I can’t actually visualize Mac’s play from last year, but here are my impressions. I remember thinking he did a decent job pass blocking. I also remember thinking that whenever we ran left, there was no place to go most of the time. (Well…like there were gaping holes to the right…)

Perhaps my expectations of what I was hoping to see from pass blocking last year were so low that I counted any pass play without a sack coming from that side a positive. And hence, I formed an overly optimistic impression of what was really happening. While I’m a person who may watch a position player for a couple of plays during a game, I don’t record the games and then "watch game tape" the rest of the week. So my player impressions are usually based on generals impressions and a handful of plays in which a player was highlighted. Sometimes I’m in the stadium, but last year I watched from the couch via NFL Ticket.

And I hadn’t really linked McIntosh with troubles running left (for some odd reason), but thinking about that now makes me a little nervous to put him at right tackle if he’s not an animal at run blocking. This is the point at which I begin to throw in the towel regarding my own limited analytical abilities and trust the coaches close to the situation to match the players’ strengths with what they need out of each position. But that shouldn’t keep us from second guessing them all the time, should it? That’s half the fun of being a fan! [grin]