D. J. Fluker, OT/OG Alabama

[Steve]

A couple of the pressures Fluker has given up make me wonder how good he will be in pass protection. I think he will be OK, and I have thought that since we took him. But I think we might reduce some of the others more then preseason might suggest. In preseason, you don't do extensive film study on their opponents moves. I think a couple of his worst plays, had he gotten to study, he might have been better prepared to handle some of the moves.

Hopefully, he is already starting to study Watt with Clary, because those two are the key to beating Houston on offense. If they can work together and hand off the DE and OLB on that side effectively, they will almost certainly get burned some, but they give us a chance to win if the get a stalemate.

[richpjr]

He is as advertised - a road grader in the running game and someone who will get occasionally beat by a pass rusher. Going against Watt in your first regular season game is brutal though. I'm sure McCoy will be giving him a ton of help.

[Panamamike]

With his work ethic, film study, and quality coaching, I believe his pass protection will improve as this season goes along, and his career goes along, I believe we have our right tackle for the next 10 years. his conditioning looks much improved and that is a good sign.

[Steve]

He has already improved in his pass protection. There is a big jump between NFL pass blockers and college ones. And that big step up forces everyone to respond just as rapidly. The guys who don't respond rapidly to it, most are sent home. I think Fluker is doing pretty well, and he should continue to improve as teams keep testing him.

The thing is with Watt, he won't be going against Fluker ALL the time. The 34 DE lines up over the OT in the straight 30 front in the base D. But 34 DE spend around half the game line up over the OG on pass the rush line, which is about 50% (or more) of the game. It is as big a challenge for Clary as it is for Fluker. Some of those will be obvious passing situations where Watt can really tee off on the QB. And the Texans do that as much to get Watt in an mismatch over most OG, who aren't as athletic as most OT, so that is where he gets a ton of his sacks from.

The really hard part for the two of them is going to be on early downs. Texans love their 5 man rush on 1st downs. They love to bring both OLB, both DE and the NT. That means if we go with 5 man protection (our OL), then all of their rushers are isolated man on man vs the OL. Then to make it worse, the OT, who Watt lines up over, has to pass Watt over to the OG, so Fluker can go out and get the OLB. So, either Fluker is stuck way out in space with Clary inside against Watt, or Fluker stays with Watt, drives him down the line toward Hardwick, and then Clary needs to step back and block outside. Either way, it takes a lot of teamwork and coordination against the Texans, who have a pretty good DL.

The key for us is to just run the ball. If Watt has to stand in vs the double team blocking (Fluker and Clary, Fluker and Phillips), play after play, he won't have much explosion if he is forced to stand in and try to stand his ground vs our guys. He is still an effective pass rusher, but it is a lot harder to close and finish the play if your legs are tired out. And if we can stay close late in the game, I would rather have Clary and Fluker trying to block a tired and worn down Watt, then a fresh one, who has been using all his moves and has a good idea of what Fluker/Clary can and cannot do.

Our OL doesn't have to win outright and dominate Watt (which is good because it isn't going to happen). All they have to do is keep stalemating Watt. And I think they can do that, if we wear him down and run at him, which is what our guys do better then pass blocking. Watt is not a bad run defender, so it doesn't seem like a great mismatch, and in truth it isn't. But it is a better matchup then asking our guys, who aren't great pass blockers to block Watt, who is a great pass rusher, play after play. We will have to throw some before Watt wears down, and that is when Fluker has to shine.

[Panamamike]

He has already improved in his pass protection. There is a big jump between NFL pass blockers and college ones. And that big step up forces everyone to respond just as rapidly. The guys who don't respond rapidly to it, most are sent home. I think Fluker is doing pretty well, and he should continue to improve as teams keep testing him.

The thing is with Watt, he won't be going against Fluker ALL the time. The 34 DE lines up over the OT in the straight 30 front in the base D. But 34 DE spend around half the game line up over the OG on pass the rush line, which is about 50% (or more) of the game. It is as big a challenge for Clary as it is for Fluker. Some of those will be obvious passing situations where Watt can really tee off on the QB. And the Texans do that as much to get Watt in an mismatch over most OG, who aren't as athletic as most OT, so that is where he gets a ton of his sacks from.

The really hard part for the two of them is going to be on early downs. Texans love their 5 man rush on 1st downs. They love to bring both OLB, both DE and the NT. That means if we go with 5 man protection (our OL), then all of their rushers are isolated man on man vs the OL. Then to make it worse, the OT, who Watt lines up over, has to pass Watt over to the OG, so Fluker can go out and get the OLB. So, either Fluker is stuck way out in space with Clary inside against Watt, or Fluker stays with Watt, drives him down the line toward Hardwick, and then Clary needs to step back and block outside. Either way, it takes a lot of teamwork and coordination against the Texans, who have a pretty good DL.

The key for us is to just run the ball. If Watt has to stand in vs the double team blocking (Fluker and Clary, Fluker and Phillips), play after play, he won't have much explosion if he is forced to stand in and try to stand his ground vs our guys. He is still an effective pass rusher, but it is a lot harder to close and finish the play if your legs are tired out. And if we can stay close late in the game, I would rather have Clary and Fluker trying to block a tired and worn down Watt, then a fresh one, who has been using all his moves and has a good idea of what Fluker/Clary can and cannot do.

Our OL doesn't have to win outright and dominate Watt (which is good because it isn't going to happen). All they have to do is keep stalemating Watt. And I think they can do that, if we wear him down and run at him, which is what our guys do better then pass blocking. Watt is not a bad run defender, so it doesn't seem like a great mismatch, and in truth it isn't. But it is a better matchup then asking our guys, who aren't great pass blockers to block Watt, who is a great pass rusher, play after play. We will have to throw some before Watt wears down, and that is when Fluker has to shine.

I agree that we need to run the ball right at him. Also, timely use of draw plays on passing downs and screens may aid in holding up their pass rush.

[Thunder Thighs]

When Fluker has gotten beat it has been glaringly bad, which makes me think it is mostly mental, with him not understanding what the pass rusher is going to do and what Clary is doing on the other side of him. I think he has the physical tools to be a good pass blocker. After seeing him on many occassions get to the second level and chasing down defenders to block on running plays, I don't think he is a plodder. He is not slow. He will be a solid pass protector once he learns and gets experience. When he locks on, it's over.

[Steve]

I think you just mix up the things you want to do, and just bring as much as your own guys can stand. Watt is too good to just go after him one way. But keep him on his heels the whole game and we have a chance.

Fluker's approach too the game looks impressive to me. Even though he doesn't come across as a really bright guy, I think he is. And he also seems like when he makes a mistake, he doesn't let it effect him, except that I think he learns from it quickly.

[Mister Hoarse]

He has already improved in his pass protection. There is a big jump between NFL pass blockers and college ones. And that big step up forces everyone to respond just as rapidly. The guys who don't respond rapidly to it, most are sent home. I think Fluker is doing pretty well, and he should continue to improve as teams keep testing him.

The thing is with Watt, he won't be going against Fluker ALL the time. The 34 DE lines up over the OT in the straight 30 front in the base D. But 34 DE spend around half the game line up over the OG on pass the rush line, which is about 50% (or more) of the game. It is as big a challenge for Clary as it is for Fluker. Some of those will be obvious passing situations where Watt can really tee off on the QB. And the Texans do that as much to get Watt in an mismatch over most OG, who aren't as athletic as most OT, so that is where he gets a ton of his sacks from.

The really hard part for the two of them is going to be on early downs. Texans love their 5 man rush on 1st downs. They love to bring both OLB, both DE and the NT. That means if we go with 5 man protection (our OL), then all of their rushers are isolated man on man vs the OL. Then to make it worse, the OT, who Watt lines up over, has to pass Watt over to the OG, so Fluker can go out and get the OLB. So, either Fluker is stuck way out in space with Clary inside against Watt, or Fluker stays with Watt, drives him down the line toward Hardwick, and then Clary needs to step back and block outside. Either way, it takes a lot of teamwork and coordination against the Texans, who have a pretty good DL.

The key for us is to just run the ball. If Watt has to stand in vs the double team blocking (Fluker and Clary, Fluker and Phillips), play after play, he won't have much explosion if he is forced to stand in and try to stand his ground vs our guys. He is still an effective pass rusher, but it is a lot harder to close and finish the play if your legs are tired out. And if we can stay close late in the game, I would rather have Clary and Fluker trying to block a tired and worn down Watt, then a fresh one, who has been using all his moves and has a good idea of what Fluker/Clary can and cannot do.

Our OL doesn't have to win outright and dominate Watt (which is good because it isn't going to happen). All they have to do is keep stalemating Watt. And I think they can do that, if we wear him down and run at him, which is what our guys do better then pass blocking. Watt is not a bad run defender, so it doesn't seem like a great mismatch, and in truth it isn't. But it is a better matchup then asking our guys, who aren't great pass blockers to block Watt, who is a great pass rusher, play after play. We will have to throw some before Watt wears down, and that is when Fluker has to shine.

I also think that is the only way to go against Watt, but how do you think Wade Phillips will adjust for this? Will he move Watt around?

[Panamamike]

I think you just mix up the things you want to do, and just bring as much as your own guys can stand. Watt is too good to just go after him one way. But keep him on his heels the whole game and we have a chance.

Fluker's approach too the game looks impressive to me. Even though he doesn't come across as a really bright guy, I think he is. And he also seems like when he makes a mistake, he doesn't let it effect him, except that I think he learns from it quickly.

I agree. Excellent traits to have in order to have a long and productive career.

[Steve]

I also think that is the only way to go against Watt, but how do you think Wade Phillips will adjust for this? Will he move Watt around?

That is one thing they can do. But I think the couter-counter move is to just have Rivers call adjust at the line and keep running at him. That's one the ways you can use audibles.

They may move him around some anyway, because they are weaker at the other DE spot due to Smith getting suspended. And while Fluker is the best drive blocker we have, the baisc concept of trying to run at Watt because we are a better run blocking OL then pass blocking group, is pretty universal. I would rather run behind Starks/Dunlap or Reinhardt then let those guys have to pass protect against Watt. So, just tells Rivers to adjust the play, and if we can run on Watt, just keep running at him, and if we can't run on Smith's replacement. And if we can't run at all, we're just screwed.

[Panamamike]

That is one thing they can do. But I think the couter-counter move is to just have Rivers call adjust at the line and keep running at him. That's one the ways you can use audibles.

They may move him around some anyway, because they are weaker at the other DE spot due to Smith getting suspended. And while Fluker is the best drive blocker we have, the baisc concept of trying to run at Watt because we are a better run blocking OL then pass blocking group, is pretty universal. I would rather run behind Starks/Dunlap or Reinhardt then let those guys have to pass protect against Watt. So, just tells Rivers to adjust the play, and if we can run on Watt, just keep running at him, and if we can't run on Smith's replacement. And if we can't run at all, we're just screwed.

Heavy dose of running right regardless IMO. Make them adjust to us, then counter their adjustment. With a smith out, if they move Watt around to our left side, u can run at him, or run at the lesser DE on the right side.

[Stinky Wizzleteats+]

Dunlap HAS to seal the back side with consistency. That is key!