It’s been a long time since September of 2019, where freshman center Garrett Bradbury put up one of the worst pass blocking starts Pro Football Focus had ever graded. Here in 2020, Bradbury’s play has improved significantly. Outside of a high-profile flattening by Jeffery Simmons (pictured below), Bradbury has held up. His 71.2 PFF grade is the highest along the Vikings offensive line and ninth among centers leaguewide. He has surrendered just two pressures in his first four games.
It’s often hard to imagine that a player will develop substantially from one year to the next. Typically the discourse surrounding a struggling player will focus on how to replace him rather than how to fix him. So how did Bradbury turn things around?
Play strength was a well-documented weak spot in Bradbury’s game. Before the draft, Draft Network analyst Kyle Crabbs described this issue:
“Soft. Gets bubbled back in run reps by tackles when hooking, which can disrupt the back’s press into the LOS. Lack of length is problematic in stunning interior rushers and forces him to catch a lot of rushes with his chest, giving ground.”
This showed up in a big way at the beginning of his rookie year. Kenny Clark got his hands into Bradbury’s chest and forced him to concede five yards of pocket space, which forced Cousins to bail out.
[videopress HwkB98Wv]Against the Packers in Week 1 of this season, Bradbury showcased improved strength. On this backed up rep, Za’Darius Smith got similar leverage against Bradbury, albeit in a slightly more crowded trench. This time, Bradbury anchors without conceding any space (pay no attention to the blitzing cornerback).
[videopress oebmJ4aH]One way to overcome the length issue that Crabbs pointed out above is to use one arm. You can reach further with one arm than two, and that can prevent the defender from getting his desired leverage on you. The disadvantage is, of course, one arm is not nearly as strong as two. Here, Grady Jarrett has no issue swiping away that one arm and getting into the backfield.
[videopress vDUvQvpt]In Sunday’s win against the Texans, Bradbury employed that same tactic against Charles Omenihu, but this time resisted the swipe. Another signal of improved play strength.
[videopress vRvIXrDK]Bradbury, like many rookie offensive linemen, was very slow to process pass rushes. Usually you just block the man in front of you — that’s easy enough to figure out — but sometimes nobody is in front of you. At that point, you’re supposed to “look for work,” and help out the guy on either side of you. If you’re a superstar, go catch an unattended blitzer. In this rep from 2019, Bradbury’s gears spin for six whole steps before he realizes that he is free to find work.
[videopress bmWxlDHE]After a year of experience, Bradbury is processing the pass rush much faster. In this Week 2 snap, his head turns immediately when he realizes DeForest Buckner is attacking Samia instead. As a result, he’s there to pick up Denico Autry when Dakota Dozier passes him to the inside. The pocket stays clean, and Cousins can comfortably get his throw off.
[videopress 2P8Kkl6Z]Most of Bradbury’s rookie year issues are typical of first-year offensive linemen. The question was always if Bradbury could improve his play strength while learning the mental side of the game simultaneously. That’s a long road, but the returns on Bradbury are positive. We just needed to have a little patience.
