dead_poet wrote:
Clemmings apparently took reps there with Kalil out the other day. Sounds like he might be next man up, as sad as that sounds. If Kalil is out my preference would be for Boone to kick to LT, Berger at LG, Sully at C, Fusco RG and Smith RT.
I don't think Sparano will put up with someone struggling if he can help it.
I like your lineup DP.
I really wished we would have picked up 1 quality OT in the draft.
I was impressed with how we did at the Bengals yesterday. You know the defense was ready for some fresh meat.
Demi wrote:Let's just hope they stay healthy.
Yeah Kalil has issues, but I feel like he's better than the random alternative we'd have otherwise. (Which would likely be someone who's on the roster right now, and isn't starting over Kalil anyway.)
The OL has issues. And as questionable as Kalil has been, I honestly don't feel like he's going to be the guy we're focused on once the games start. They started putting something together when he was drafted. And it feels just as unwieldy now as it was then.
I am still waiting to see how the line perform this year. For all the talk of improvement we have been hearing, I think it would be foolish to accept the spoken word as fact.
Depth is still a major red flag to me personally.
A Randy Moss fan for life. A Kevin Williams fan for life.
I doubt there are many teams that would continue to function at a high level if their starting LT went down. That isn't exactly a position of depth in the NFL. So I find it hard to be ultra critical of the FO's roster management if they are soft at LT, especially when you consider the issues they had at both guard spots and RT. It isn't like they didn't do anything to address the offensive line woes. (2 FA signings, big name new coach) Apparently we've transitioned from needing to fix the woeful right side of the line to complaining about the fact they also didn't address LT also.
Both OT positions should probably be considered soft depth wise, our back ups are basically Clemmings, whose tape thus far is horrifying (in his defense, he was in an impossible situation last year.), and some total unknowns. It is what it is.
OL has always been the biggest question mark coming into this season. It will continue to be so until they start producing some solid performances on Sundays.
Winning is not a sometime thing it is an all of the time thing - Vince Lombardi
As far as upgrading Kalil, the only options for THIS YEAR were to break the bank for Osemele or trade up in the draft to get a top tier tackle. They all went well before our pick.
I wouldn't have been mad if they had gone ahead and traded up, but it wouldn't have been popular, and it would probably have cost us Treadwell and Alexander at least.
chicagopurple wrote:I am VERY much a pessimist about this year. I feel we did very little to upgrade our OL to a level suitable fora super bowl contedner. On top of that Loadholt retired (which I had always suspected might occur given his injury, which can be a career ender). We also are depending on a guy with chronic low back problems to "anchor" our line and be the verteran voice out there. I doubt he will last even 8 games. All this was rather predictable and the lack of aggression by the front office to land some solid veteran OL players is a foolhardy gamble in a team that is supposed to be peaking. Teddy needs to prove himself this year, but a feeble OL will prevent us from learning if we have a REAL QB for yet another year. Peterson is getting late in his career and the clock is ticking there too. They need to drop some big bucks on the damn OL!
Good post. I agree the offensive line is scary. I really hope we are wrong and they can cobble together a respectableenough line to properly evaluate Teddy in year 3.
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a powerful whirlpool in the sea or a river.
a situation or state of confused movement or violent turmoil.
My prediction is the OL will only be very slightly better than last year and will be the number one thing to address next off season. I am saddened that we did not go OL higher in the draft....I would have supported the Viks moving up in the 1st round to take an OL position. I know it would not have been a popular move but I felt like our WR corp was very serviceable....as opposed to the OL close to being in shambles.
autobon7 wrote:My prediction is the OL will only be very slightly better than last year and will be the number one thing to address next off season. I am saddened that we did not go OL higher in the draft....I would have supported the Viks moving up in the 1st round to take an OL position. I know it would not have been a popular move but I felt like our WR corp was very serviceable....as opposed to the OL close to being in shambles.
I'm with you. Its sad because I think this team has everything else it needs to take it to the next level. I just think it'll be tough with more sloppy offensive line play.
I'm with you. Its sad because I think this team has everything else it needs to take it to the next level. I just think it'll be tough with more sloppy offensive line play.[/quote
What angers me the most is that sure.....they made a couple acquisitions via FA and replaced the OL coach but looking into the crystal ball reveals ......our 2 FA OL are on the down swing of their careers. Does that mean they cannot have a bit of a up swing that changing teams/schemes/going to a contender can do? Certainly not. How probable is it As far as our new OL coach goes.....is his techniques/schemes going to set us back a year as far as how different it is than the previous All I'm saying is it seems that the staff put a band aid on the only gaping wound this squad had and bought (drafted) a new Sunday dress when the closet had other good choices.
fiestavike wrote:
I'm with you. Its sad because I think this team has everything else it needs to take it to the next level. I just think it'll be tough with more sloppy offensive line play.
I agree as well and i honestly believe our window would be open if the OL was even average. Unless things change really quickly, i don't think that is the case.
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The Devil whispered in the Viking's ear, "There's a storm coming." The Viking replied, "I am the storm." #SKOL2018
i'm not usually in the optimistic camp, but i will call it like i see it. wouldn't most of us agree that the line this year (if healthy) is better than the line last year? well, look at it this way, we did win 11 games last year with that garbage lineup. if boone, sullivan, and harris can stay healthy that is 3 different players in the starting lineup right there. sullivan played sparingly last year, but for the most part was hurt. i wouldn't hit the panic button quite yet. someone noted kalil was working on some technique changes; those could take awhile to get used to.
I watched the Bengals game more and it looked like Smith and the TE's were getting crossed up on blocking
assignments a few times... Kalil wasn't the biggest problem with the One's...Pruitt got in front of Smith's
block on the Teddy stiff arm play in the first quarter...
jackal wrote:I watched the Bengals game more and it looked like Smith and the TE's were getting crossed up on blocking
assignments a few times... Kalil wasn't the biggest problem with the One's...Pruitt got in front of Smith's
block on the Teddy stiff arm play in the first quarter...
Speaking of Teddy's stiff arm. That was on Geno Atkins. Pretty impressive.
I wish we would have drafted another tackle early Loadholt leaving gives Smith a job with
no competition, at all (honestly).. I don't think Smith has ever been called a hard worker, in the
NFL (from what I saw of the hard knocks with Bengals).
As far as our new OL coach goes.....is his techniques/schemes going to set us back a year as far as how different it is than the previous 