Garay: Snaps Needed

Excellent breakdown of Garay and how much of an impact he had last year when he was on the field and an argument that he was underused.

12 months ago cameronm 12 comments 0 recs |

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If I had to guess at a reason why he was underused

it’s because he’s over 30, and the team wanted to keep him fresh and healthy. If he played more, he might not have been as good.

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by Zach (maestro876) on Jun 5, 2011 1:56 PM PDT reply actions

This was my precise understanding.

One would expect the management thinks Luiget would play 3rd down Nose Tackle…

by Orz on Jun 5, 2011 8:26 PM PDT up reply actions

??

Where’d you get that? Did you forget about Cam Thomas? And, if anything, Garay would be the one in on 3rd down and Cam would be in on an earlier down. Garay can actually get to the QB

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by John Gennaro on Jun 6, 2011 10:17 AM PDT up reply actions

I don’t have a direct quote or anything, but I seem to recall more than one interview where a coach or front office person described Luiget as versatile… able to play Nose and End. The ways the dline comittee could be managed are many… and Manusky certainly has his own thoughts that may or may not be different from the way Rivera handled it. The history is that the base D ends (Castillo and Cesaire) have played Nose on third down and passing situations, isn’t it? IF we assume that would be maintained, we’d be looking at Castillo and Luiget playing nose in the nickel.

by Orz on Jun 6, 2011 11:02 AM PDT up reply actions

I think the terminology is causing some confusion

The way I read your comment, Luiget would move to DT in the nickel, which is typically a different position from NT, depending on how the gaps are assigned. Luiget should not be the first choice to play NT in a typical 34. He would be highly effective as a DT in the nickel though.

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by aesimpleton on Jun 6, 2011 5:15 PM PDT up reply actions

Typically true zero techs do not play a lot of snaps in nickel

The article does mention Ratliff as one that does, although he has really always been a penetrating NT as the Cowboys do run something very close to a one gap 34 under Wade. So yes two gapping NTs generally do not play a high percentage of nickel snaps, probably because they are usually just mammoth run stuffers. But Garay is very good at penetrating and getting after the QB, the Chargers must get him on the field more especially in nickel most certainly as a one tech leaving Luiget/ Castillo as the 3T. As John mentioned Cam Thomas is really the key here, if is even just adequate playing half the base snaps Garay could very well be that monster in the middle that this club has been seeking for a long time. The Chargers could if Cam and OG play well, even give Garay snaps at the 5T position he is really that good. No matter how to break it down Munusky would have be be brain dead to not try everything he can to get Garay a ton of 3rd down snaps

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by Foilhat on Jun 6, 2011 7:38 PM PDT up reply actions

Which begs the question, why didn't rivera "try everything he can to get Garay a ton of 3rd down snaps"

by Orz on Jun 7, 2011 11:06 AM PDT up reply actions

Are you sure it doesn't raise the question?

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by Richard Wade on Jun 7, 2011 3:28 PM PDT up reply actions

I am not sure

My guess would be that the club wanted to limited his snaps based off of the severity of his injury. He basically had to have his whole ankle reconstructed prior to the 08 season. Plus I am sure he surprised even Ronron

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by Foilhat on Jun 7, 2011 7:08 PM PDT up reply actions

Depth?

This article was sort of "asked and answered". I think both Thomas and Martin have a few pounds on Garay. And OG is probably the same weight. The Chargers had serious depth at NT in 2011. Why wouldn’t you use it? Garay was giving a great push on passing plays, why not pull him on running downs and keep him fresh? Also you’ve got three young guys that need the reps, and Castillo was pretty much a full time guy. 2009 I would have said Jamal led our DL, last year the leader was probably Castillo. So the reps had to come out of the other two spots, and generally late in games where they had a lead.

a pressure per pass rush percentage of 5.4% (Cesaire) and 5.34% (Castillo)

Nice stat of equivalence here. Yes I know… NOT equal due to doubles, but not as far apart as the salaries might indicate.

by Trendsearcher on Jun 6, 2011 9:00 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs

I like how you covered your bases by acknowledging the supposed double teams.

by bstew95 on Jun 6, 2011 10:46 PM PDT up reply actions

LOL yeah

I know those double are there for him, I don’t think it is a huge factor. My impression is that on any given play 2 of 3 DL’s have to fight through a double. And my further impression is the the NT pretty much takes two on every play. I’m not letting Louis off the hook for not getting sacks & tackles just because he pulls more doubles.

Sure he can’t really be expected to make tackles if they run away from him. But he’s getting top dollar and not producing top level sacks – that I cannot abide.

by Trendsearcher on Jun 7, 2011 9:36 AM PDT up reply actions