02-22-2020, 06:19 PM
A lot of people have come to the conclusion that Samia must not have been very good because he couldn't unseat Elflein, who was obviously having a horrible season. One thing to consider is that while Elflein was brutally bad in pass pro, he was the PFF's 15th ranked guard (out of 80) in run blocking. That's top 1/5. So while Samia might have been a better pass blocker--Samia didn't allow a sack on 410 drops at OU in 2018--if you take out Elflein, you'd probably be sacrificing a significant part of the running game.
Also remember that Mike Zimmer staffs are well known for their incumbency bias. Brian O'Neill didn't beat out Rashod Hill. It took a Reiff injury (moving Rashod Hill to the left ) in week 6 before O'Neill got his chance at right tackle. He was a revelation. But it makes you wonder if he even would've gotten the chance at all without the injury.
Same with Diggs. It took injuries to both Charles Johnson and Jarius Wright before Stefon Diggs was even made active. Over the next 4 games he had over 400 yards and 2 TDs.
Also remember that Mike Zimmer staffs are well known for their incumbency bias. Brian O'Neill didn't beat out Rashod Hill. It took a Reiff injury (moving Rashod Hill to the left ) in week 6 before O'Neill got his chance at right tackle. He was a revelation. But it makes you wonder if he even would've gotten the chance at all without the injury.
Same with Diggs. It took injuries to both Charles Johnson and Jarius Wright before Stefon Diggs was even made active. Over the next 4 games he had over 400 yards and 2 TDs.