Quote:
Originally Posted by Nightfyre
Imagine if they go like JC Latham to lock down the right tackle spot though. Wouldn't be that surprising given how Harbaugh likes to build, coach, and scheme.
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I know Harbaugh looks simple, and he is, but he's expanded over the years a bit and throws the ball a bit more. He's a run-heavy guy but runs a lot of inside zone instead and not power/gap. His linemen have to be able to move more than it might appear. He will focus heavily on protecting his QB in a classic dropback/play-action passing game that will rely on West Coast offense route concepts. The fact he hired Greg Roman as his OC just solidifies those principles.
When you look at him getting rid of the WRs, I think you're going to see him bring in some smaller, faster guys to replace them. He'll have bigger, linear deep threats but his focal WRs are going to be just like Roman Wilson.
His running backs will be good at stretching the play out and cutting it north/south on a dime. I suggested Dont'a Foreman because he ran that style in Carolina a lot.
Anyhow all that to just go back to JC Latham... So, I don't know that he fits Harbaugh's offense "that well," but I also don't think he doesn't fit entirely. One thing you read in his scouting report is "he doesn't have the foot speed to reach the backside block" and I think that is a legit concern but it's really more just one specific aspect when you're looking at that. It means he doesn't have the footspeed as the "covered backside" tackle to reach his block assignment. That means he's going to struggle to reach a DT playing a true 3 technique when the play is going away from him. That "can" be a problem because the inside zone relies a lot on running backs hitting cutback lanes. He probably won't struggle as much when that DT is aligned in a 4i.
So we're looking at one specific aspect of Latham's game that doesn't fit "perfectly." Now if you run more of a mixed bag of power gap and inside zone like the Eagles do, then it becomes even less of a problem. Now, with Latham, maybe you can look at this dude and see how good he is and have him drop a little bit of weight to increase his footspeed on those blocks. I don't know if there is necessarily a "better" option at RT in this draft. I think Fuaga is worse and Guyton doesn't run block well enough. So... there's that.
And even with all that, so long as your backside OG is uncovered (he should be), he's going to strong arm that 3Ts inside shoulder to slow his roll before moving up to the 2nd level... There's not that much I don't like about Latham at RT, honestly.