I just finished watching the game again, and started to grade the 2 of them out, but stopped just shy of halftime due to time constraints. I finished off the second half without grading and made some notes on each.
Lets start with Zeke. I mentioned yesterday that I felt that Zeke was a 2019 version of Jarrett Patterson. What I meant by that was I thought he had all the tools, but didn't quite have the butt behind him to out-muscle people.
Where I think Zeke needs some work: It was pretty obvious in some pass protections that he was put on roller skates (much like Patterson in 2019). This happened when he was man-to-man with the NT. Part of the problem was him setting up properly because he seemed to be too high and was trying to catch someone that had a full head of steam coming.
For the entire game the NT was shaded off of him, and when we were running the ball to that side he allowed too much penetration. Granted this is probably the toughest block to make for any lineman, and your center has got to snap it first. The problem wasn't getting there, it was allowing the DT too much depth in the backfield. Our RB needs to cut it back behind this block, but he loses momentum when he has to come to almost a complete stop.
I've always made the comment that the center has to get the ball to the QB first, and he had a couple hiccups which is a couple too many. I'm giving him a mulligan on the 2 bad ones, but what I noticed early on in the game while Book was in the shotgun was the ball didn't have any pace on it getting back to him. You could see Book leaning back and waiting for the ball to get there. Zeke cleaned it up later, but the QB needs a crisp snap as to not throw off the timing of everything.
What I thought Zeke did well: Pretty much everything that I listed that he didn't do well, at times he did do well throughout the game. For starters pass protection. There were times where I saw him with a wider base, and in more of a football position, and it worked for him. Right now, Zeke needs to be perfect in his set-up because he's not going to get away with things that Patterson can.
Zeke gets off the ball well! His combo block on Tyree's long run was THEE block that made it happen - perfect execution. There were also a couple plays where he beat the NT shaded to the play side, and he just didn't stop penetration, but he took him out of the play completely - extremely tough to do even for an elite center.
I didn't notice many assignment mistakes where you just said he blew it.
On to Lugg. I did concentrate on Zeke more than I did Lugg, and I'll be brutally honest. He looked a step slow to me, and at times was catching people and allowing too much penetration. I think where that is coming from was he just wasn't quick enough to block a guy in the gap, and he would just step and catch. He didn't do it the whole game, but he did it enough for it to pop out to me. Overall he was pretty assignment sound, but there were times where I felt that he should have gotten off his block with Zeke on the NT and went out to block #21 Surrat. There was one play in particular that had he done this Kyren would still be running. I'm guessing this will get worked on this week, and it wasn't through lack of effort, but rather recognizing what's going on in that split second where he needs to make a decision.
Lugg has talent, and he's proven that, but if you're not 100% confident in what you're doing it's going to slow you down. I'm hoping that he's healthy enough to take more reps at guard this week because he needs to settle in.
It was tough sledding for any team to get a run game going because as I had thought they were going to sell out to stop it. For most of the game they played a tight man with 10 defenders within 7 yards of the LOS. On passing downs they were sending 5 and 6. I did think it was a great effort to get 199 yards on the ground. Zeke and Lugg both had a baptism by fire yesterday, and a good game to learn from.
Before the game started, I wondered which of Patterson or Kraemer we would miss more. Kraemer seems to be the guy that is picked on around here despite him grading out as one of the top guards in college football per PFF at almost an 80 grade. I'm not sure about the lack of love for Kraemer, and how some wanted him replaced with Lugg a few weeks ago, however I will say that my initial impression was that we missed him more, and that goes against everything I had thought coming into the game because I think your center is so important.
One last word on Zeke. He was a favorite of mine watching his HS tape. I then wondered once he got to college, and seeing him in person, if he'd ever be big enough to play. I can say that I'm pretty confident that he's going to be holding down the position in the near future.
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