Marcus Gilbert's Play

By Gilbert's "play" I mean two things: his overall performance, and one specific play from today's 2nd quarter.

He's been a whipping boy for some time now, but with a few exceptions, I think he's proven to be a reliable performer, especially when healthy. So far so good this year.

One thing that's always been missing from his game is a mean streak. He's big, and often plays well, but he doesn't intimidate. Check out Deangelo Williams' first touchdown, the one after the long bomb to Antonio in the 2nd quarter. Gilbert is double-teaming Arik Armstead with DeCastro, then a blitzer comes in (I think SS Jaquiski Tartt). Gilbert comes off Armstead and clobbers the charging Tartt to the ground. Then he aggressively flops on top of him to finish the play. Then he gets up and looks genuinely excited. Check it out.

http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/2015092009/2015/REG2/49ers@steelers#menu=gameinfo|contentId:0ap3000000534026&tab=videos

It's at 16 seconds if you're watching the DeAngelo Williams highlight reel.

I think it's time to accept reality: we have a good RT. Sorry, guys. (You know who you are)

 

If anyone deserves a slap on the wrist today it would be Wallace for a dumb penalty and Foster for missing some blocks. I've been a huge Gilbert detractor for a long time, admittedly. Foster is maybe worse though. Still I'm ultimately VERY proud of what Munch is doing with the unit though.

 

better but the year is young. we also give him a lot of help usually.

i agree foster could be upgraded. he's just not very mobile.

 

Yeah Pouncey is probably the best up field blocker isn't he? Foster was completely lost on an up field block for Williams today.

 

Wallace's "late" hit was simultaneous with the whistle. I hate that. He's blocking, not watching the play. It looks like a late hit with the sound off, but the refs blew the whistle late. That's on them. Didn't help that the announcer couldn't figure that out.

Oh, and I love how the announcer basically called Timmons a dirty player for his personal foul, despite the fact he hit the guy before the play was over. He hadn't hit the ground yet, and if he'd gotten up he'd have been allowed to run. Timmons hit a (not defenseless) ball carrier while he was still advancing with the ball, and gets called out for hitting someone illegally and late. I wish these guys were held accountable in some way for the garbage that comes out of their mouths.

 

Don't worry, I'm sure he'll have a bad game sooner or later and you'll be happy. So, how often do we give him help? How's that compare to Beachum, or the rest of the league's RTs? Or is it just a gut feeling?

 

So was Wallace as well.

 

i think that guy will take that hit from wallace instead of the alternative. ( dr. wallace exam).

 

Him and Foster are my two whipping boys for the day. We didn't give up any sacks but Foster has been guilty of giving up plenty in the past.

 

Beachum must hold his own pretty good because he's actually pretty highly rated isn't he? Wasn't there some article about him being our secret weapon or something like that?

 

Gilbert got a bad name because he was thrown into the line up when he was rookie and suffered major growing pains.

 

He was also blamed for some injuries. Still seems like he got beat a LOT though.

 

why would i be happy? spaeth plays that side a lot. you have to admit huge, it's well documented about the pressures he has given up over his time here. i'm not making chit up or something.

 

Have I ever even implied otherwise? He's had his struggles, but he's more than the inconsistent player you make him out to be. Throughout his career he's gone long stretches playing excellent ball, with some bad games here and there. Now those stretches are getting longer. Last year is a great example. He started terribly, but rebounded and played great for most of the year. Plus, many (not all) of his struggles can be traced to injury. That's a far cry from someone like Starks, whose play swung wildly from game to game, or even play to play.

Look at the whole picture. Gilbert has gotten better and better throughout his career, and has now basically put together a full season of good ball. But you don't believe it, you're just waiting for him to give up a sack so you can say you were right all along, even if it's the only sack he gives up all year.

Now, where's wardismvp to tell me I'm wrong because Gilbert gave up 2 sacks to Jabaal Sheard as a rookie in 2011?

 

I noticed that real time. I re-wound that play to see who messed the blitzer up lol good play by Gilbert

 

Lets see what they do against a good DL, that the Rams
will be trotting out next week.

 

here we go again with you telling me what i'm thinking. it's not all about sacks huge. we've been over it before so i'm not getting in to it again with you. he gives up more pressures than anyone on the team last year and usually in less games played. you can tell me how great of RT he is in the league if you want, but it don't make it so. sacks don't tell the whole story. i will say as i have before this thread ( check out the o-line thread i started after last weeks game) they are playing better together and should as the season goes on. let's also not compare a RT only guy with our LT. he can play any spot across the board and we can't say that about gilbert. i'd be very happy with gilbert if he started playing up to his size and draft and contract ability. so would ben. so would any steeler fan. we just need to see it consistently from him.

 

I thought the 9ers front looked pretty good. I mean they did a lot better against Williams than the Pats did. I know he scored three td's but he really didn't get a lot of yards.

 

Well, according to PFF's stats (not the subjective grades, just the # of hurries/hits/sacks), Gilbert was the 10th best pass blocking RT in the league last year. That suggests that he is one of the better RTs in football. My point has been, that you and I both know most of those pressures came in the beginning of the season. If you look at the timeline, you know he's better now than that number indicates. I bet if you started that stat halfway through last season and ran it through today, he'd be considerably higher.

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2015/02/12/sig-stats-pbe-offensive-tackles/

*Unfortunately it looks like they made a typo, his number should be 29, not 40.

 

Marcus Gilbert is much better today than he has been in the past,
He still stinks.

 

I disagree that he's only average, but yeah, I'm not happy about that either. But that's the way it goes with new contracts. The highest paid guys aren't necessarily the best, they're the guys with the most recent contracts. By the time it's up, he'll probably be right in the middle. Not saying he's worth that kind of money, but with no contingency plan in place (Adams = bust), we had to do something to keep Ben safe. It's our top priority. I agree, Beachum and DeCastro are must-signs, for the same reason.

And at the rate he's improving, he could still change your mind. Munchak is legit, and I think Gilbert is still going to get better, in all phases of the game.

 

One thing about Gilbert that has impressed me (not that it's the only thing) is that he hasn't morphed into an overweight blob, which I thought he was in danger of becoming. He's pulling an anti-Casey Hampton/Vince Wilfork plan: he's actually looking more lean and athletic as he gets older! That, along with Munchak, could keep him improving.

 

He was afraid Pouncey was going to give Hernandez a guy if he got out of shape again.