Can the Line hold up?

[captain stone]

RULE TO FOLLOW
Never sign someone who will be injured during the season.

Big difference here, and you know it.

 

[captain stone]

So WTF is going on with RT? Move Brown over there. It’s his natural position. Let Lowe and Anderson compete for LT.

VD Low is NOT an NFL LT.


EDIT-EDIT-EDIT: Sorry State, I meant to type Left Tackle for Low, and Not RT.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

No he doesn't.

Should we be patient?

 

[captain stone]

Reminds me of the time when I was working at the Federal Reserve building downtown... A friend & I had just finished lunch in the cafeteria on one of the upper floors and were on the elevator down to the basement where the tech offices were located when I started farting-up a storm, so by the time we arrived the thing was fairly stinky... It was just the two of us on the way down but as we were leaving someone neither of us knew was entering the same elevator... We caught a glimpse of the expression on his face changing just before the doors closed, and laughed all the way back to the shop... Good times, good times...

 

[captain stone]

Should we be patient?

Depends on your objective: winning or evaluation.

 

[mgteich]

Anderson couldn’t even make it to the active list yesterday. He’s washed up, at least until he gets over being sick (if that ever happens).

Lowe was our backup LT.

As always, injuries make absolutely no difference. If you would prefer a healthy Lowe to a healthy Anderson, so be it. I have our max with Lowe at LT at 2 more wins.

 

[mgteich]

Depends on your objective: winning or evaluation.

Agreed.

Most of us agree with Kraft and the coaches that he has hired. EVERY GAME, EVERY GAME, the objective is winning, not evaluating.

I would accept that occasionally, injured veterans are sat down, lowering our chances of winning a particular game. Should Brown be sat down? Should he have played the Bills game. Surely, we need to evaluate others. NOT!

 

[203Pat]

Not a Mac truther here or anything but at least he looked like a guy who has played football before when they gave him a real RT.

 

[n1997y]

So WTF is going on with RT? Move Brown over there. It’s his natural position. Let Lowe and Anderson compete for LT.

in 2018 Trent started 19 games at LT, the last a victory in Super Bowl LIII so I’m not sure why you’re discounting his ability to play LT.

Neither Lowe nor Anderson has show any reason to put them on the field let alone to expect them to win a competition for any OT position.

VD Low is NOT an NFL RT OT.

FIFY.

Maybe he can be developed. He is not there now.

 

[n1997y]

Sow does not appear to be getting better after two games into his rookie year?

No he doesn't.

didn’t he do okay at RG against the Bills?

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

didn’t he do okay at RG against the Bills?

Sow was so-so against the Bills. I think it was OK considering it was one of his first few games. Strange looked better because it is Y2 and his knee must be better. It takes time. If you watch the tape, or Youtube replays, you can see that Sow was pushed back a lot creating pressures. That was an issue with Strange last year, so it will take some time. But Sow is strong. Mafi is probably stronger, but Sow's mobility is better.

 

[203Pat]

didn’t he do okay at RG against the Bills?

Evan Lazar said he looked better than Cole Strange.

 

[p8ryts]

Evan Lazar said he looked better than Cole Strange.

Tomatoe, tamato. Jeez, the line play was good, better than anticipated and yet we nit pick the rookie, and dump on the LT, who when healthy is very good.

 

[captain stone]

in 2018 Trent started 19 games at LT, the last a victory in Super Bowl LIII so I’m not sure why you’re discounting his ability to play LT.

Neither Lowe nor Anderson has show any reason to put them on the field let alone to expect them to win a competition for any OT position.

FIFY.

Maybe he can be developed. He is not there now.

Yeah, I meant to type Left Tackle instead of RT... Don't know why I did it, maybe the medicide I've had to take since Friday has left me even foggier than usual... I almost feel kinda guilty about VD because I liked the trade after jogging my memories from the 2022 draft, and was pimping giving him a shot at RT after Mister Anderson, a natural Left-side lineman, proved to be a weak-ass turnstile out there..

 

[captain stone]

didn’t he do okay at RG against the Bills?

Sow was so-so against the Bills. I think it was OK considering it was one of his first few games. Strange looked better because it is Y2 and his knee must be better. It takes time. If you watch the tape, or Youtube replays, you can see that Sow was pushed back a lot creating pressures. That was an issue with Strange last year, so it will take some time. But Sow is strong. Mafi is probably stronger, but Sow's mobility is better.

Evan Lazar said he looked better than Cole Strange.

Sow certainly wasn't a disaster, and he didn't have any flags thrown at him, which is not unimportant... But his - and the rest of the OL's - run-blocking still needs work; and he was pushed-back into the pocket too many times for my liking in pass-protection... I suspect he would've been farther-along in his development at RG if he wasn't told to play RT for some stupid reason throughout TC & preseason... What a waste that was.

One thing in our favor now is that, barring injury, this should be the OL moving forward; and Bill/Obie/YoAdrian can now focus their attention on devising game plans built around this particular 5's strengths & weaknesses.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Sow wasn't a disaster, and didn't have any flags thrown at him; but his - and the rest of the OL's - run-blocking still needs work; and he was pushed-back into the pocket too many times for my liking in pass-protection... I suspect he would've been farther-along in his development at RG if he wasn't told to play RT for some stupid reason throughout TC & preseason.

One thing in our favor now is that, barring injury, this should be the OL moving forward; and Bill/Obie/YoAdrian can now focus their attention on devising game plans built around this particular 5's strengths & weaknesses.

Agreed. I am not sure why Lazar thought Sow was better than Strange. Sow was definitely pushed back multiple times. Strange was quite stout, and Strange pulls really well, Sow is more of a "plug" but he has the mobility to pull well in the future. Onwenu was quite impressive at RT helping Sow a couple of times and then recovering to block his own man. Onwenu is sneaky good, not great like Thuney, but better than I expected. If Andrews, Sow, and Mafi have another year, I think the three might be a good team. But we need a new OT, if Onwenu or Brown go down we are screwed because Mac will go back to turtling.

 

[captain stone]

Agreed. I am not sure why Lazar thought Sow was better than Strange. Sow was definitely pushed back multiple times. Strange was quite stout, and Strange pulls really well, Sow is more of a "plug" but he has the mobility to pull well in the future. Onwenu was quite impressive at RT helping Sow a couple of times and then recovering to block his own man. Onwenu is sneaky good, not great like Thuney, but better than I expected. If Andrews, Sow, and Mafi have another year, I think the three might be a good team. But we need a new OT, if Onwenu or Brown go down we are screwed because Mac will go back to turtling.

VD Low needs another year also... Very disappointed in his performance at RT; I had thought/hoped he would be our best option there, but he's nowhere close yet... Plan A for me is still drafting our LT of the Future and signing Brown or a reasonable facsimile as our bridge until the new guy's ready... As for the rest of this season, Conor McDermott might be our most viable Swing Tackle going forward if he's sufficiently recovered from whatever it was that ailed him in the first place.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

VD Low needs another year also... Very disappointed in his performance at RT; I had thought/hoped he would be our best option there, but he's nowhere close yet... Plan A for me is still drafting our LT of the Future and signing Brown or a reasonable facsimile as our bridge until the new guy's ready... As for the rest of this season, Conor McDermott might be our most viable Swing Tackle going forward if he's sufficiently recovered from whatever it was that ailed him in the first place.

McDermott was very underwhelming last year. I am still hoping that Wheatley recovers and is the swing tackle of the future, the guy is very athletic, but needs some training (and to recover from whatever is going on). I think we can forget Reiff, Lowe and Mr. Anderson.

Yes I would sign Onwenu and Brown if the #s are OK. Draft the LT of the future like you note and place him in a situation where he does not have to start Day 1 (unless we end up with a really high draft pick which I am doubting).

 

[mgteich]

McDermott was very underwhelming last year. I am still hoping that Wheatley recovers and is the swing tackle of the future, the guy is very athletic, but needs some training (and to recover from whatever is going on). I think we can forget Reiff, Lowe and Mr. Anderson.

Yes I would sign Onwenu and Brown if the #s are OK. Draft the LT of the future like you note and place him in a situation where he does not have to start Day 1 (unless we end up with a really high draft pick which I am doubting).

OK, I'm all in for re-signing Brown and Onwenu. And if we pay them $3M a year each more than others, that's OK. We have the cap money. Starting free agency with them signed would be a GREAT start.

 

[ALP]

Not a Mac truther here or anything but at least he looked like a guy who has played football before when they gave him a real RT.

i feel the need to remind everyone, that Mac did not really play well against the Bills, and that should be the worst typical type of game he has

he was lucky his lost fumble was recovered by his own Olineman, and also lucky a very easy pick was dropped by the D, otherwise we would have a lost on our hands and he would have 2 additional turnovers

he also had multiple off target easy passes.

If this is his average game, we need a new starting QB, if his average game is better than the bills game, we're talking. If his average game is significantly better than the bills game, we have a top starting QB

but what we say against the bills is not a starting caliber QB in the NFL for a team that wishes to make noise in the playoffs