Stephon Heyer-Our Right Tackle!!
 

I recently purchased NFL Game Rewind off of NFL.com and I was watching all of the Skins games from last season and I tell you I came away impressed with Heyer. He is an amazing pass blocker if only he could get stronger at the point of attack in the running game. It seems like Samuels was getting more help than Heyer when we passed te ball. I hope he does get the start for the upcoming season. Heyer will be someone to watch this season as an up-and-comer. When Jansen came into the starting the lineup the running game picked up steam but the passing went down considerably. If we are going to better offensively in the passing game than Heyer is your guy. I believe he could be the left tackle and moved Samuels to the right tackle for some balance since left tackle really is known for their pass blocking and the right tackle for their running blocking.

Re: Stephon Heyer-Our Right Tackle!!
 

Like others have noted Heyer flashes pretty impressive talent. His issues are run-blocking, where he looks like a giant lost puppy part of the time, and staying healthy through a season (i don't think he's been able to do this yet).

Re: Stephon Heyer-Our Right Tackle!!
 

I think Heyer will hold his own this year. I didn't think he played bad last year when he was at RT.

Re: Stephon Heyer-Our Right Tackle!!
 

I'm always amused by the enthusiasm of your thread titles : )

Re: Stephon Heyer-Our Right Tackle!!
 

I still think Heyer has a lot of upside and alot of potential. I'm still hesitant to be very excited about him starting at right tackle next year if he ends up winning the job... he has started quite a few games for us already, and for being an undrafted free agent, he has done a heck of a job so far and only looks to get better. However, I still am a little leary of him starting in 2009.

Re: Stephon Heyer-Our Right Tackle!!
 

Heyer at LT? Pass.

Re: Stephon Heyer-Our Right Tackle!!
 

Is he even as good as Bridges?

Re: Stephon Heyer-Our Right Tackle!!
 

[quote=Mattyk72;562223]Heyer at LT? Pass.[/quote]

Come on now. I almost spit my cereal on the laptop.

Re: Stephon Heyer-Our Right Tackle!!
 

[quote=Mattyk72;562223]Heyer at LT? Pass.[/quote]

My sentiments exactly.

Problem is the hole in Heyer's game is so huge that we have to always run left when we really need to get yards on the ground. It makes us too predictable. That's why Zorn started Jansen at the end of last season, despite Jansen being relatively worthless.

I don't care how good a pass blocker he is, if he doesn't get significantly better as a run blocker this season, I'll be screaming for us to grab a top RT in next year's draft.

Re: Stephon Heyer-Our Right Tackle!!
 

[quote=Schneed10;562227]I don't care how good a pass blocker he is, if he doesn't get significantly better as a run blocker this season, I'll be screaming for us to grab a top RT in next year's draft.[/quote]

My prediction is Bridges is the starting RT come week 1. I'm not as high on Heyer as some are. The kid has potential but he still has some pretty glaring weaknesses in run blocking and he needs to be more consisent overall.

Bridges is more physical and more polished at this point. I think he will beat Heyer out.

Re: Stephon Heyer-Our Right Tackle!!
 

Let me ask this, which is more difficult to learn/be proficient at? run or pass blocking?

It strikes me that pass blocking requires much more athleticism and that, as such, you can teach a good pass blocker to run block, but you may not be able to teach a run blocker to pass block. (Similar to baseball where you can't teach heat; but u can teach a fastball piticher to mix it up).

IF Heyer can learn to bend and drive in the run blocking, he has the potential to be a MUCH better tackle. I admit its a big "if" and one that will only be demonstrated in game time. I truly hope it works out.

Re: Stephon Heyer-Our Right Tackle!!
 

[quote=JoeRedskin;562229]Let me ask this, which is more difficult to learn/be proficient at? run or pass blocking?

It strikes me that pass blocking requires much more athleticism and that, as such, you can teach a good pass blocker to run block, but you may not be able to teach a run blocker to pass block. (Similar to baseball where you can't teach heat; but u can teach a fastball piticher to mix it up).

IF Heyer can learn to bend and drive in the run blocking, he has the potential to be a MUCH better tackle. I admit its a big "if" and one that will only be demonstrated in game time. I truly hope it works out.[/quote]

To an extent you're probably right, but then again run blocking depends upon explosion off the ball so you can get to the guy in front of you faster, which takes lots of fast-twitch muscle strength. That part of it is God-given. You can improve upon it in the weight room, but only so much.

Heyer might be nimble on his feet, but I haven't seen much power.

Re: Stephon Heyer-Our Right Tackle!!
 

[quote=Mattyk72;562228]My prediction is Bridges is the starting RT come week 1. I'm not as high on Heyer as some are. The kid has potential but he still has some pretty glaring weaknesses in run blocking and he needs to be more consisent overall.

Bridges is more physical and more polished at this point. I think he will beat Heyer out.[/quote]

I can definitely see that. In fact I'm hoping that happens, because it will signal that we've got something a bit better than what we had last season.

Once healthy, Heyer couldn't even beat out Jansen, who Zorn just saw fit to cut. You know the Skins don't like Heyer that much, otherwise they wouldn't have gone for Bridges and taken the flyer on Mike Williams.

Re: Stephon Heyer-Our Right Tackle!!
 

[quote=Schneed10;562231]I can definitely see that. In fact I'm hoping that happens, because it will signal that we've got something a bit better than what we had last season.

Once healthy, Heyer couldn't even beat out Jansen, who Zorn just saw fit to cut. You know the Skins don't like Heyer that much, otherwise they wouldn't have gone for Bridges and taken the flyer on Mike Williams.[/quote]

Yeah it's pretty obvious by those moves that the team is not completely sold on the idea of Heyer as the starter.

Re: Stephon Heyer-Our Right Tackle!!
 

[quote=Schneed10;562230]To an extent you're probably right, but then again run blocking depends upon explosion off the ball so you can get to the guy in front of you faster, which takes lots of fast-twitch muscle strength. That part of it is God-given. You can improve upon it in the weight room, but only so much.

Heyer might be nimble on his feet, but I haven't seen much power.[/quote]

One of the knocks on Heyer on his Scouts Inc profile is he lacks that initial explosion in his run blocking.

Re: Stephon Heyer-Our Right Tackle!!
 

[quote=Mattyk72;562228]My prediction is Bridges is the starting RT come week 1. I'm not as high on Heyer as some are. The kid has potential but he still has some pretty glaring weaknesses in run blocking and he needs to be more consisent overall.

Bridges is more physical and more polished at this point. I think he will beat Heyer out.[/quote]

Well, I am. I won't forget the game where Jansen "twisted" his ankle. And we had this rookie come in. That dude was huge. I mean, he's like 7ft tall, 300 something pounds! And his hair cut! No wonder his teammates call him "Wookie". He had some issues but for someone that we hadn't seen before he did very well. He was pass blocking well. Run blocking well. And he was doing this all from the right side of the line. He is a left tackle. Not a right tackle, but a left one. And all of a sudden this rookie is playing the right side of the line. He did very well that game. Especially in overtime.

I won't forget we were 3rd and 5 and just outside of field goal range. They ran it to the right. Heyer got under a much shorter lineman and just literally carried him out of the hole. He pushed him five or ten yards. Parted that freakin sea. Portis was able to pick up 15 yards and then just laid down. The game was over.

Heyer can do it. He's done it from the left side. He's done it on the right side. Its time to give him a full time job at one position. Let him develope there. And Don't forget that Samuels wasn't the best run blocker when we drafted him either. That was something the coaches really had to work with him on. After several years Samuels became darn good at it.

Re: Stephon Heyer-Our Right Tackle!!
 

Heyer has been working his ass off and has changed his body quite a bit. I think he'll start at RT and do a good job. I like his attitude and think he plays well on the right side. I expect him to start.

Re: Stephon Heyer-Our Right Tackle!!
 

[quote=JoeRedskin;562229]Let me ask this, which is more difficult to learn/be proficient at? run or pass blocking?

It strikes me that pass blocking requires much more athleticism and that, as such, you can teach a good pass blocker to run block, but you may not be able to teach a run blocker to pass block. (Similar to baseball where you can't teach heat; but u can teach a fastball piticher to mix it up).

IF Heyer can learn to bend and drive in the run blocking, he has the potential to be a MUCH better tackle. I admit its a big "if" and one that will only be demonstrated in game time. I truly hope it works out.[/quote]

Based on experience, I can tell you that it takes quite a bit more athleticism to pass block. Sometimes you have to take on an end and a LB at the same time. You are also required to sacrifice quite a bit of yourself to protect that QB. One advantage, however, is that you cannot move upfield, and in our backfield we have CP and one of the most underrated FB's to pick up your slack. Run blocking is where the mental toughness comes in. There are just as many if not more blocking schemes as there are WR patterns. A run blocking O lineman has to know each and every run play, where he needs to be, where he needs to move his assigned man, and where the run is going. Sometimes he is required to pull, or pick up a blitz. Honestly, I looked forward to pass plays when I played because I could take a break from thinking and just protect my QB. Any of our linemen, namely the Tackles, need to have mental toughness and intense athleticism.