Is Michael Oher Terrible?

We often come across sports pundits who disagree about a given player’s play. Analyst A lauds his speed and agility. Analyst B labels him mediocre, a role player at best. Rarely, however, do we come across a debate where Analyst A praises a player as the second coming (or a younger Raimy Rubin) while Analyst B calls for his head. Congratulations, Michael Oher, the seemingly ambiguous quality of your play has completely divided two of the biggest football analysts in the media.

Prior to the season, I had read that the Ravens rookie Tackle was, in no uncertain terms, the consummate man, totally built for the position and ingrained with the drive to succeed. He’s big and fast and has The Blind Side story to boot. He’s basically Simba in a Ravens uniform, an unequivocal success-in-the-making.

Now, halfway through his rookie season, we turn to the professionals to let them dissect his play. Sports Illustrated’s Peter King – the Monday Morning Quarterback (MMQB) – listed Oher as the RT on his (King’s) mid-season All-Pro team. Considering the All-Pro team consists of just one player from each position, King specifies that Oher is playing the best football of any Right Tackle in the NFL today.

You can imagine my surprise when, reading ESPN’s Gregg Easterbrook most recent Tuesday Morning Quarterback (TMQ) column, I came across the following paragraph:

Right now, rookie left tackle Michael Oher looks terrible. Oher has, at a tender age, already had a lifetime of complex emotional experiences, plus been the subject of a book that’s been made into a big-studio movie that opens next week… Maybe Baltimore needs to take him out of the lineup for a while.

Oy Vey!

Peter King

There you have it, either he’s the best RT in the game or he’s “terrible.” Now, this is sports where people often see one objective play in two subjective ways. You can argue Manning or Brady; Lebron as a Tight End; who should make the Pro Bowl, etc. etc…. But the distance between King and Easterbrook’s opinions is simply unheard of in sports. The best at his position or worthy of benching? Both King and Easterbrook are reputable writers who have long-standing pasts predicting talent. Unsurprisingly, both have issued predictions about Oher. Unsurprisingly, King predicted success; Easterbrook…not so much.

But, the most troubling thing about the claims is the lack of substantiation brought to support them. Give me some evidence. How successful is Ray Rice running behind Oher? How many sacks has the big man surrendered? Is he outplaying more seasoned DEs? I don’t even necessarily subscribe to Offensive Line-related stats – too much goes on during these 5-second clashes of painfully large men to adequately break down any breakdowns – but I’d take anything that suggests that Oher is playing at any semblance of either an elite or pathetic level. Further, I have my doubts about national commentators who make blanket statements about specific offensive linemen because a) linemen are simply not the subject of national pundits’ foci when watching games, and b) most assessments follow some preconceived notion influenced by reputation, number of Pro Bowls, and/or age, especially when said assessments are brought without any evidence.

Gregg Easterbrook

So, when the reshuffled Browns defensive line lines up against the Ravens on Monday night, my eyes will be on Michael Oher. Chances are Oher’s performance falls somewhere between King and Easterbrook’s opinions.  Still, even though there is tremendous middle ground between the analysis, I’m kind of hoping someone in this debate is just plain old wrong.
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