Passing Game
As in the rushing game where some look to view everything from the basis of raw power, so in the passing game some look to base everything on a player’s lateral agility or ‘slide’. While Mahon’s move inside from left tackle last season was probably somewhat needed in this regard, he does have a very good slide for a guard and is able to get out to linebackers cutting inside off the edge without having to break posture, as can be seen here:
Penn State even asked him to pull across to effectively act as the left tackle at times; this is possibly a more clear demonstration of his lateral agility. Crucially, he is able to do this with a high level of control, i.e he doesn’t do so by having his center of mass over his back legs, and so when the defensive end cuts back inside, he is able to counter rather than over-shooting due to imbalance in weight distribution.
There are again, unsurprisingly, parallels with the run game, as agility itself is worth nothing without good balance and pad level. When offensive linemen backpedal, they can often end up sacrificing these in order to avoid being beaten for lateral agility. This most commonly manifests as either committing weight onto the outside leg, as described above, or by leaning backwards in order to generate backwards momentum, which then makes them susceptible to power rushing moves. In this regard, Mahon is usually good, keeping his center-of-mass over his feet during his slide, which means that when the defensive linesman makes contact he has the functional strength to counter the initial punch, such as on the plays below:
However, as with any players, there are still momentary mistakes, such as on the following play where he feels himself getting too upright and so immediately counters, but in so doing induces a forward lean – it is only through a good piece of hand placement that he is able to recover:
As mentioned above, Mahon is typically good in avoiding overcommitting outside during his slide, and when defenders do look to get inside him he shows a good ability to recover, aided by his generally excellent hand usage:
Hand usage is not only essential in controlling defensive linemen, but it can also allow Mahon to get away with mistakes at times. The first key with hand usage is location, and Mahon does a consistently good job of locating his hands high up on the defensive tackle’s chest, typically with his first strike, which avoids holding penalties and makes it difficult for the defender to rip free, as can be seen on the following plays:
This is possibly made most clear through contrast, as on the rare occasions when Mahon mislocates his strike, it becomes all too clear:
Here, the punch is slightly slow and slightly outside of the center-of-mass of the defender, thereby allowing for a swim move to leave him completely out of the play. Luckily, this is far from representative of Mahon’s general play in pass protection. Besides balance, the other advantage of good location is that it then allows Mahon to control the defender throughout the play, even when he isn’t able to simply grab hold of him and not let go.
On the above play, Mahon gets initial inside position, but the defender looks to rips himself free; however, because Mahon has both hands inside he is able to use his left arm to keep contact with the defender for long enough to rip and re-engage with his right. Then when the defender looks to swing inside of him, Mahon is able to pull him back with his left without being forced into a hold before re-engaging again and simply swamping the defender. By contrast, the left tackle acts as a good example of what can happen in a similar situation when the offensive lineman fails to get inside location.
Of course, he isn’t always going to get inside location with the first strike, and this is where Mahon excels, as he does an extremely good job of resetting if he fails to get the situation he needs. On the next play, the defender is able to get his hand inside Mahon’s frame on the first punch and so he uses his left hand to punch free and then secures inside location on second contact:
What Mahon does next is also of note, as he rips the defender’s hands down and uses his forward momentum to steer him wide of the pocket. All of this required a lot of arm strength, which Mahon certainly has, as can be seen by the way he swats the defensive tackle on the following screen:
While it is true that everybody looks good when everything goes well – Mahon’s hands also get him out of trouble at times. The following play appears to be an RPO, with Mahon looking to crash down on the defensive tackle allowing for either a run outside of right guard or a pass. However, the defensive tackle looks to swim inside, and Mahon’s initial step has left him off balance. This is when most guards would either be left for dead or would resort to giving away a holding penalty as they look to keep the quarterback clean. By contrast, Mahon is still able to locate his strong left hand inside the shoulder of the defender and so is able to recover enough to force the defender wide without committing a hold.
Most impressive of all is how Mahon is able to respond when the defender gets inside purchase, as this usually signals the end for an offensive lineman’s chances on a given play, as once a defender gets two hands inside their frame they are then extremely vulnerable to the kind of rip move that recent Panthers addition Dontari Poe (#92) has shown to be so effective:
To avoid this, Mahon has developed an extremely effective rip move of his own, which can be used either from above:
Or below:
This is not a move that is prevalent in the NFL, and the second could even be unique to Mahon, and it is this ability to counter plays where the defender initially gets the upper hand that makes him such an intriguing option in the Panthers’ battle for guard reps. With big questions remaining about how effective Amini Silatolu and even Taylor Moton can be in pass protection, this ability to more than hold in pass protection could prove to be Mahon’s unique selling point. After all, how often do you see an offensive linesman block two defenders at once:
Mahon is not built in the Trai Turner mold of guards who dominate opponents with their athleticism, but rather a pupil of the Norwell school of offensive line play, where good athleticism is used to great effect through excellent technique. Mahon is not where Norwell was last season, but he certainly seems to be of a similar standard to the Andrew Norwell that the Panthers signed as a UDFA back in 2014, the only question will be whether Mahon is able to continue to improve his technique as a pro in the same way that Norwell did. Setting Norwell as a comparison for Mahon is unfair both to the All-Pro who worked extremely hard to develop into what he has become and the rookie who cannot be sensibly expected to deliver on that potential in the short term. However, as far as these two players are concerned, the similarities are certainly more than skin deep.
