Give the OL a chance!
With the Salary Cap it is impossible to have a superstar at every position. The big picture is that we have alot more talent at key positions than most teams in the NFL. The Patriots have dominated with alot of Players that are not household names. We have one of the best OL coaches in the game. If he thinks we are weak he is going to make his feelings known. Let's be patient.
been saying this for months!
um... do we really have a choice.. they are not going to sign a LT that has actually shown he can stay healthy and play well just because i say so...
they wont do anything until the line fails us again and our new qb is killed.. then maybe they will look at drafting a rookie that wont be ready to play as a rookie next year.
"All hockey players are bilingual. They know English and profanity." ~ Gordie Howe
Me three.Originally Posted by Pride
been saying this for months!
Should have known, way back in 1960 when we drafted Richie Lucas Number 1, that this would be a long, hard ride. But who could have known it would be THIS bad?
I've been "giving them a chance" every year for the past 6 years, so I don't see why this one would be any different.
WOW, you have been that wrong, for that long?
been saying this for months!
In the end, there are only three liberal archetypes: The fools, the beneficiaries and the crooks.
"If you build a man a fire, he'll be warm for a day, but if you set a man on fire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life"Optyimus Ignorus Realityious!
"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
- John F. Kennedy, January 20, 1961
To live in the presence of great truths and eternal laws,
to be led by permanent ideals -
that is what keeps a man patient
when the world ignores him,
and calm and unspoiled when the world praises him. -- Honore De Balzac
McNally improved things a great deal last year (more than people realize if you go look at the stats) and this year we have Bennie Anderson at LG who is massive. Now WM has more options than to just run to the right always. He can actually look straight up and see if Anderson has also made him a hole. The line is improved in the running. Passing won't be as bad as people think. McNally can teach good technique. People always look for something negative on the team. And with a cap, that's always going to be the case. We can't just get anyone. I'm sure if they Bills could afford Verba, he would already be on the team. They may still get him if they can work something out, but that's how the cap works and every team has to deal with it. I don't see anybody questioning whether we should have signed Schobel this past year instead of saving the money for a good LT??? And I guarantee that if we pay everything we've got to Verba, and then can't afford NC next year, people will be b*tching about that too and blame TD. No matter what he does, TD gets the blame...which just goes to show how the cap affects what is done with the roster and how uninformed people are in its complex management.
Re: Give the OL a chance!
I agree. Look at what San Fransisco just paid for JJ. I'd much rather have our money invested in players like McGahee, Evans, Spikes, Clements, etc. If Losman plays well the OL will look alot better than it is. I watched Brady last year and Phil Simms was counting how long he was hanging onto the ball. It never went past 3.5 seconds. You avoid alot of sacks that way. Drew was notorious for the opposite even when Parcells was coaching him.
Some of you just don't get it. Yes, it's true that we can't have superstars at every position, but the line is the foundation. It protects the RB and QB and allows them to use their talents. Having superstars at these positions or WR makes very little difference if the offensive backfield is constantly running for their lives (or injured because 300lb DT's live in our backfield).
McNally is, without a doubt, the best O-line coach in the game. But as R. Rich said at the DC Zone Lunch, "you can't make chicken salad out of chicken ****". You need something to start with, and we don't really have that. Gandy is another team's reject, Anderson has yet to prove himself at pass blocking, Ross Tucker isn't terrible but isn't great, and Mike Williams is improving but is still a work in progress. It doesn't look good for our O-line this year, and it's a shame because the rest of this team seems poised for a decent playoff run.
Re: Give the OL a chance!
Our OL was ranked in the middle as far as sacks allowed. If a more mobile QB had been back there don't you think our numbers would have even been better? They also had a running back rush for over 1100 yards in 11 games. Anderson is an upgrade and all indications are that MW will be even better this year. Nobody can justify spending the money JJ got to keep him here. So our question mark is LT. That's really it. I can't say Gandy is the answer but you just said we have the best OL coach in the league. I'd like him to make the decision not the fans. Plus everyone forgets that Sam Wyche is one of the best QB coaches in the league. He is certainly going to watch how the OL develops and teach Losman accordingly.
I will be patient, but I am not very confident with Mike Gandy penciled in at LT.
How come the Pats do well on their O-line without superstars? Very few people even know any of the starters on their line...and yet, they prove time and again to be solid. Could it be that Brady's pocket presense makes them better? Our O-line improved when Flutie came in over Rob Johnson. Why was that? Could it be that a QB that can move makes the line look better? Isn't that what we are moving toward now? We had 38 sacks last year - a drastic reduction...and I predict even less this year...
was it Flutie's mobility, play design, or football experience? When Flutie was here, almost every pass play was a shotgun or bootleg cuz he was too small to see over the OL. I have to think that the play calling and Flutie's experience (which JP still lacks) were a huge part of it. If the O-line isn't ready, it's going to destroy JP's confidence and then we're in deep ****.
First, I think JP has confidence to spare. Second, and maybe more importantly, JP has experience in playing with a bad line. So it's not going to be anything new to him - not that I'm saying we are going to have a bad line. As I've said before, we have 4 of the 5 positions solidified So Gandy doesn't work out too well, put in Jason Peters and see how he does. No? Well put a blocking FB on the left side also, or a TE to help block and buy extra seconds when doing a pass play. Considering more pass plays? Have JP roll out to the right to buy himself even more time. CV and MW are solid and will protect for awhile. Doing a running play? Run up the middle or to the right - something that was very effective last year.
The sky isn't falling. Mobile QBs can buy themselves time by side stepping or stepping up into the pocket to avoid the pass rushers. According to Bledsoe, he can run a foot race faster than Brady (still not sure about that) butthe slight intangibles that Brady brings with his pocket presence...knowing when to take a step up and avoid a pass rusher's angle of attack...like the Visa commercials say...priceless.
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