New York Jets guard Greg Van Roten puts forth plenty of exciting strengths and many concerning weaknesses on tape.
Welcome home, Greg Van Roten.
The Rockville Centre, NY native finally returns home after a football journey that’s taken him from collegiate football at Penn, to the Green Bay Packers, to the CFL, to the Carolina Panthers and finally to the New York Jets. He’s a huge part of Joe Douglas’ offensive line facelift, especially by way of competition this August.
Now, with Brian Winters gone, it’s tough to imagine somebody else beating out Van Roten at right guard (at least to kick of the season). The question remains, “Does he have what it takes?”
Blewett’s Blitz breaks down 45-plus reps of Van Roten while highlighting the exciting strengths and concerning weaknesses.
***The clips come first with Blewett’s text analysis to follow. Only SUBSCRIBERS can view the entire article.
***The FULL film breakdown in video form can be found at the bottom of this article (subscribers only) or on the Blewett’s Blitz homepage. A free preview can be found at the YouTube and Podcast episodes.
Greg Van Roten (LG) slides left in his gap protection as does the entire O-line, with the “sifter” and fullback picking up anything off of the right side. Van Roten IDs the 4-tech as the nearest threat and slides to frame him. Van Roten shoots his right which lands onto the shoulder of the defensive end, pushes off, which creates distance and assists the left tackle. Van Roten then peaks inside as the B-gap isn’t threatened, sees the nose tackle and drops his shoulder into him while delivering some pop.
Van Roten (LG) vs Donald (3-tech) on this duo run. Van Roten does a good job with the initial phase of the block. Drop/brace step with the right while climbing with the right to cover the play side while working off of the inn steps of his feet to generate power. Van Roten shoots from the hips and with tight elbows getting under Aaron Donald‘s pads and generating some pop.
Van Roten then gets a little top-heavy as he doesn’t climb Donald, reset his hands or work to defeat Donalds. Donald was able to pull Van Roten to the ground but was still able to keep him out of the play altogether.
This isn’t a terrible rep for Van Roten (LG), but it shows some of his overall lack of linear athleticism/short-area quickness as he tries to seal to backside 2-tech. Van Roten uses a “scooch” technique but doesn’t cover enough ground laterally paired with his left hand being placed poorly.
Ideally, Van Roten wants to attack the “V of the neck” with the left hand and then use that hand as a pivot point to cover the play side. Christian McCaffrey doesn’t bend the run back, but if he did, Van Roten’s alignment most likely at least makes contact.
Too easy of a sack allowed by Van Roten (LG) here on this tight stunt. Its pretty simple to explain: based on the alignment of Donald and Dante Fowler (4i and wide 5) the offensive line should know a stunt may be coming. Regardless, he needs to have awareness of the field. Donald comes off of the ball and uses his classic jump-swipe, Van Roten overcommits and never sees the looper who gets the easy sack on Cam Newton.
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