattenberg absolutely needs to gain ground on this block and work himself through the right shoulder of the DT, driving vertically and putting his facemask through the V of the DT’s neck. He does none of this.
If he gets to the playside of the DT, all RJ Harvey has to do is beat Reed Blankenship in the hole.
Crack Toss – Good Block
I cannot understand how difficult it is for a Center to pull to the outside on any given play, but to his credit, Wattenberg does a solid job here. He nails the snap, cleanly works his way between the down blocks and Powers’ block, and gets securely onto the second level defender.
This is clean and it would be hard for him to execute this block better.
Quick Toss – Alright Block
Wattenberg is really close to doing a good job on this block, but fails right at the apex of the rep. His first step is really good, and he gets into proper leverage right off the jump. And maybe the DT does just do a great job here (which he deserves some credit), Wattenberg needs to keep working to the outside and get his backside hand across the chest of the DT and then keep running with him.
When he brings his left hand into the block, that squares him up with the DT and he loses leverage on him. If he keeps that hand free and continues to run, then he probably nails this block.
Inside Zone – Good Block
This is probably Wattenberg’s best block on the day. He has a combo block with Meinerz up to the outside linebacker (he starts as the MLB but shifts and the Broncos have to keep him as the Mike call). Presnap you can tell that there’s no way he’ll be able to get square to the DT due to his alignment so he makes the correct choice just to wash him and declare a rushing lane for JK Dobbins.
Both him and Meinerz absolutely clobber the DT, but Wattenberg is doing most of the heavy lifting here. It’s well done.
Pass Protection – Bad Block – Blown Block/ Pressure
The failure here is body positioning. Wattenberg is losing this rep before the DE even makes contact with him.
He initially plays this rush smartly, eyeing the backer that seemingly is showing blitz, and when that backer bails he starts looking for work. He then sees the looping DE and prepares himself to take on the block, but he makes two mistakes. Wattenberg turns out to face the DE and he leaves a ton of space between himself and Powers. What he should do when anticipating this block is to close the space between him and Powers, get to his hip, and then keep his hips square to the LOS. He’ll be stronger that way and take away the rushing lane from the DE.
Inside Zone – Bad Block – Blown Block
Admittedly, this is a tough block to make, but the starting center of an NFL team has to be able to make it. It’s Inside Zone to the left. On the most basic level Wattenberg is responsible for the left A gap. When his initial target slants away from him, he has to get his head to the left to anticipate another player filling that gap. He is just a little too slow on making that read, and subsequently he is unable to work to the playside of that DT.
If he gets his head over quicker, he might not be able to get square and work the DT vertically, but he’d at least be able to work the wash and try to open up the backside A gap by doing so.
Final thoughts
Luke Wattenberg is in a “good enough” position at the moment. The Broncos, with him, are good enough to compete for playoff wins. He is good enough to keep their run game on schedule. He is good enough to keep Bo Nix protected. Is this a position they should address? Absolutely. Will keeping Wattenberg as the starting center be detrimental to the team’s success? Not necessarily. Should Alex Forsyth take over? I wouldn’t mind seeing that.
