This week's Meat-Eater Matchup comes from the very heart of the trenches. We're going to take a look at the "squaring up" of the rookie center of the Dallas Cowboys, Cooper Beebe, against the Steelers nose tackle Keanu Benton.
Standing 6-foot-4, and weighing in at 322 pounds, Beebe has a girth like a refrigerator. Big up top, his lack of arm length can be a problem when it comes to pass pro and the ability to pass off opponents on games and stunts.
This guy is a road-grader, a natural low-pad-level hog with powerful ham hocks which can churn when the pushing starts. He can post-up with power on the duo blocks, dig out low-playing nose tackles and get to down blocks.
Beebe seems to understand and has a feel for combo-block timing, when to go, when to stay and to look for the run through.
Though he shows adequate quickness on the snap to get a chunk of guys trying to blow across his face, he can be beat off the snap by cross-facing nose tackles who will take him one-way, only to cross-face him and come back the other way.
The guy can drop anchor, sink and take on a bull rush in pass pro. With his core strength, he swallows a bull rush like I do a donut. However, he will occasionally get head-heavy, and that can be problematic with a quick swim guy.
Beebe is two-step quick, but has problems on wide zones getting to the 3-tech. He will step under himself, or not gain ground on his first step, when he flattens out to reach the 3-tech. Penetration then can be had, which kicks any rushing attack in the keester.
When Beebe down blocks, or blocks back for a pulling guard, his lack of gaining ground on his first step hurts him and creates a gap which someone with quickness of Benton can take advantage. With Benton's uncanny ability for "going clubbing" (not night clubs), but using his forearms like a Louisville Slugger baseball bat and moving "thick bodies" out of his way, he reminds me of the great former nose tackle of the Houston Oilers, Curly Culp.
Former Steelers great Mike Webster used to tell me that he "only had to be three-step quick." In other words, Mike excelled in getting to his opponent before the opponent got to him. Webby would get his powerful hands on the opponent's center line, or inside the hands of his opponent before his opponent could react. Beebe can be beat to the punch, and I think that's where Benton has an advantage.
Beebe can root on the pass rush, but when he does so, he can be vulnerable to Benton's quick step and club and by doing so take advantage of Beebe's lack of reactive athleticism.
Benton is a pit-fighting beast of a player, someone who can rock-and-roll and excel in the blood sport that is the trenches. How he plays versus Beebe will be key to stopping the Dallas Cowboys in this week's Classic Jurassic Meat-Eater Matchup.
