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With the news that Trai Essex might be the Steelers left tackle for Saturday's playoff game against the Jaguars, it was worth going back to look at Sunday's game to see how the former third-round pick played in his first extensive action in two years.The good news if you're a Steelers fan is that Essex wasn't an absolute disaster. In fact, if you compare Essex' game to Marvel Smith's game against the Jaguars the last time the two teams played, Essex was clearly superior. Essex didn't allow a sack, and only allowed two hurries in three quarters of action. Admittedly Terrell Suggs and Haloti Ngata didn't seem particularly interested in giving exceptional efforts (Suggs spent way too many plays content to simply lock up Essex and stand there), but facing a very good pass rusher, Essex held his own. He also showed good recognition when blitzes came, sliding out to make a nice block on a blitzing defensive back on one play and recognizing another blitz to hand off his man and slide outside.
The bad news is that the Steelers game plan becomes much more limited with Essex in there. While he's an adequate pass blocker, the Steelers still kept a running back or tight end in to help out Essex more than they ever did for Smith or Max Starks.
More importantly Essex is a terrible run blocker and the Steelers know it. Of the 16 runs the Steelers ran after Essex came into the game, only one of them was run to the left side. In most cases on running plays, the Steelers ran away from Essex, asking him only to stand there and guard the backside. When the Steelers had to ask Essex to run block in goal line situations, he struggled to lock off his man. On one play he fired off the ball well, but nearly completely whiffed on the block, landing in the end zone while his man was left free to pursue Najeh Davenport. As a run blocker Essex struggles to hit his target, struggles even more to lock up his man and drive him off the ball and is prone to losing his lock if he does get his hands on his man.
So if Essex is the Steelers left tackle on Saturday, it doesn't mean the Steelers don't have a chance--they almost beat the Jaguars earlier this year with Smith giving up four sacks, but it does make their job much more difficult.
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