While I wouldn’t consider Calvin Throckmorton to be at risk of not making the Denver Broncos roster, he still has plenty to prove this preseason. He’s here to not only solidify his spot as a second-string offensive guard, but he’s also making a case for the future. Throckmorton might be competing to surpass Ben Powers when his contract is up.
Last week we took a look at why RJ Harvey felt the need to bounce the ball to the outside so often, but now it’s time for the first single-focused film review
of the season.
If you’re new to my film breakdowns this season, I’ve broken down each of Throckmorton’s snaps from their preseason game against the Cardinals so I can provide you with a tangible grade, a numbers crunch, and a look at some of the specifics.
Let’s take a look.
Stat crunch
Calvin Throckmorton played 22 snaps against the Cardinals. Nine of those were designed run plays and 13 of those were designed pass plays.
Four of the rushes were ran behind Throckmorton, resulting in 23 yards gained (5.75 YPC) and a touchdown.
In the 13 reps of pass protection Throckmorton did not give up a single pressure, hit, or sack.
He finished the game with zero penalties.
The RGS (Ross Grading System) underwent a small change for this season as I’ve added a new score to it. On a specific play a certain amount of points are given out based off of performance. A “Bad” block earns zero points, a “Meh” block earns 0.5 points, an “Alright” block earns 0.75 points, a “Good” block earns one point, and a “Great” block earns 1.25 points.
According to the RGS Throckmorton had one “Bad” block, three “Meh” blocks, two “Alright” blocks, 16 “Good” blocks, and zero “Great” blocks for a total score of 19 or 86.4%.
His run protection grade was 6.5 or 72.2% and his pass protection grade was 12.5 or 96.2%.
In general
Calvin Throckmorton was solid against the Cardinals and was dominating at times. You can really tell that every offensive lineman on this team is on the same page with each other, and that evidence exists in how smoothly their double teams and pass pro works. Shout out again to offensive line coach Zach Strief, who has quickly turned into one of the best in the league at what he does.
Throckmorton did a great job of staying in the hip pocket of his teammates on double teams (mostly done with working with Alex Forsyth, C), and his feet worked in tandem with them. And when his teammate was their to take over the block, he was usually quick to get up to the second-level block and made contact with the linebacker with good balance and never lunged.
He did have two lackluster examples of a double team block though. One of them he tripped and another we’ll be taking a look at in the specifics.
And his pass protection was very well done. He stayed in the hip of his center while keeping his eyes open for blitzing linebackers. He was always looking for work and made a DE pay for spinning back inside dearly. There was hardly an issue I could ding him on. Really his only fault that night was not getting great contact on a down block for a play action roll-out play.
The specifics
Inside Zone
A deuce block (double team to linebacker) really doesn’t get much better than this. Throckmorton and Alex Palczewski are a huge part of the reason why RJ Harvey was able to score his first touchdown here. The way Throckmorton gets solid contact on the DT, opening him up for Palczewski to get to, then clears the A gap on the way up to backer, and then eats up the LB is money.
This can be used as teaching tape for any offensive lineman.
Pass protection – half line slide
Initially I graded this play as a “Great” block, and I still really want to, but I have a nitpick that knocked this play down to only a “Good”.
First off, let’s talk about how well Calvin Throckmorton looks for work here. There must have been something they had on this DE from the film room because it looks like Throckmorton is looking for that inside move the entire play. And as soon as the DE commits, Throckmorton absolutely levels him. A perfect example of how to help out your OT as an OG.
But here’s my nitpick. Do you see how Forsyth gets beat to the right A gap as soon as Throckmorton leaves? I’m okay with Throckmorton going to make the hit, but I’d really like if he helped deliver a bigger bump to the DT to help Forsyth. Then again though, this appears to be a half line slide protection to the field, and in that case, Forsyth has to own the slide-side A gap, making Throckmorton’s responsibility the slide-side B gap. Technically it’s Forsyth’s job to own that gap.
I’m going to stick with the “Good” grade though. Only for the reason that a “Great” block is going above and beyond on a play, and while getting a great hit on a DE is awesome, I’d prefer if Throckmorton stayed with Forsyth for just a touch or two longer, ideally hitting the DT with a saddle block, and then go out to help his OT.
Here’s a live look into my thought process. I hope this helps give you a little more insight into what I’m looking for/ at.
Inside Zone
Here’s the not so great deuce block I alluded to earlier. Now his feet and hips are good and me makes the correct decision of when to move up to the second level, but there’s a detail he missed and that detail led to him not being able to get a block on the LB.
On his initial block on the DT he brings his backside arm into the block, turning his hips and shoulders. That made him come off of the first-level block late/ slow, allowing for his LB to spike across his face into the open rushing lane. It’s that split second that would’ve cleared out the box for the RB.
Outside Zone
This deuce block is made easier by the playside DT being lined up in a 2i over Throckmorton, but it’s hard to get up and get a good block on the LB on Outside Zone. That doesn’t appear to be the case for Throckmorton though as he does a great job getting the DT’s shoulders turned and then getting a clean hat on the second-level defender.
Him being able to keep his hips square to the LOS from the snap until he turns the LB and starts to wash him to the sideline is a great detail that makes this block work.
Also shout out to Pat Bryant for getting a pancake on this play. He’s a good blocker.
Play action
This is a good rep of pass protection on play action that displays Throckmorton’s instincts and his desire to always be looking for work.
His job here is to backfill for Forsyth when he pulls, which he initially does a good job with, but when the DT slants hard to the playside (a delayed slant that the entire dline is doing on this play), Throckmorton senses that and then looks for the next DT that would be entering his gap. He then proceeds to get solid contact on that slanting DT.
This is good stuff.
Final thoughts
Calvin Throckmorton clearly looks like a veteran player out there, and he’d probably be a starting OG on many teams. That’s good news for the Broncos because their depth, not just up front but across the board, looks incredible so far this preseason. It’s a testament not only to good roster management, but Denver really does have one of the best coaching staffs in the league.
But back to Throckmorton.
He’s a physical player that has good instincts in pass protection. He is really solid in his double teams, just with the general feel of the timing of them, but I really like how he consistently gets good contact on the DTs and gives his centers and tackles time to get to that block. He’s a good guy to play along side.
He has this backup OG spot cemented, and I would be shocked if he wasn’t eyeing that starting spot. Not saying he’s better than Powers, but I think that may be closing. We’re not in position-battle territory yet.
