Pass Protection
Paradis was signed, first and foremost, because of his ability in pass protection, and this is ultimately going to be the key factor in how he is judged. To this point, he has shown a lot of the same good things as a Panther that he did as a Bronco, starting with good foot speed allowing him to stay in front of defenders when moving laterally:
This is, of course, aided by his hand usage, in particular his ability to get inside hand placement:
They key here is that even when the defender is able to create a slight leverage or power advantage, because Paradis has inside hand placement, he is able to keep hold of the defender and prevent them from either increasing their leverage advantage or just blowing right by him. This is something that is especially valuable on roll-outs where he needs to move laterally while preventing penetration:
He also does a pretty nice job of using his hands to keep defenders away from his frame:
But where he has struggled at times is when defenders have been able to make early contract before he is able to get his hands set, something we’ll come back to more in a bit:
Finally, from a hand usage point of view, he does a really nice job of guiding defenders around the pocket when they get early penetration, rather than trying to fight their momentum and ultimately getting run over:
However, one area which he has had more consistent issues with is when dealing with real power; he’s not the biggest guy and can get driven back by a more powerful defender:
Where this becomes a real problem is where defenders are not able to drive him backwards, but also work him off balance:
And this is where we come back to something we talked about in the rushing section – centers have to snap the ball, and most teams therefore look to help centers off the snap; a lot of the time this season, the Panthers haven’t:
This not only means that Paradis is really vulnerable off the snap, but also means that he sees an awful lot more straight one-on-ones than most centers – even if the Panthers aren’t going to give him a consistent double, they would do well to use the guard to effectively chip the 1-tech off the snap:
This is what most teams do and what the Panthers have done historically, but one reason why they might not have been doing it as much this season is that they really don’t appear to trust their tackles in pass protection. And this brings us to the weirdest thing the Panthers have been doing with Paradis in pass protection – asking him to block edge rushers:
Now, they do this in combination with a run fake, and they have at times combined it with a TE chip on the front side:
But this is something they have done a lot in recent games:
This is actually a decent variation, especially with the tight end chip, but the Panthers are using this a lot, suggesting it is something they feel they need to do and not just a wrinkle – this, obviously, puts a ton of pressure on Paradis. So far, he has been able to use his good lateral agility and body control to make these blocks just about feasible, but this is emblematic of the fact that the Panthers seem to be putting a huge amount on Paradis’ plate, and while he is doing a pretty decent job of dealing with it so far, this likely isn’t the most effective way of using a center – the Panthers need to be a bit less optimistic in what they are asking him to do if they want to get the best version of Matt Paradis.
From a technical point of view, the biggest issue for Paradis is once again his knee bend and pad level – again, this makes it difficult for him to retain his balance against lateral moves:
Or to adjust laterally:
As in the run game, it would be a surprise to see this change a ton at this stage of Paradis’ career, but if the Panthers want to be selective about when they help Paradis, both this and his issues anchoring would suggest that where he needs the most help is against rushers who look to build their rush strategy off of power rather than speed.
Finally, while this isn’t a huge part of the game, he has shown a really nice ability to pick up stunts and twists – his awareness and experience in pass protection is certainly something that he has delivered on as a Panther:
In summation, Paradis has actually done a lot of nice things as a Carolina Panther, and he certainly should be seen as a building block on the offensive line going forward, but he not only needs more help, he needs a more reasonable role in the offensive scheme if he is to be at his best on a consistent basis. The way in which the Panthers have been using him recently not only makes him vulnerable to moves immediately post-snap, but also gives him far more to handle than is sensible or usual.
Paradis has been good, but with a little more help, he could be the elite player the Panthers hoped they were getting when they signed him.
