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Bradbury can beat guys to spots. He can even catch up to them. His mobility is impressive, very light on his feet. He can switch insanely quickly to another rusher. But what we see as fans and where the criticism comes is he can get blown up because he's undersized. With a bigger line and guys like Darrisaw and Wyatt hopefully starting, his weaknesses will be minimized to some respect, which is good.
I think fans expected to much from Bradbury right out the gate because we got some damn lucky on O'Neill. They expected a him to be at the top of the league at center when it takes time to learn and play.
I don't think he's undersize, he weighs over 300 lbs. I see it as more as a strength and technique issues...Over time and conditioning, he will get bigger, stronger and better.
Quote: @ArizonaViking said:
I don't think he's undersize, he weighs over 300 lbs. I see it as more as a strength and technique issues...Over time and conditioning, he will get bigger, stronger and better.
I think it's mostly inexperience and technique. He is over 300, plus he benched I think 34 or 36 reps? And he has some pretty ridiculous squat numbers in his past as well if I remember right.
The thing that gives me hope for Bradbury is that while he has struggled in pass protection, he makes a lot of wow plays in the run game. Elflein never did that IMO. So I think it's just a matter of him getting better guards next to him and improving his technique in pass pro. Plenty of all pro centers struggled their first couple of years.
Quote: @MaroonBells said:
@ ArizonaViking said:
I don't think he's undersize, he weighs over 300 lbs. I see it as more as a strength and technique issues...Over time and conditioning, he will get bigger, stronger and better.
I think it's mostly inexperience and technique. He is over 300, plus he benched I think 34 or 36 reps? And he has some pretty ridiculous squat numbers in his past as well if I remember right.
The thing that gives me hope for Bradbury is that while he has struggled in pass protection, he makes a lot of wow plays in the run game. Elflein never did that IMO. So I think it's just a matter of him getting better guards next to him and improving his technique in pass pro. Plenty of all pro centers struggled their first couple of years.
The bench press is the single most overrated strength component at the combine and just in measuring strength in general. Big advantage to have short arms, and short arms are not what you want in pass protection. I would put far more stock in squats and other measures. The bench not so much.
Actually, I don't care about bench press or squat numbers. What I have seen is times where he is rapidly pushed backwards into Cousins lap, that is, simply being overpowered. Hopefully that's a product of technique. But he needs to get stronger as well.
He is smart and quick and quite good in the run game. If he gets the pass blocking thing figured out, he will be very good.
Quote: @jargomcfargo said:
Actually, I don't care about bench press or squat numbers. What I have seen is times where he is rapidly pushed backwards into Cousins lap, that is, simply being overpowered. Hopefully that's a product of technique. But he needs to get stronger as well.
He is smart and quick and quite good in the run game. If he gets the pass blocking thing figured out, he will be very good.
Yes, the bench press is overrated. It's largely meaningless when it comes to funtional football strength. But it is the only thing we have to go by. And the NFL continues to use it...I suspect, more than anything, as an indicator of how much time a player spends in the gym.
Getting stronger is not going to hurt Bradbury, but I still thing his biggest problem is technique. If you watch that last clip at the OP, his set is too wide and he's off balance. I'm no OL coach, but I don't care if you're 350 lbs and can squat the moon, if you're off balance, you're going to get rolled.
Quote: @MaroonBells said:
@ jargomcfargo said:
Actually, I don't care about bench press or squat numbers. What I have seen is times where he is rapidly pushed backwards into Cousins lap, that is, simply being overpowered. Hopefully that's a product of technique. But he needs to get stronger as well.
He is smart and quick and quite good in the run game. If he gets the pass blocking thing figured out, he will be very good.
Yes, the bench press is overrated. It's largely meaningless when it comes to funtional football strength. But it is the only thing we have to go by. And the NFL continues to use it...I suspect, more than anything, as an indicator of how much time a player spends in the gym.
Getting stronger is not going to hurt Bradbury, but I still thing his biggest problem is technique. If you watch that last clip at the OP, his set is too wide and he's off balance. I'm no OL coach, but I don't care if you're 350 lbs and can squat the moon, if you're off balance, you're going to get rolled.
I would much rather see a hang clean event as I think that is a better identifier for strength and explosiveness. For example, Tristan Wirfs set Iowa's hang clean record and he had an amazing rookie season. They wont change it, but do a 225 hang clean event instead
Quote: @Hawkvike25 said:
@ MaroonBells said:
@ jargomcfargo said:
Actually, I don't care about bench press or squat numbers. What I have seen is times where he is rapidly pushed backwards into Cousins lap, that is, simply being overpowered. Hopefully that's a product of technique. But he needs to get stronger as well.
He is smart and quick and quite good in the run game. If he gets the pass blocking thing figured out, he will be very good.
Yes, the bench press is overrated. It's largely meaningless when it comes to funtional football strength. But it is the only thing we have to go by. And the NFL continues to use it...I suspect, more than anything, as an indicator of how much time a player spends in the gym.
Getting stronger is not going to hurt Bradbury, but I still thing his biggest problem is technique. If you watch that last clip at the OP, his set is too wide and he's off balance. I'm no OL coach, but I don't care if you're 350 lbs and can squat the moon, if you're off balance, you're going to get rolled.
I would much rather see a hang clean event as I think that is a better identifier for strength and explosiveness. For example, Tristan Wirfs set Iowa's hang clean record and he had an amazing rookie season. They wont change it, but do a 225 hang clean event instead
I sorta think they use the bench because it's just a safe indicator of who hangs out in the gym. Hang cleans are obviously a better indicator of core strength, but they can be dangerous. Easy to get hurt doing hang cleans.
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