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Why Alex Boone was no longer a good fit in the Vikings' offense Teddy Bridgewater injury set in motion lineman's release by Vikings. So what happened to change the landscape for the former prized free agent? Well, a lot.
Let’s start with the sea change the Vikings have undergone on offense since signing Boone: Teddy Bridgewater sustained a catastrophic knee injury, precipitating a trade for Sam Bradford. Adrian Peterson tore his right meniscus, rendering moot the downhill power runs that offensive coordinator Norv Turner favored and Boone relished. And after Turner resigned in the middle of last season, the Vikings turned the offense over to Pat Shurmur — Bradford’s coordinator in St. Louis and Philadelphia who favored more West Coast offensive principles and a zone-running scheme.
What’s the difference? Rather than relying on powerful offensive linemen such as Boone to move large chunks of earth, zone schemes lean more on quick, mobile linemen who can work as a unit and create opportunities for running backs to make one cut up the middle of the field, bend a run outside or bounce it back into a cutback lane...
http://www.startribune.com/why-alex-boon...442710183/
“These guys are a little bit more athletic; they don’t need to be as big,” said ESPN NFL analyst Herm Edwards, who spent eight years as a head coach for the Jets and Chiefs. “They’re not the big heavy guys that are double-teaming. They’re more, ‘When the ball is snapped, get off the ball — then use your momentum as you try to stay in your gap to push you out of it, because everything is going sideways.’ Nothing is going vertical, it’s all sideways.”
The Vikings implemented plenty of zone runs in Peterson’s heyday, capitalizing on the running back’s ineffable cutback ability. Now, they will use them for Dalvin Cook, the running back they drafted in the second round out of Florida State. It was a zone scheme that helped Cook set a school rushing record as a Seminole, and it’s part of the reason why the Vikings saw him as such a good fit for their offense.
“He came from a pretty advanced offensive system at Florida State,” Shurmur said in training camp. “You saw principles of zone running, gap running and pass protection where he was involved. He was also involved in route running. He has a pretty good foundation of what we’re going to ask him to do, and I think that helps him.”
If the shift helped Cook, there’s little doubt it hurt Boone, who seemed to struggle with the changed responsibilities.
he never lived up to his own hype or paycheck at any point that is why Boone is gone.
The only thing that worked on Boone was his mouth...
If he liked power run blocking so much you'd think he'd have gone forward once in a while. The "2 yards and a turf burn" running game last year was as much on him as anyone else.
A 6'8" guard just doesn't seem to be optimal from a leverage standpoint inside at guard. All your power is up high and extended, best suited for tackle. DTs would get under Boone and just move him around.
The Vikings thought they lacked pass blocking. Boone was supposed to be a poor run blocker, but good pass blocker. In Minnesota, he was neither.
The reality is, the Viking line has not been good at run blocking since Steve Hutchison's first year in Minnesota (he declined rapidly after his first year here), and the pass blocking has been largely absent since the year before Culpepper left. Folks, that's over a decade.
Easton has less talent than Boone, but works harder with what he has. I am not at all certain that the line you see on Sept 11th will be the same by week 6. The line has a long way to go, and I remain pessimistic about Sparano's capability.
Quote: @Tom Moore said:
The Vikings thought they lacked pass blocking. Boone was supposed to be a poor run blocker, but good pass blocker. In Minnesota, he was neither.
The reality is, the Viking line has not been good at run blocking since Steve Hutchison's first year in Minnesota (he declined rapidly after his first year here), and the pass blocking has been largely absent since the year before Culpepper left. Folks, that's over a decade.
Easton has less talent than Boone, but works harder with what he has. I am not at all certain that the line you see on Sept 11th will be the same by week 6. The line has a long way to go, and I remain pessimistic about Sparano's capability.
Its not Sparano....he's proven to be an excellent O-line coach. You can't make chicken salad out of chicken shit. The current starting offensive line is one of the least athletic and talented in the NFL. He's got little to work with.
Quote: @Tom Moore said:
The Vikings thought they lacked pass blocking. Boone was supposed to be a poor run blocker, but good pass blocker. In Minnesota, he was neither.
The reality is, the Viking line has not been good at run blocking since Steve Hutchison's first year in Minnesota (he declined rapidly after his first year here), and the pass blocking has been largely absent since the year before Culpepper left. Folks, that's over a decade.
Easton has less talent than Boone, but works harder with what he has. I am not at all certain that the line you see on Sept 11th will be the same by week 6. The line has a long way to go, and I remain pessimistic about Sparano's capability.
Really not sure Easton has less talent than Boone. Boone has been "looks like Tarzan, plays like Jane" for years.
I'm not at all sure that this is the final line up either. By week 5, I could easily see Hill at LT with Reiff moved back to RT to cover for the mess that has been Remmers.
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