Missing Piece of the Jake Grove Puzzle.

We all know there has been a bit of a divide over some of the signings the "Triad" have made in the recent past.  Some people have been highly critical of the moves, pointing to poor past production, and injury history- both pretty relevant concerns.  On the other side, you have the "Glass Half Full" crew who says they will support the F.O. and give them the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise. 

Both sides have valid reasons for their opinions.  One the one side, our F.O. hits far more than they miss (the first time in a loooooonnnngggg time that we have been able to say this).  It isn't like last year was the first time Parcells turned around a team- everywhere he has gone he has brought success with him, and it is not hard to make an argument that he and his hand picked G.M. and coach deserve our trust.

On the other hand, they don't knock 'em out of the park on every swing.  Ernest "I suck but I'm gonna go golfing instead of trying not to be terrible" Wilford springs to mind.  The fact that Shawn Murphy didn't see the field last year also has some worried (though I wouldn't write him off yet- he was only a 4th round draft pick- its really unfair to expect him to be starting caliber out of training camp).   You also can't completely ignore somebody's results on another team.  No matter the surrounding circumstances- they still have SOME say in how they perform. 

My stance on these signings?  I have always said that I think we need to wait for all the facts to come in before we judge these (and future) signings.  For Green- we don't even know what kind of contract he signed.  That is a big indicator of whether or not he is viewed as a starter.  Then we can debate whether or not he is worthy of that money.

For Grove, we know the contract.  Five Years $29.5 Million dollars, with $14 million guarenteed.  That is starter money -so the debate has been rightly focused as to whether he can be a starter. 

I have seen 2 major arguments against Grove. 

One is his injury history.  That one is tough to argue.  The only thing I will say is that often times injuries are "fluky" and a matter of luck.  Unless somebody has a genetic condition, they are no more likely than anyone else to break a bone or tear a ligament.  Other times, it is because a certain scheme or style of play exposes a player to more injuries.  In Grove's previous "zone blocking" scheme, he was expected to make a lot of cut blocks where he was diving at defenders waist level often- and I can definitely see how this could lead to injuries.  Still- once someone gets injured it is often times easier to re-injure the area, and I can understand the concern.

Number two is just the general production and performance, or lack thereof, for Grove.  But is it really Grove's production that was lacking?  No player on a football team acts completely independently, but for an offensive lineman this is especially true.  If his QB is terrible and holds onto the ball too long, it is going to look like he gives up a lot of sacks.  If his guards aren't able to assist him or his RBs can't see the holes he is opening, it is going to look like he can't run block.  If his style doesn't fit the team's scheme, he will look awful all the time.

I have seen the Football Outsider's O-line stats for Oakland, and no they aren't pretty.  But it isn't yards per carry behind Grove.  It is yards per carry behind the center, left guard, and right guard, and whatever center filled in for him when he missed time.  The only true way to judge Grove is to look at the film.

Now, I'm no expert film evaluator, but I think some of the people who work for the NFL may possibly be.  I was working on some stuff around the house yesterday, and I had NFL Radio on in the background.  At one point, a Dol Fan called up and asked about the Grove signing- and the hosts response was something along the lines of this:  Go back and look at the Raiders - Jets game.  Grove performed very well against monster nose tackle Kris Jenkins. 

That kind of got the hamster wheel upstairs turning for me.  I had almost completely forgotten that Oakland had played our division last year!  Don't you guys think that maybe the coaches went back and looked at how Grove handled the NT's at New England and New York?!  Two of the best nose tackles in the game?  Might that not possibly have affected their decision to sign this guy to such a lucrative contract and basically hand him the starting role?

I went back myself and tried to take a look at his performance in those games.  The results?

Vs the Jets- the O-line gave up 2 sacks (the season average is 1.9 sacks per game), they rushed for 4 yards per carry in general (153 rushing yards for the game), and 4.3 yards per carry running up the middle.

Vs. NE- the line also gave up 2 sacks total, rushed for 4.3 yards per carry ( 116 yards total for the game), and rushed for a stellar 4.75 yards per carry up the middle.

That my friends, is some pretty solid production in my book. 

But the coup de grace- when I was looking for some film of these games, I found a post on a message board at FinsHeaven.com where a sports writer from UMaryland has already taken the time to review some of the film from these games, and break down Grove's performance. 

Check it out here.

He did the first half of each game, plus a little extra in the Jets game.  He also predicted we would be signig him to a 5 year deal, at $5 mill a year and that we would be looking at him to start before the actual contract was ever signed.  Not bad. . .

Some of the highlights for Grove in the game:

Vs Pats-

 

12- 3rd and 1, pushes Wilfork back and run goes right up his *** for a first down

15- Grove picks up wilfork one-on-one in pass pro. No pressure. Shows nice foot speed

Vs Jets-

18-1-1 with Jenkins. Wrestles him down. Good block, shows very good strength against the massive Jenkins. Pretty good.

27-WOW. Stands up Jenkins, fights him 1-1 and Oakland gets the first down accordingly on 3rd and short. Good stuff.
28. again holds Jenkins off. This time pass block. Jenkins gets some push but not much and there’s ample time to throw.

31-completely walls off Jenkins 1-1 as run goes by. TURNS him, and opens hole. Satele can’t do this. Period.
32- again a very strong block on Jenkins 1-1 opening big hole. Him and LG directly responsible for this nice run.
33-gets him walled off one way,reverse play, trips him coming back the other way! (Jenkins)

35-one on one vs. Jenkins in pass pro. Gets him. Good job, smart blocker who understands positioning

Don't get me wrong- those are the highlights- there were definitely some so-so moments in those games as well- but at the worst he still generally handled his own, and at his best he was dominating.

The poster ultimately concludes what some of us already have wondered about- Grove is a much better fit in a power blocking scheme than in the finesse zone blocking scheme of Oakland.  He did note that sometimes he struggles with speed players, but against the big boys he has the power and strength to stand them up.

I know a lot of people here are going to go on believing what they believe, but for me personally- this is more than enough evidience to put my confidence in this signing.   The guy showed he can hold his own in our division, and he looks like he will excel in our scheme. 

I hope this was able to allay some of the fears and doubts that even people who trust the F.O. had.  But more importantly, I hope this was able to point out that in situations like this, we absolutely need to consider all of the facts before we pass absolute judgements, on both sides.