The OL

[mgteich]

I think we are in fine shape, even without Neal.

Neal seems not ready to play. I will have him on my projected PUP list until further notice. Is there anyone else who hasn't practiced?

INTERIOR (5)
STARTERS: Koppen, Mankins, Yates
BACKUPS: Hochstein, Mruczkowski
Mruc has been the last OL cut several times. Like Hochstein, he is a backup guard and center. Yates has started. We will look at OT's who might be better guards than Yates. But, Dante has liked Yates, and started him in the past. I expect us to continue to look at OG's to bring to camp.

TACKLE (4)
STARTERS: Light, Kaczur
BACKUPS: O'Callaghan, Britt/Ross
Posters here seem to not like our OT's. I guess our passing game needs to be better than last year, with fewer sacks. As I recall, we did lead the league!
But there is always room for improvement. Personally, I think it is a positive for Kaczur that Dante may be looking to possibly starting him at RG, but I don't think it will happen unless O'Callaghan or Ross is great in camp and in the preseason. I expect us to continue to look at OT's to bring to camp.

 

[JR4]

I think we are in fine shape, even without Neal.

Neal seems not ready to play. I will have him on my projected PUP list until further notice. Is there anyone else who hasn't practiced?

INTERIOR (5)
STARTERS: Koppen, Mankins, Yates
BACKUPS: Hochstein, Mruczkowski
Mruc has been the last OL cut several times. Like Hochstein, he is a backup guard and center. Yates has started. We will look at OT's who might be better guards than Yates. But, Dante has liked Yates, and started him in the past. I expect us to continue to look at OG's to bring to camp.

TACKLE (4)
STARTERS: Light, Kaczur
BACKUPS: O'Callaghan, Britt/Ross
Posters here seem to not like our OT's. I guess our passing game needs to be better than last year, with fewer sacks. As I recall, we did lead the league!
But there is always room for improvement. Personally, I think it is a positive for Kaczur that Dante may be looking to possibly starting him at RG, but I don't think it will happen unless O'Callaghan or Ross is great in camp and in the preseason. I expect us to continue to look at OT's to bring to camp.

You really think Yates is starter quality? You're Ok with that?
.... I mean needing to use Yates means PATs Ol is in ... " fine shape"?
I just have a hard time buying Yates week in and out.

 

[AzPatsFan]

I am not impressed with Yates.

Just to complicate your life consider this. Barry Simms was a LT for the Raiders. In his last year with the Cards, they put Ollie Ross at LT, after a career at RT, too. Is BB looking for LT depth? Why?

If either could backup Light, does that free Britt to beef up and than really compete for the RT position for the first time? Or is Britt failing?

I continue to believe that Neal is gone for a considerable time, based on the way he looked going down in the Superbowl. And the Kaczur move is a move to let Nick play his natural position, where he can excel, rather than merely contribute, I believe.

The PFW people have come around to suggest that hypothesis too, but they offer this observation. Neal's shoulder is "always" injured and that, not the Knee, is the real issue. I recall he tore his shoulder up, after pouncing on a lateral and having thousands of pounds of beef pile on a few years ago.

What is his real injury? Did he have a Knee reconstruction, or did he have a shoulder operation? Or both? I don't know, and thought the surgery must have been for the knee, but I could be wrong...

Did anyone see whether O'C looked any lighter at mini-camp? I heard that Britt was slimmer though, trying to get quicker, probably. That is a reasonable sign for O'C eventual success too.

 

[Deus Irae]

Clady looks like an even better choice now than before.

 

[mgteich]

We look at two new LT's with no success at other positions. Our conclusions are that 1) Kaczur is qualified to start at RG 2) Britt is now qualified to start to start at RG, and 3) the folks that have backed up and started in the past (Yates and Hochstein) are worthless.

Perhaps we are trying to find backup OT who can backup at both RT and LT on game day. Perhaps we want a better backup at LT than Britt.

I am not impressed with Yates.

Just to complicate your life consider this. Barry Simms was a LT for the Raiders. In his last year with the Cards, they put Ollie Ross at LT, after a career at RT, too. Is BB looking for LT depth? Why?

If either could backup Light, does that free Britt to beef up and than really compete for the RT position for the first time? Or is Britt failing?

I continue to believe that Neal is gone for a considerable time, based on the way he looked going down in the Superbowl. And the Kaczur move is a move to let Nick play his natural position, where he can excel, rather than merely contribute, I believe.

The PFW people have come around to suggest that hypothesis too, but they offer this observation. Neal's shoulder is "always" injured and that, not the Knee, is the real issue. I recall he tore his shoulder up, after pouncing on a lateral and having thousands of pounds of beef pile on a few years ago.

What is his real injury? Did he have a Knee reconstruction, or did he have a shoulder operation? Or both? I don't know, and thought the surgery must have been for the knee, but I could be wrong...

Did anyone see whether O'C looked any lighter at mini-camp? I heard that Britt was slimmer though, trying to get quicker, probably. That is a reasonable sign for O'C eventual success too.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

If Britt or O'Callahan can claim the RT position, then I would feel much better with Kazcur at RG as opposed to Yates or Hochstien.

I do think that Neal starts the year on the PUP and even if he does return after that, he might not be the player he was in 2006.

 

[unoriginal]

There is little chance they move Wesley Britt to RG. The man is 6'8". Do you know how hard that would be to see or pass over?

For comparison, Stephen Neal is 6'4". Tom Brady is also listed at 6'4".

 

[mgteich]

Curiously, the patriots like to start players who have actually started and excelled at a particular positions, rather than start players who are scrubs at other positions and are of the right height.

There is little chance they move Wesley Britt to RG. The man is 6'8". Do you know how hard that would be to see or pass over?

For comparison, Stephen Neal is 6'4". Tom Brady is also listed at 6'4".

 

[Ochmed Jones]

I do agree. It is very hard for a 6'8" player to come off the line with a flat back.

 

[SammyBlueCat]

Neal is really a 250 lb wrestler that eats & lifts a lot for football.
This has taken a toll on his body. I posted a video of an interview
he cut at a college wrestling tournament last winter. I will try to find it again.

 

[SammyBlueCat]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9GmTruIdFc

This is NOT the link I wanted but never the less it does show Neal wrestling.

 

[Stanley]

I think Light would make an excellent guard, with the athleticism to pull on running plays.
We have a lot of room for improvement at left tackle, imo. I think teams will be blitzing frequently, even though we play from shotgun and complete a lot of short passes. That is what led to most of our close wins last season, and our one loss.

 

[Deus Irae]

I think Light would make an excellent guard, with the athleticism to pull on running plays.
We have a lot of room for improvement at left tackle, imo. I think teams will be blitzing frequently, even though we play from shotgun and complete a lot of short passes. That is what led to most of our close wins last season, and our one loss.

Matt Light is a Pro Bowl left tackle.

 

[Lloyd_Christmas]

I think Light would make an excellent guard, with the athleticism to pull on running plays.
We have a lot of room for improvement at left tackle, imo. I think teams will be blitzing frequently, even though we play from shotgun and complete a lot of short passes. That is what led to most of our close wins last season, and our one loss.

They are not moving Light from LT.

Ross was a pretty good RT before being forced to play LT. I think we will see him start at RT and Kaczur move to RG. Of course, it all depends on who steps up, but that is how I see it right now. You don't want to disrupt the existing cohesion any more than you have to by shifting people all over the place. Moving Kaczur inside on the same side and starting Ross at RT makes the most sense to me.

 

[nashvillepatsfan]

That is what led to most of our close wins last season, and our one loss.

close wins? oh i get it, you were making a joke

 

[unoriginal]

Matt Light is a Pro Bowl left tackle.

Matt Light is also an All-Pro left tackle.

 

[mgteich]

I think your analysis makes sense. We have a great left side of the line. There is no reason to break up the combination of Light-Mankins-Koppen.

The question for camp is who steps up as the best pair on the right side. Right now we have Ross, Kaczur, Yates and O'Callaghan in the mix. Any two could end up as the starters.

They are not moving Light from LT.

Ross was a pretty good RT before being forced to play LT. I think we will see him start at RT and Kaczur move to RG. Of course, it all depends on who steps up, but that is how I see it right now. You don't want to disrupt the existing cohesion any more than you have to by shifting people all over the place. Moving Kaczur inside on the same side and starting Ross at RT makes the most sense to me.

 

[bradmahn]

It's foolish to leave Neal out of any discussion of the right side when none of us know his status other than he missed camps so far. Hell, we don't even know the extent of his injury.

It's just as likely he'll be ready for the opener.

 

[captain stone]

Matt Light is also an All-Pro left tackle.

Link, please?

 

[363839]

close wins? oh i get it, you were making a joke

No. He's not joking.
In the 2nd half of the season, the games started getting very competitive for some reason. Remember Baltimore? How about Philly?
All the blow outs came mainly in the first half of the season.