McIntosh Leaves Seattle for New Orleans

That's huge man.

you get the name wrong - it's Damion Mcintosh

A 333lb lineman isn't a good ZBS canidate anyhow unless he's another freak of nature. Even though we shed our small fast defensive line in favor of a hefty side of beef, we're going the opposite way on our offensive line. We're looking for smaller more athletic guys who weight around 300 give or take a little bit who are agile and can move and have good foot work.

The ZBS requires an offensive lineman to move quickly and make an initial block and then shed that block to get to the second level and and block a linebacker or defensive back. The backside lineman needs to quickly get to his position and then be able to get down and take guys off their feet by hitting between the knee and waist. That requires someone with good speed to go along with good footwork to get ahead of a defensive lineman and make a cut block to take him off his feet. If you aren't fast enough and agile enough to get your head in front of your opponent and then get a step on him to get your body in position to take him down, you'll most likely fail in your primary assignment.

333lb guys are generally not so fast and agile and therefore can't cut block effectively. Additionally, a big guy like that will tire out quickly if they have to constantly block once and then get to a second block or put that burst on to get in front of an opponent to cut block him. They are better suited to making a powerful initial burst off the line of scrimmage and taking their man one way or the other and being done with the play.

If there's a 333lb lineman out there who is fast with excellent footwork and is agile and athletic enough to be an outstanding ZBS candidate, he'll be long gone in the draft as a absolutely blue chip can't miss prospect not the last man cut from a 53 man roster. You're looking at a Walter Jones type there who at 325lbs can move like a 300lb guy. That tells me MacIntosh is a plugger and not cut out for the ZBS. It's always good to look at who's available but Mac doesn't sound much like a good ZBS candidate to me.

One of the reasons that our current offensive line was getting knocked last season was that in Holmgren's straight ahead blocking schemes which were somewhat complicated for offensive lineman to learn and understand their assignments, he needed big pluggers who could move mountains and drive the pile. We had smaller guys like Sims, Wrotto, Vallos, Williams, and Locklear where everyone falls between Fry at 305 and Willis at 315. Jones is listed at 325 and Wrotto at 320 as the two exceptions to fill out our offensive line corps but no one is near 333lbs or bigger.

That's a possible reason that we find our offensive line is actually doing a pretty good job because they are smaller, fast, athletic players with good footwork who excel at zone blocking. They are exceeding our expectations because they are the type of linemen we need for the ZBS not Holmgren's old one.

Wow BillT, where did you get all this ZBS understanding? It gives me a better perspective on Sunday. More to watch for and appreciate the effort of the OL.
In an earlier post there was a question about Spencer coming back and whether to start Vallos anyway. I don't think continuity is an issue this early in the season and it should be Spencer's position starting week two. Agreed or does it depend whether Spencer can play four quarters next week?

Mora was asked the question during one of his recent pressers and he stated that he doesn't necessarily subscribe to the old adage that you don't lose your job because of injury. To me, that clearly said that if Vallos is gelling with the offensive line and not playing badly, he would probably retain the starting job and it will be Spencers to win again. If Spencer is clearly the better center, it should show up in the weekly practices and he can do just that. Otherwise, why would you not give Vallos a chance to grow into the position as he seems to be much less fragile than Spencer and is holding his own so far in games. The ZBS requires a different breed of lineman and who's to say that Vallos isn't the better center for that system? We'll see. This is Spencers contract year so he should be ready to fight hard for his job if he wants to stay in Seattle.

To answer optimistichawkfan's question about the ZBS, I've just read all the material I've seen out there and listened to guys like Brock Huard and Hugh Millen describe the differences and responsibilities for offensive linemen. Some of it stuck.

So what's the deal? Are big Walt and Chris Spencer gonna play on Sunday?