Thanks to PFF, I was able to share the team stats regarding pressure and sacks allowed. As I continue to maneuver that site, I decided to look at the individual players and their stats. On the offensive line, there were the regular culprits, but I was surprised at a few of the stats.
Hit the jump for more!
Levi Brown: In 16 games, he allowed 50 pressures, 10 hits and 10 sacks. He was particularly bad against Atlanta (eight pressures and a sack), Minnesota (nine pressures and two hits), San Diego (only four pressures, but two were sacks) and the second Seattle game (six pressures and two sacks). He was penalized six times in 2010. That was an improvement as he was penalized 11 times in 2009.
Alan Faneca: He was decent, but of course was playing an interior line position that gets less pressure than the edge. He allowed 26 pressures on the season, five hits and three sacks. Two of those sacks allowed were in the final game of the season. He was penalized twice, but one was declined. If I recall, the penalty that stuck was his first holding penalty in three years or something like that.
Lyle Sendlein: His numbers were solid. He only gave up five pressures and two sacks on the season. He was penalized three times.
Deuce Lutui: His numbers were better than Faneca's. He allowed 20 pressures, three hits and two sacks. He was penalized five times, the same as in 2009. He has certainly improved from 2008, when he was flagged 13 times on the season.
Brandon Keith: As people have mentioned, inconsistency plagued him in 2010. Because of the season-ending injury, he played in only nine games. In those nine games, he allowed 16 pressures, six hits and six sacks. However, in two games (Oakland and New Orleans) he had a clean stat sheet -- nothing given up. Half of his sacks allowed were against San Diego when Shawn Phillips ate him for lunch. He was only penalized once during the season.
Jeremy Bridges: In his seven starts, he was not bad. He allowed three sacks, four hits and ten pressures. He was, though, penalized three times in seven games.
Tim Hightower: He has been praised for his blitz pickup. The stats reveal that he allowed three sacks and six other pressures. PFF rates him as a -2.0 in pass blocking. He had pass blocking assignments 119 times.
Beanie Wells: With the criticism he gets, all season he allowed one sack and one pressure. I imagine that this is in part due to the fact that he had less reps and certainly less in throwing downs -- he only had 30 snaps of pass blocking. However, PFF actually rates him better than Hightower in pass blocking, as he rates at a -0.6.
Jason Wright: He didn't get a ton of offensive snaps, but he had a clean slate all season. In 30 pass blocking assignments, he allowed nothing.
Rex Hadnot: He only played a few snaps in 2010 and was a backup in 2009. If we look at 2008, he was solid in pass protection. He gave up only one sack, six hits and 13 pressures in 15 games. I don't know if he had a decline in skills, leading to his not starting in 2009 (for Cleveland!), but if he performs anything like 2008, the Cards will be ok at the left guard position.
Those are the numbers. If I get anything out of this, it is that Levi Brown should not be playing left tackle. In 2009 at right tackle he was not much better -- nine sacks allowed, 17 hits and 29 pressures. Looks like he should be a tackle at all.
As most have been saying, Sendlein is a keeper. Brandon Keith showed enough that he should be brought back. Lutui was okay. Hadnot should be reasonably OK. The weak link is, in fact, Levi Brown.