Quote:
Originally Posted by JAFF
From espn. I couldnt get the link to copy. Read that
Daily Mailbag: The insanity of short arms
Apr 27, 2010
Kevin Seifert
ESPN Staff Writer
Thank you, thank you, Mallory of St. Paul, for providing me the opportunity to address the most ridiculous thing I heard or read during the NFL draft. Take it away, Mallory:
I've heard a lot of various experts and analysts project that Green Bay's Bryan Bulaga will struggle to adapt to left tackle in the NFL due to short arms. But, checking combine numbers, his arms (33 1/4") were longer than NFL left tackles Joe Thomas (32 1/2") and Jake Long (32 7/8").
Both of these guys are able to play left tackle effectively in the NFL regardless of their arm length, so why are people making such a big deal about this? Is there really a huge correlation between "arm length" and being effective as a left tackle in the NFL? Is Bulaga being unfairly criticized because he attended the same school and played the same position as notorious NFL bust Robert Gallery (32 1/4" arms)?
https://www.milehighreport.com/2015/...offensive-line
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It's a heuristic, not an absolute. Hell, I'll give you the ultimate counterexample to it: Anthony Munoz, quite possibly the best LT ever, but that was also 30 years ago. The measurements in that article are not accurate, as I've already shown.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chromeburn
People make a big deal out of it because DEs are getting longer and longer. If the DE has longer arms, he can keep the tackle at length and the tackle can’t get in close to block the body. Now is this the defining trait, no. You don’t like to see short arms at either position. Length means you can control the person opposite you better. But as long as the guy doesn’t have t-Rex arms, he should be ok if he is superior in other areas like balance and footwork.
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The easy way of saying that is 33" arms.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JAFF
I know. There are some really good football players who didnt check off all the boxes, but were a basic nightmare to their opponents. Anyone remember what Jeff Saturday did to Trevor Pryce in a playoff game?
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You bring up Saturday and playoff games and don't even talk about "The Block" where he pancaked Vince Wilfork for the GW TD? Interesting.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rcubed
Freeney was short. Never should have drafted that fool.
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His lack of height was actually his advantage. He had such a low COG most tackles couldn't deal with him.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chromeburn
Interior linemen can get away with it more. Tackles play on an island to some extent, same as DEs. That’s why they say some guys will move inside, because they lack the length or speed to play outside. Jeff Saturday did not grade out well athletically, Mike Pollack graded out very high athletically. Very different careers. But teams don’t know how to differentiate between the two. So you track the features and traits you can. Also anomalies are called anomalies for a reason.
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Exactly, OGs and OCs can have shorter arms because it's more about technique and power on the inside than length and athleticism. Technique is important on the outside, but it's much more important on the inside.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chromeburn
Freeneys game was predicated on speed. He had 32+ arms on a 6 ft body which is pretty long. But he wasn’t bull rushing and standing up the tackle with long arms. He was beating him with a first step and spin move. Freeney was also a liability against the run, something many teams exploited especially the pats.
Not all edge players are the same or play the position the same. The Watt brothers play different positions and different styles based on their abilities. Both are effective though.
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https://nflcombineresults.com/playerpage.php?i=5925
That was ridiculous. I remember him at 4.44, not 4.48, but still a DE his size running sub 4.5 is insane. His speed and low COG were what made him the absolute edge terror he was.
The Watt brothers both have very good technical skills and hand usage, that's the biggest strength in their game. Same with the Bosas.