[OC] Season in Review: Darrisaw's Impact
Feb 3, 2022 15:00:57 GMT -6
Reignman, Funkytown, and 5 more like this
Post by whoskmoon on Feb 3, 2022 15:00:57 GMT -6
The 2021 seasons was a series of ups and down on offense and defense, and I thought I would explore the reasons behind those peaks and valleys by looking at the impact individual players not being on the field had versus when they were on the field. The first of those players is a guy who our former GM decided was worth risking for two players who didn't make the active roster most games last season: Christian Darrisaw
The Results
While many Vikings fans incorrectly believed the offense was playing well at the beginning of the season with Hill as the starting LT, the reality was that we were a bottom 10 offense until week 6, the week Darrisaw took over full time duties as the LT. 23rd in PPD and 20th in YPD going into a game against a very good Carolina defense, Darrisaw began to make an impact in his very first start. Week 6 would be the beginning of a climb up the offensive scoring rankings until the offense ended the year as the 16th best offense. A significant jump, made more impressive by a future subject of one of these threads, Adam Thielen, being out for much of that part of the season. Part of that is the competition played in the final 11 games, but there is more evidence than just scoring more that the addition of Darrisaw contributed significantly to those offensive gains.
The week prior to Darrisaw joining the starting lineup, the Vikings played PFF's 28th ranked pass rush, the Detroit Lions. Cousins was pressured on 29.7%, which is pretty bad considering the opposition. The very next game with Darrisaw making his first start Kirk Cousins was the 2nd least pressured QB in the NFL playing the 12th best pass rush. That is not a coincidence and after that 5th game, the Vikings Oline gave up pressure 34.2% of the time compared to 35.2% with Rashod Hill. A number that doesn't seem all that impressive, until you add some context.
The Context
Through the first 5 games of the season it was clear that the OC, Cousins or a combination of both did not trust the Oline to protect for very long, and it was showing up in the analytics big time. Kirk Cousins has consistently been a QB who holds the ball longer than the typical pocket passer and in weeks 1-5, he was getting rid of the ball in 2.48 seconds, a pretty average TTT for a pocket passer (Brady's TTT was 2.32 for instance) but it was Cousins fastest TTT of his career. This kind of "growth" would normally be a positive thing, but it was coming at the expense of downfield throws. Cousins typically had a very average depth of target (average being exactly where you want your QB to be in this stat), and through the first 5 weeks he was 26th out of 29 qualifying QBs in depth of target and had a depth of target that was only higher than a struggling Jimmy G, a broken down Matt Ryan, and Jared Goff. After week 5, Cousins average time to throw went back to the level of previous seasons, jumping to 2.6, and jumping 2.3 yards per attempt in ADOT. That was good for 4th during that time period. Hill was no longer a liability, the QB and OC trusted their Oline more, and we had more downfield throws, opening up the offense more.
Rushing
That is the impact he had on the passing game, but what about run blocking? Through week 5, Dalvin was averaging 4.4 yards per attempt. Weeks 6-18 4.7 YPA. The difference between the 9th best YPA and the 2nd best among qualifying RBs. This is less compelling evidence since it is a much smaller sample size for that 4.4 YPA since Cook only played 3 games during that time period, but it is still a positive sign.
Conclusion
There are obviously other factors involved than Darrisaw in a lot of these numbers. Opposition and other players getting injured or getting starts(Thielen and Cole) are big factors as well. Replacing the most important player on the Oline certainly was a huge factor and it is a positive sign that Darrisaw made such positive impact on the line. Hopefully he doesn't turn into Kalil or Elf in year two.
Other reviews:
Wonnom's Lack of Impact
Hunter's Impact
The Results
While many Vikings fans incorrectly believed the offense was playing well at the beginning of the season with Hill as the starting LT, the reality was that we were a bottom 10 offense until week 6, the week Darrisaw took over full time duties as the LT. 23rd in PPD and 20th in YPD going into a game against a very good Carolina defense, Darrisaw began to make an impact in his very first start. Week 6 would be the beginning of a climb up the offensive scoring rankings until the offense ended the year as the 16th best offense. A significant jump, made more impressive by a future subject of one of these threads, Adam Thielen, being out for much of that part of the season. Part of that is the competition played in the final 11 games, but there is more evidence than just scoring more that the addition of Darrisaw contributed significantly to those offensive gains.
The week prior to Darrisaw joining the starting lineup, the Vikings played PFF's 28th ranked pass rush, the Detroit Lions. Cousins was pressured on 29.7%, which is pretty bad considering the opposition. The very next game with Darrisaw making his first start Kirk Cousins was the 2nd least pressured QB in the NFL playing the 12th best pass rush. That is not a coincidence and after that 5th game, the Vikings Oline gave up pressure 34.2% of the time compared to 35.2% with Rashod Hill. A number that doesn't seem all that impressive, until you add some context.
The Context
Through the first 5 games of the season it was clear that the OC, Cousins or a combination of both did not trust the Oline to protect for very long, and it was showing up in the analytics big time. Kirk Cousins has consistently been a QB who holds the ball longer than the typical pocket passer and in weeks 1-5, he was getting rid of the ball in 2.48 seconds, a pretty average TTT for a pocket passer (Brady's TTT was 2.32 for instance) but it was Cousins fastest TTT of his career. This kind of "growth" would normally be a positive thing, but it was coming at the expense of downfield throws. Cousins typically had a very average depth of target (average being exactly where you want your QB to be in this stat), and through the first 5 weeks he was 26th out of 29 qualifying QBs in depth of target and had a depth of target that was only higher than a struggling Jimmy G, a broken down Matt Ryan, and Jared Goff. After week 5, Cousins average time to throw went back to the level of previous seasons, jumping to 2.6, and jumping 2.3 yards per attempt in ADOT. That was good for 4th during that time period. Hill was no longer a liability, the QB and OC trusted their Oline more, and we had more downfield throws, opening up the offense more.
Rushing
That is the impact he had on the passing game, but what about run blocking? Through week 5, Dalvin was averaging 4.4 yards per attempt. Weeks 6-18 4.7 YPA. The difference between the 9th best YPA and the 2nd best among qualifying RBs. This is less compelling evidence since it is a much smaller sample size for that 4.4 YPA since Cook only played 3 games during that time period, but it is still a positive sign.
Conclusion
There are obviously other factors involved than Darrisaw in a lot of these numbers. Opposition and other players getting injured or getting starts(Thielen and Cole) are big factors as well. Replacing the most important player on the Oline certainly was a huge factor and it is a positive sign that Darrisaw made such positive impact on the line. Hopefully he doesn't turn into Kalil or Elf in year two.
Other reviews:
Wonnom's Lack of Impact
Hunter's Impact
... and neither is this Chris guy.