aaron spacemuseum
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- Sep 14, 2008
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No this thread is not for the chicken littles that say ridiculous things about our O-Lineman being garbage. This is about making an already good group, even better.
First, take stock of what we have. Our 5 starters, contrary to some opinion here, are very impressive. Mankins has been slightly down this year (perhaps disguising an injury) but he is without a doubt, one of the 5 best OGs in football right now and he's still young. Koppen, I would grade slightly lower, but he is still one of the league's better centers. Our biggest problems are the right side and the left side when playing speed-rushers (Freeney, Umenyora, etc.). Don't get me wrong, Light is a big talent, but a player with quicker feet and a little more athleticism might be the upgrade we need to deal with the what's been our Achilles heal the last few years on Offense.
Neal and Kaczur are great players too, but Neal is now better suited as a backup due to his increasing age and decreased durability. Kaczur misses blocks from time to time and is maybe exposed when he has to play in space. But, Kaczur has experience at RG and might be better suited there where he can hold his ground.
Now, on to the future. This year's draft is full of promising lineman. See here for more details:
The National Football Post | NFL Draft: Top Offensive Linemen
If any of the above-listed standouts aren't available, Xavier Fulton out of Illinois could be a nice consolation as he's said to have very fast feet. If we can snag a stud LT in round 1, we can slide Light to RT (where he'd likely be one of the league's best) and Kaczur to split RG duties with Neal.
Maybe this has been discussed before, but damnit, I would love to buy a little more time for Tom, Wes and Randy to demoralize defenses. But most importantly, keeping Tom off his back while he gets back into the swing of being the world's greatest QB would be pretty sweet too.
First, take stock of what we have. Our 5 starters, contrary to some opinion here, are very impressive. Mankins has been slightly down this year (perhaps disguising an injury) but he is without a doubt, one of the 5 best OGs in football right now and he's still young. Koppen, I would grade slightly lower, but he is still one of the league's better centers. Our biggest problems are the right side and the left side when playing speed-rushers (Freeney, Umenyora, etc.). Don't get me wrong, Light is a big talent, but a player with quicker feet and a little more athleticism might be the upgrade we need to deal with the what's been our Achilles heal the last few years on Offense.
Neal and Kaczur are great players too, but Neal is now better suited as a backup due to his increasing age and decreased durability. Kaczur misses blocks from time to time and is maybe exposed when he has to play in space. But, Kaczur has experience at RG and might be better suited there where he can hold his ground.
Now, on to the future. This year's draft is full of promising lineman. See here for more details:
The National Football Post | NFL Draft: Top Offensive Linemen
If any of the above-listed standouts aren't available, Xavier Fulton out of Illinois could be a nice consolation as he's said to have very fast feet. If we can snag a stud LT in round 1, we can slide Light to RT (where he'd likely be one of the league's best) and Kaczur to split RG duties with Neal.
Maybe this has been discussed before, but damnit, I would love to buy a little more time for Tom, Wes and Randy to demoralize defenses. But most importantly, keeping Tom off his back while he gets back into the swing of being the world's greatest QB would be pretty sweet too.
