Getting to Know Doug Legursky

It was reported today that Steelers rookie standout center, Maurkice Pouncey will miss Super Bowl XVL due to a broken ankle he suffered in last week's AFC Championship game versus the New York Jets.  Pouncey, drafted with Pittsburgh's 1st round pick out of University of Florida in 2010, started all 16 games as Ben Roethlisberger's battery. 

Pittsburgh's starting center Maurkice Pouncey leaves the 2011 AFC Championship game with a broken ankle 

 

 

 

 

With Pouncey's absence, the Steelers will turn to undrafted, second-year center Doug Legursky to handle the snaps for Ben and the offense.  The German born Legursky, was twice released in 2008 after signing as an undrafted free agent out of Marshall by these same Steelers.  He was re-signed to the team's practice squad this year after starting guard Kendall Simmons was placed on season-ending injured reserve.  He played in 8 games this season, filling in for a Pittsburgh offensive line that has suffered from the injury bug this year and serves as the Steelers' fullback on short yardage situations in their Jumbo personnel package.  With the injury to Pouncey, he is now thrust into his first start at center this season, in the Super Bowl.

Legursky as a member of the 2010 Steelers, photo courtesy: Steelers.com.

Though this injury and replacement is far from the lead of the Super Bowl news blotter this week, it will have a more profound effect on the game than the average fan may observe.


The first concern that develops from this news is the center-quarterback snap exchange.  Quarterbacks become comfortable with the timing and rapport they develop with their center and the snap exchange mechanic they are both familiar with.  It only takes a small amount of timing to be off for a center-quarterback exchange to be mishandled or fumbled.  With Legursky's inexperience at center with Roethlisberger and the intense pressure of playing in the Super Bowl , look for a possible turnover on the exchange.

Another concern the Steelers will face with Pouncey's absence will be the offensive blocking scheme checks at the line of scrimmage.  It is the job of the center to make line blocking adjustments based on the defensive front that is presented at the line.  This is crucial to getting blitzes picked up and makes sure that all the offensive line gaps are protected.  Because of Legursky's inexperience in making line audibles and reading defensive fronts at the NFl level, the wrong protection could be called leaving the Packer's speedy linebackers, gaps to rush in on Roethlisberger and the running backs.  Look for a couple for Packer sacks and/or tackles for loss due to a few misread protections by Legursky.

Doug Legursky points out a blitzing linebacker in a game vs. Tennessee when he was a center at Marshall.  Will he be able to make effective line checks versus the Packers?

 
Possibly the worst of the Steelers' concerns, outside of the pre-snap protection checks that Legursky will have to call and the unfamiliarity of the center-quarterback exchange that he and Roethlisberger have, Legursky will have to block one of the most athletic and best nose tackles in the NFL.  Opposite Legursky is Green Bay's B.J. Raji.  You may remember him if you watched the NFC Championship last week in Chicago.  Raji became the answer to an NFL postseason trivia question when he intercepted an attempted underneath pass by Chicago's Caleb Hanie and returned it for a touchdown becoming the heaviest player in NFL postseason history to score a touchdown at a robust 337 pounds.

B.J. Raji returns an interception for a touchdown in the 2011 NFC Championship

 

 

B.J. Raji(90), celebrates after a tackle for loss against the Atlanta Falcons in the 2011 NFL playoffs

It's not just the sheer size of the Boston College product that will be an enormous challenge for Legursky to handle but also his freakish athletic ability for a very large man.  Few nose tackles move the line of scrimmage backward like Raji, which will be a real key to Pittsburgh's rush-oriented offense.  He is one of the best at shooting the gaps, stuffing up running lanes at the first level and has the raw strength to get off of blocks and make tackles.  If Raji can keep himself playing on the the Steelers' side of the ball against Legursky, it will hamper Rashard Mendenhall's chances of making a difference in the ground attack.  It's the Steelers' ground attack, that draws in those linebackers and safeties, that give Hines Ward and Mike Wallace those open areas of the field in the intermediate and deep passing game.


The matchups between Legursky and Raji and the Packers' ability to create confusion in their blitzing schemes verses Lugersky's ability to make the appropriate line checks could very well be the difference in whether or not the Steelers will have full functionality on offense.  They will need it to keep pace with a Packer's offense that finished 4th in the NFL in rushing yards per game(118.0) and 5th in passing yards per game(251.0) in the regular season and have only increased their offensive production in the postseason.

Clay Matthews; An NFL All-Pro with Football in his Genes and a Hair Stylists Dream

In these days leading up to Super Bowl Sunday, few players are being talked about more than Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews and not for his play on the field, which as been at a pro-bowl level all season.  Matthews had 60 tackles and 13.5 sacks(good for 4th most in the NFL) in 2010 and had an outstanding postseason to help lead his Packers into Super Bowl XLV.  Still this is not the biggest topic of conversation swirling around Matthews in this year's playoffs.

What has the media and the country abuzz about this ferocious, quarterback devouring 6'3", 255lbs. linebacker?

His hair!

It's actually the Super Bowl opponent Pittsburgh Steelers' Troy Polamalu who has the most famous hair in the NFL sporting a multitude of "Head and Shoulders" shampoo commercials that have aired across all games every Sunday of the NFL season and it's Polamalu who has a $1M insurance policy on his flowing curly locks, but there's been great debate amongst who's hair is better; Polamalu's or Matthews.

Clay Matthews celebrates his hair being so awesome

Troy Polamalu - Still thinks his hair is the best in the NFL

When he runs around the field to make plays, his mass of blond hair that extends about a full 12 inches out of the back of his helmet, make him highly distinguishable on the field.  In a league where players wear helmets, it's often difficult to stand out to the masses despite great play.  But when you see him out there, he reminds you of an intense, bone-crunching version of Fabio.  But even Fabio would be jealous of this hair... and this kind of manliness.

Fabio with his date; a bouquet of flowers and a heart-shaped box of chocolates

It's the hair that has everyone talking about him, but it's what he's done for the Packer team that is relevant.  He's the defensive MVP of this team and is very likely to be named the NFL's defensive league MVP, which is an honor only three Packers can claim in the franchise's storied, 92 year history.  It's not just his play that garners so much respect, but his leadership and work ethic.  Those intangibles he possesses are no surprise to his family though.  He comes from a lineage of great NFL players.

Clay Matthews is actually Clay Matthews the third.  His father, Clay Matthews Jr., played 19 seasons in the NFL, most notably with the Cleveland Browns as did his uncle, Bruce Matthews, a 19 year veteran who's been enshrined in Canton, Ohio at the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a center playing all of his years as for the Tennessee Titans franchise(formerly known as the Houston Oilers).  His grandfather, Clay Matthews Sr., was a member of the San Francisco 49ers for 4 seasons as well.  Coming up along with Matthews III are his cousins and his younger brother.  His cousin, Kevin, like Bruce before him, is a center for the Tennessee Titans and his second cousin, Jake, is a starting right tackle for the Aggies of Texas A&M.  Meanwhile, his brother Casey was a staple at linebacker for the Oregon Duck's national championship run that came up a hair short against Auburn and Cam Newton.

Like the family's tradition of great NFL players, the hair is also a tradition.  Matthews Jr., his father, played his career with long hair, as does his younger brother Casey.  It was his father, Matthews Jr., who pressed his sons from a young age to keep the Matthews tradition of long hair.  Perhaps there's an undertone of the Herculean biblical hero Samson's approach to hair with the Matthews family.  It was, after all, Samson who made having long hair not just a metaphor for inhuman strength, but a literal sense to strength in hair as the narrative goes where Samson is given the strength of God but only if he is to never cut his natural born hair.  Samson, of course, goes on to having his hair cut in his sleep and loses all of his strength.  I think the Matthews take this biblical reference of Samson to heart and may feel that the Matthews' strength is in the mane.

Clay Matthews Jr. (Father)

Casey Matthews(brother)

Matthews III was never meant for greatness it seemed.  On his California high school football team, his position coach thought so little of his play that he didn't start him for most of his high school career.  That coach was his dad, Clay Jr.  On a list of the top 250 high school linebackers as college prospects, he didn't make the list.  Even with his father and uncle being former All-Americans at USC, he was offered no scholarship and Clay III had to join the Trojans as a walk-on.  Even as a player on the team, it took Clay more than 4 of his five years at USC to get a starting position on the team.

Matthews III was known as the most intense player in the weight-room at USC

In just over half of a season as a collegiate starter and a blitzkrieg of the NFL scouting combine where he posted the second fastest 10 yard burst in his 40-yard dash time, something rarely ever seen in a linebacker, Clay III became a first round draft pick and has been trying to prove himself still, even with the success he's had on such a high level.

Clay Matthews III, or "Little Clay," as he is known around the Matthews family has a hard time gaining the respect of his family members, but he's quickly gaining the respect of everyone in the football world(and in hair salons) not named Matthews.  Come a win on February 6th, 2011, he'll have the one thing that his Matthews elders could not achieve even in their 42 combined seasons in the NFL; an NFL Championship.

The Sports Savant Bio

If I am going to have a blog readership, I should probably tell you a little bit about me and give you a good reason why you should care about what I have to say about sports.

My name is Forrest Doran.  I was born in Gainseville, FL but moved to Daytona Beach, FL when I was an infant and was raised there through high school.  I made my way through community college and eventually The Florida State University where I received a bachelors in English with specialization in Creative Writing and a minor in Law and Society.  I've since worked as a freelance writer and photographer while also having other gainful employment working as a photographer for Bob Knight Photo and worked as a Project Manager at a law firm.  Daytona Beach is now where I currently reside(unfortunately).

I now only work on freelance writing mostly(I've been published in several local and national magazines and newsletters) but am most proud of a feature article I wrote for TPC Challenge Magazine on the life and career of  pro golfer, Phil Mickelson.  It's the most widely published sports magazine article I've written to date and circulates throughout the east coast of the U.S.


I became a fan of sports at age 8 when I first picked up a baseball glove and bat.  It would start a love affair with baseball that would go unrequited.  I played the sport through the end of high school, ten years, but would not go on to play for a college team.  I later had a stint as an outfielder and leadoff hitter with an independent league team at age 25 and at age 27 attended a professional baseball free agent camp headed by the former director of scouting for the Seattle Mariners.  After I was not formally offered a contract, I decided at 27, it was definitely time to call it quits on a career playing sports.  Even though I no longer play, I use that same passion I had for playing towards following and covering sports.

So enough about my personal life...  It's time to answer the real question.  Why should you, the reader, believe what I have to say has any relevance or expertise in the world of sports?  What qualifies me to give you a fresh take on sports perspectives, stories and controversies?

What qualifies me to write and operate this blog to satisfy its mission for expert analysis and fresh, perspective sports journalism to it's full intent is that I have been an avid fan and staunch critic of professional and collegiate sports since 1993.  I have been a premium, platinum viewer of ESPN programming for the last fifteen years, hardly missing a day of ESPN programming in that 15 year stretch.  I've been reading, watching or listening to sports experts on a variety of sports since the mid 90's and over that time have developed into not just a fan of their analysis over the years, but have become their sports analytical peer.

I've viewed more than 1,500 episodes of ESPN's SportsCenter and many hundreds of episodes of other ESPN programming like Around the Horn, Jim Rome is Burning, NFL Live, Pardon the Interruption, The Sports Reporters, Outside the Lines, Mike and Mike in the morning and more, to date.  When I'm not watching the worldwide leader in sports television programming, I'm typically perusing the web for sports write-ups, breaking news on espn.com or simply watching the sporting events themselves.  I get a fix of sports on a daily basis and have the knowledge and resources to share sports news and perspectives on a daily basis.  This blog is the perfect way for me to do that and the perfect way for you to stay informed and learn something about sports you may not have known or learn something you can impress your friends with like the obscure but important statistics I find interesting and relevant to a team or individual's success that I'll be sharing in my write-ups.

In addition to all of this, I have also been an avid fantasy sports player.  I specialize mostly in football, but having played fantasy sports for the last ten years makes you know every little thing going on with every team in the league of the sport in which you are playing fantasy sports, if you want to be successful. When you are as competitive as me and wanting to win the fantasy leagues I participate in, it creates an environment of constantly obtaining new knowledge on player personnel and player/team performance on a daily/weekly basis.  I can honestly say, playing fantasy leagues has greatly contributed to my wealth of knowledge in sports in addition to viewing countless hours of sports programming and reading sports journals.

So my resume is a bit less than overwhelming, at least for a sports writer, but this blog will show, a doctorate in sports journalism and performance analysis can be obtained from a decade and a half of closely following sports and listening to experts talk about sports and reading sports columns online and in newspapers.

Now you know a little about me and what qualifies me to be a trusted source of fresh sports perspective and analysis.  Don't forget to subscribe to this blog so you can check out what I'm talking about on a daily basis in the world of sports!

-Forrest Doran
The Sports Savant

Welcome to "The Sports Savant"

Hello The Sports Savant Reader,

This is the very first blog post on The Sports Savant web log!  Thank you for checking it out!  This blog was created to give the avid sports fan what few sports media outlets provide; sports news not just from a journalism perspective, but from a multifaceted, encompassing perspective that includes detailed team and player analysis of different sporting events and controversies, the observed impact of the results on the players and franchises, and observations of the elements outside of the sports arena that are effected by the outcomes of those performances.

The Sports Savant was created to bring you more than a story and a box score.  It was created to be a fun and entertaining outlook on sport's hottest stories and biggest events.  It was created to compare and contrast players and teams through research and statistics.  It is meant to be a home for critical pre-game analysis of premier sports match-ups and detailed post-game analysis of the sports performances seen every day around the world.

For a daily fresh take on the wide world of college and professional sports and expert analysis of the sporting events that you're passionate about, subscribe to The Sports Savant web log!  Enjoy!

-Forrest Doran
The Sports Savant