Unofficial OL Thread

[jdlboot14]

Let's start one OL discussion here. If the Mod's can help with formalizing subject threads, that'd be great.

 

[Thunderhead]

Biggest weak link on the team, and it's not particularly close. LT and RT are still total question marks.

 

[jdlboot14]

Another OL was just signed - Liam Fornadel
He's listed as Guard, but has played all over the line. Seems he should be in the mix at LT.

With all the shuffling at OTA's, this is a guess at where things will start to solidify in camp.

Anderson - Sow - Andrews - Onwenu - Okorafor
Fornadel - Leverett - J. Andrews - Robinson - Wallace

 

[upstater1]

Another OL was just signed - Liam Fornadel
He's listed as Guard, but has played all over the line. Seems he should be in the mix at LT.

With all the shuffling at OTA's, this is a guess at where things will start to solidify in camp.

Anderson - Sow - Andrews - Onwenu - Okorafor
Fornadel - Leverett - J. Andrews - Robinson - Wallace

This is weaker than last year's OL.

 

[Clonamery]

This revelatory observation in a recent article on Pats Pulpit cracked me up:

“On the offensive line, versatility is key,” head coach Jerod Mayo said during minicamp. “Like, if you play guard, we hope you can play center. If you play right tackle, hopefully you can play left tackle. We’re still just trying to build that depth, whatever the combination is.”

 

[turkeyneck]

This revelatory observation in a recent article on Pats Pulpit cracked me up:

“On the offensive line, versatility is key,” head coach Jerod Mayo said during minicamp. “Like, if you play guard, we hope you can play center. If you play right tackle, hopefully you can play left tackle. We’re still just trying to build that depth, whatever the combination is.”

?? Wishin' and hopin' and thinkin' and prayin'
Plannin' and dreamin' each night of his charms
That won't get you into his arms ??

 

[Clonamery]

This is weaker than last year's OL.

You Maye be right
I Maye be crazy
Oh, but it just Maye be a lunatic you're looking for
Turn out the light
Don't try to save me
You Maye be wrong for all I know
But you Maye be right

(sing it as if you are drunk and about to drive into a tree in the Hamptons)

 

[TheRainMaker]

One of the many OL threads.

As a group, they are not good and arguably worse than last year. Questions remain at LT, LG (although it's projected Sow will play there), and RG. Andrews is decent at best at C. Looks like Owenu will play RT due to his overpaid contract.

 

[Fuzz]

Let's start one OL discussion here. If the Mod's can help with formalizing subject threads, that'd be great.

Ian doesn't want general/mega threads. If you've got a specific topic about the OL that you'd like to start a conversation on (that hasnt been discussed already), feel free to open a new thread for that.

 

[mgteich]

What was the 2023 that we are comparing to?

The 2023 transitioned over the year to a truly awful OL.

LT: Lowe, McDermott, (brown had given up)
LG: Mafi/Andrews
C: Andrews, Andrews
RG: Sow, Mafi
RT: Onwenu, McDermott
plus: Ferentz, Strange
==========
Okorafor replaces McDermott on the roster
Leverett replaces Ferentz on the roster
===
We possibly add: Anderson, Wallace, Robinson, Jordan, Wheatley
===
I submit that the 2024 OL is better than in 2023 even without Strange playing

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

This revelatory observation in a recent article on Pats Pulpit cracked me up:

“On the offensive line, versatility is key,” head coach Jerod Mayo said during minicamp. “Like, if you play guard, we hope you can play center. If you play right tackle, hopefully you can play left tackle. We’re still just trying to build that depth, whatever the combination is.”

Same. I read it 2-3 times and was like "oh, so we're ****ed, ****ed."

Ground zero operation after drafting 7 IOL the past few years.

I hope everyone is on the same page here at the end of the year. If this group is a disaster we need to seek professional help outside the building.

 

[TomPatriot]

We’re about to find out how much Scott Peters learned from Bill Callahan.

I like Andrews and Onwenu. After that, eh . . . I don’t know.

 

[mgteich]

Let's go slow.

Are we worse off at center, replacing Ferentz with Leverett?
We now have Andrews, Andrews and Leverett (or perhaps even Jordan)

 

[mgteich]

Are we worse at RT?
by replacing McDermott as the swing OT and backup OT with Okorafor or even Wallace?

 

[mgteich]

Are we worse at LG?
Since folks think that Strange was even when healthy, I don't see how continuing with mafi or Andrews as we did most of last year is making the position weaker?

Of course, Sow or Leverett could be an upgrade over Mafi and Andrews.

 

[mgteich]

And finally we come to LT where folks seem to truly believe that somehow even Lowe-Okorafor is weaker than last year's finish with Lowe and McDermott.

TO BE CLEAR
We COULD start Lowe and have Okorafor or Anderson as the swing. I think that this is easily better than the end of 2023.

TO SUMMARIZE, WE HAVE AT LEAST
LT - Lowe
Swing OT - Okorafor or Anderson instead of McDermott
LG - Mafi or Andrews (same as last year)
C - Andrews, Andrews, Leverett instead of Ferentz
RG - Sow-Andrews or Mafi (SAME as last year
RT - Onwenu

We SHOULD have improvement from Okorafor and Leverett instead of McDermott and Ferentz.
=============
We COULD have some improvement from Anderson, Wallace, Robinson, or from Sow moving to LG, or not.
============
I expect
OT: Onwenu, Okorafor, Wallace, (Anderson or Lowe)
OG: Mafi, Sow, Robinson
OC: Andrews, Andrews, Leverett

We can keep 10 on the 53-man roster if the rookies aren't ready, or until we can figure out the players we want for the future. More likely is that someone will be injured in camp or the preseason. It always happens. This year, with the new rules, the player on IR isn't out for the season. Besides, I wouldn't be upset if Mafi or Andrews didn't make the 53, being beat out by Leverett.

BOTTOM LINE
We are better, even if Anderson can't beat out Lowe. Okorafor and Leverett are better than McDermott and Ferentz. Both are experienced backups. Besides the coaching SHOULD be better.

 

[State]

Please don’t bring in a stud LT FA. We want to suck enough to be able to draft LSU’s Will Campbell.

So no David Bakhtieris.

 

[mgteich]

Please don’t bring in a stud LT FA. We want to suck enough to be able to draft LSU’s Will Campbell.

So no David Bakhtieris.

Why does anyone think that we would be likely to be able to draft ANY particular player unless we had the first pick in the draft?

 

[VrabelJr]

Are we worse at LG?
Since folks think that Strange was even when healthy, I don't see how continuing with mafi or Andrews as we did most of last year is making the position weaker?

Of course, Sow or Leverett could be an upgrade over Mafi and Andrews.

Quite frankly those people are wrong. Injured Strange was significantly better than Mafi or Andrews.

 

[VrabelJr]

Our OL is worse than the OL from Week 5-8 after we moved Onwenu to RT, Strange was playing but injured, and Trent Brown still mostly cared.

Our OL might be better than the OL after Trent Brown gave up and Strange went on IR. Robinson and Wallace control whether we make any big strides this year.