I don't know Sampson's assignment, obviously. But I've seen the defensive tackle go through the guard like a turnstile a few times and I've never seen anyone blame the running back for it. I have a feeling if it was that simple, Aaron Donald wouldn't have won all those DPOY awards.
I maintain that Sampson's pass protection "problems" are entirely based on one play that happened over a year ago.
Play is at 11:33. I dare anyone to watch Karic on this play and then say this sack is in Sampson lol.
I join you in not claiming to know. And if either of us or anyone else added absolute terms like "certainly" or "never," it wouldn't add to our case.
What appears to be behind your term "blame" is the source of our disagreement, I think. It seems to imply
primary responsibility, which obviously is on the OL. Same with "is on" (another way to say "blame"). I never said something crazy like that. My point was: what is the RB to do in the case of a whiff? And if he is not supposed to pick up a free running defender, why is he standing back there? Let me put it this way: I think Small would have made it his business to stop or impede the DT, on the one play, or the DE, on the other. And I think Sampson will too in the future.
I may be Sampson's earliest UT fan and one of his biggest: goes back to before he even committed. I'm not looking to slight him. I'm just saying that more improvement is needed for him to become the player he has the potential to become, and not picking up guys who are running free at his QB is extremely costly. As I said, look at the before and after stats by Milton; and everyone saw plainly the 3rd quarter scoring results. I don't think we accomplish anything by going on and on about it. I am not trying to blame RB for LG's miss. I'm saying he in all likelihood has to make it his business to take on responsibility for it once the defender is headed into the backfield. GBO. Go Sampson. We are not so much disagreeing imo as emphasizing different aspects of the play.
The long term threat that Milton's running game will be forced to be called off, for the most part, two quarters after it started is a concern, imo.