When offensive lines are good, the offenses built around them tend to be good; this shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. While the Panthers’ offensive line has been up-and-down through much of the first half of the season, the past two games have seen somewhat of a change in fortunes for the group and a major part of that has been the improved play from free-agent acquisition Matt Kalil, something that should also not be hugely surprising. Matt Kalil started this season coming off a serious hip injury while having to adjust to a new offensive scheme and a new personnel grouping; much of the mistakes seen by Kalil early on were basic mental errors, often resulting from miscommunication or scheme uncertainty. However, as the season has gone on, the number of these mistakes has slowly regressed to the mean, and against the Dolphins in prime time, Kaili finally looked like the franchise left tackle he is being paid to be.
Run Blocking
In the Panthers’ scheme, Kalil is rarely asked to line up and drive back his defender. Instead, he is largely asked to mainpulate the edge: either push it outside, seal it, or pull around it and make a block in space. When asked to extend the edge on outside runs, Kalil is able to demonstrate his natural athletic ability. His power is obvious, but what sets him apart from many is his ability to get underneath his defender; something that should be difficult for a 6’7 tackle, but Kalil uses good hand placement to keep his defender off balance.
It would be foolish to claim that Kalil’s play here is perfect, his tendency to lean does get exposed at times, but this is certainly good play for a tackle. Where Kalil is also able to use these same skills in when he is asked to seal the edge on an inside run. Kalil is able to get good hand placement inside of his defender and then hold his position, thereby allowing for the run to go behind him.
On this play, what should also be noted is how he is able to quickly get in position with his first couple of steps while maintaining a balanced stance and squaring himself off to the defender. Where he could stand to improve is in maintaining a good pad level; on the following play he initially starts off well, but towards the end of the play he does get a little high and does start to lose some ground.
These plays largely focus on basic offensive line technique: hand placement, setting a strong base and maintaining good play height. While strength is important here, these are generally the plays that a good starting tackle should be expected to make on a consistent basis. Where Kalil is able to demonstrate added value is when he is asked to pull outside and to make blocks on second level defenders.
On the previous play, Kalil shows unusual speed and agility in getting outside and being able to get to Kiko Alonso before he is able to make a play on the ball carrier. Not only that, but he is able to square Alonso up and make a controlled block. He then continues to block Alonso, allowing for Stewart to cut back inside and pick up extra yardage.
This play demonstrates how Kaili is starting to do the little things well. Having pulled outside the formation he is able to prevent the linebacker from cutting off the play and then clears out the next defenders making space for Stewart to pick up an additional few yards. While Kalil could still stand to benefit from some work on controlling his tendency to lean too heavily into blocks, his play in the run game on Monday was certainly that of a good left tackle in the NFL.
Pass Protection
Probably the most noticeable facet of a tackle’s play is their slide; the ability to backpedal in time with the defensive end whilst maintaining good balance. On the following play Kalil does just that:
While this might look much like any other tackle, there are four key things to note here. First, that he is able to slide sufficiently quickly to remain in front of his blocker. This is really the very basic attainment level for a tackle in pass protection, if you are able to be beaten by pure speed on a consistent basis then there is not much that can be done. The second thing to note is how Kalil is able to keep his weight over the center of his frame; players who struggle with the speed of their slide often compensate by over-committing outside. This, in turn, leads to the player’s weight being predominantly over the back leg making them vulnerable to inside moves. Kalil is able to avoid making this mistake and the defender is unable to get inside of his frame.
The third thing to note is how Kalil is able to maintain a slight forward lean. Often players tend to lean backwards in their slide in order to increase their speed. The issue this creates is that it makes players susceptible to being bull-rushed as all of their momentum is going backwards and often results in the tackle being jacked up and driven backwards by the lower defender. It should be noted that this backwards lean tendency was the most significant issue with rookie Taylor Moton’s college tape, and should be something to look out for if and when he sees more significant playing time. On the following play, Kalil once again shows this ability to stay balanced and when the defender looks to make contact he is able to get his hands underneath him and force him upwards.
The final thing to note about Kalil’s slide is how he is able to keep his elbows close to his body throughout. Often, longer-limbed tackles force their arms away from their frame during their slide, exposing their frame and limiting their hand speed; this is an area that Daryl Williams has struggled with for example. The advantages of this show up on the tape in two way: his ability to force defenders around the outside when his slide fails and his ability to time his punch.
On both of these plays, Kalil is eventually able to continue to slide in time with the end, but because his arms are in good position he is able to effectively swivel and force the defender behind and around Cam. It is unrealistic to think that a tackle will always be cover a speed rush, and the ability to prevent sacks on plays like these is hugely valuable.
By keeping his arms close to his frame, Kalil is able to effectively control his hands which is what allows him to time and locate his punch so effectively. On both of the following plays, Kalil shows extremely quick hands while also being able to locate his hands inside the frame of his defender.
What he also demonstrates the ability to do here is to effectively counter the responding move by the defensive end. On the second play, the end looks to try and rip free, but Kalil is able to easily relocate his hand inside the defender’s frame and maintain the block. While his slide overall is merely good, his punch speed and location was excellent on Monday. For a player with his length to show such quick and accurate hands is really impressive, and allowed him to stay in control against good defensive end play, such as on the following snap.
Kalil isn’t perfect; the coaching staff should still look to work on his tendency to lean somewhat in the running game and his understanding of blitz pickup could get better at times, but if he is able to continue to play at the level he did on Monday then Panthers fans should feel genuinely optimistic about the prospect of Kalil at left tackle over the coming seasons.
