Do we really have an o-line that only needed Jason Fabini and a 7th rnd pick?

[iceberg]

I'm confused by the Boys draft strategy this year and can only hopr that they know what they're doing. I certainly don't know the whats or whys of it. It's just another one of those things I accept and hope for the best because I can't change it.

oddly enough i do watch you lead by example, notherbob. patience, not quite so "tied up in the day to day" to where it can bring you down if you strongly disagree and with a little more guidance maybe i can just enjoy the season or game.

but it ain't a team i feel like i'm rooting for anymore and i hate that.

 

[DLCassidy]

this the same bp who's busted/failed at every OL attempt since he got here? my "trust" isn't quite that blind.

and again - there's that word. "servicable". i agree the line *could* be that. i disagree that's enough for bledsoe.

show me ANY TEAM that feels drew is a problem with a "servicable" line and not a "stellar" one most say he needs to really "scare" them.

i'll wait over here in the negative corner w/eddie. : )

Do you disagree that Bledsoe was playing well before FA got hurt? It's really not open to debate- he was the top QB in the NFC until that point.

As for saying BP has busted/failed on every OL attempt is incorrect. Johnson is not a bust. Gurode is not a bust. Petitti is not a bust. Peterman may/may not be a bust. Rogers was a bust but not for lack of talent. Rivera is not a bust. Fabini is not a bust. Kosier is not a bust.

None of the above have yet played as well as we'd hoped but you're right you do sound a lot like Eddie.

 

[iceberg]

Do you disagree that Bledsoe was playing well before FA got hurt? It's really not open to debate- he was the top QB in the NFC until that point.

As for saying BP has busted/failed on every OL attempt is incorrect. Johnson is not a bust. Gurode is not a bust. Petitti is not a bust. Peterman may/may not be a bust. Rogers was a bust but not for lack of talent. Rivera is not a bust. Fabini is not a bust. Kosier is not a bust.

None of the above have yet played as well as we'd hoped but you're right you do sound a lot like Eddie.

bledsoe usually puts up good #'s. he just usually chokes later in the year with a valid excuse to hide behind so it's not him. last year it was flo.

the same flo we'd NEVER have thought was the cornerstone of our line.

rivera is not a bust? wow - i musta missed all his playing time last year. as for others being busts, we sure do whine about them a lot unless we need to feel good about 'em. and is this the "same" gurode, johnson and so forth that WAS there when flo went down??? yep, thought so. why are they suddenly better? other than cause we need them to be, of course.

yea, i am negative. i know it's annoying. so is all the smoke blowing up arses people do so everything can be "rosey and exciting".

takes all kinds.

 

[DLCassidy]

bledsoe usually puts up good #'s. he just usually chokes later in the year with a valid excuse to hide behind so it's not him. last year it was flo.

the same flo we'd NEVER have thought was the cornerstone of our line.

rivera is not a bust? wow - i musta missed all his playing time last year. as for others being busts, we sure do whine about them a lot unless we need to feel good about 'em. and is this the "same" gurode, johnson and so forth that WAS there when flo went down??? yep, thought so. why are they suddenly better? other than cause we need them to be, of course.

yea, i am negative. i know it's annoying. so is all the smoke blowing up arses people do so everything can be "rosey and exciting".

takes all kinds.

One bust I'll grant you was Tucker. But he was an UDFA and he's replaced by Fabini. Even the most negative Nancy would have to allow that is an upgrade.

 

[iceberg]

One bust I'll grant you was Tucker. But he was an UDFA and he's replaced by Fabini. Even the most negative Nancy would have to allow that is an upgrade.

i'm not saying we've not made some moves, i'm not saying some positions are NOT arguably better.

what i am saying is the book on drew (from over a decade of notes, not just the wonderful ride we went on for part of last year) is no stellar line, bad drew.

the book on drew is he caves at the end of the year.

we saw a cave and *most* fans say "oh, flo went down..." and pin it there regardless of the "book" saying this is how drew plays. drew always plays well "to a point" so why is it any surprise we got exactly that?

my *point* overall really is we know drew needs a very solid line.

we don't have that.
we didn't try to get that.

we've got some problems that will surface and i can only wonder if drew will again get a free ride in blame if a handy scapegoat is around.

 

[DC Cowboy]

No, it also need Kosier and a healthy Flozell Adams!

Don't forget about Columbo

 

[burmafrd]

Anyone want some more cheese with their whine?
For anyone to claim that we have not upgraded the line - nuts to them and don't bother trying to talk to them- they are too dense to bother with.
Fabini, FLozel back, a healthy Rivera- those are all upgrades to what we had last december/jan. kosier is certainly more agile then LA- we will have to see there. BUT it is likely that that is at least a push.Al has put on 17 pounds- we will have to see what difference that makes. BUT it is certainly arguable that the line that starts this year could very well play better then 4/5 's of the line that started LAST year in Sept. I know some here want to always look at the dark side of things- but that is THERE problem.

 

[burmafrd]

Iceberg- take a chill pill on Drew. He is what we have- and all of your complaining is not going to change that. GET OVER IT.
Give him time- which is not something he has had a lot of for the last several years- and give him weapons- which is also something he has not had a lot of for several years- and he can slice and dice any D around. I do not see a offense in the NFL that has better passing weapons then we do: To, Glenn, WItten- now plus Crayton, Fasano, and our RB's. Drew has more going for him this year then ANY year since he was with the Pats and BP. I know you don't want to admit that- but its a fact.

 

[iceberg]

Iceberg- take a chill pill on Drew. He is what we have- and all of your complaining is not going to change that. GET OVER IT.
Give him time- which is not something he has had a lot of for the last several years- and give him weapons- which is also something he has not had a lot of for several years- and he can slice and dice any D around. I do not see a offense in the NFL that has better passing weapons then we do: To, Glenn, WItten- now plus Crayton, Fasano, and our RB's. Drew has more going for him this year then ANY year since he was with the Pats and BP. I know you don't want to admit that- but its a fact.

and blowing happy smoke up everyone's arse won't make him better either, will it? i know we're stuck with him. him, to, bp and his dying need to keep the past alive any way possible...if fasano was named "o'bannon" and irish, would parcells still love him?

give him time? isn't that why i want a better line than we have - TO give him time??? weapons are great, but w/o the very time we do agree he needs, they do no good.

as for the post above you saying people like me are too dense to see the truth - there's that fanlove i've been saying will allow us to tell ourselves anything. : )

 

[burmafrd]

Its not fanlove- its called being practical. What good does it do you to whine and cry about it? IT CHANGES NOTHING.

 

[iceberg]

Its not fanlove- its called being practical. What good does it do you to whine and cry about it? IT CHANGES NOTHING.

and saying "it's great! we're all set!" doesn't make it so either.

we can do this all day.

 

[SouthernStar]

It's all about cohesion, and we just need to get some of that going.

Well, for that, it would certainly help if we had an outstanding O-line coach. I fear Tony Soprano is not up to the task. He has one year NFL experience coaching O-line and that was with Cleveland (back when they sucked). This will be his first year at O-line coach for us.
Heaven help us if he doesn't "get it right" coming out of the gate......

I'm deeply disappointed with the quality of our coaching staff.

 

[wileedog]

give him time? isn't that why i want a better line than we have - TO give him time??? weapons are great, but w/o the very time we do agree he needs, they do no good.

No, the weapons help.

TO is going to be keeping safeties out of the box. Fasano and the two TE set are going to be keeping LBs from blitzing. A healthy JJ will make teams pay more for blitzing when they do come. With a more athletic Kosier in there, maybe we can even make a ^%@*(& screen play work, where again JJ should be able to excell with even mediocre blocking.

We were blitzed mercilessly down the stretch last year when the line was banged up and Campbell was ineffective. That won't happen this year assuming good health.

Its not the solution to everything, but it is an improvement.

 

[Marktui]

I believe there is one positive for the O-line, his name is TO. TO can run the short routes, slants, wide receiver screens....meaning more 3 to 5 step drops. TO can turn short routes into long gains.

Lets give Pettiti a break here. I remember a certain lineman out of sonoma state that got manhandled in a national game by a guy named White. Yet he came back the next year and became all pro! Now, I am not saying Rob will be all pro next year, but with a offseason devoted to strength training and conditioning he might just give us something. Fabini is no slouch either, he will work into the mix as well. He is a solid vet.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

You make good points and I'm not exactly content with the O-Line, even if they do stay healthy from a long term perspective.

They are more versatile than they were in the past as Fabini can play LT and Kosier can play RT. If one of the guards gets hurt, they can move Gurode to guard.

Plus, going to more of a 2 TE scheme should help matters greatly as they can have Bledsoe take shorter steps back and still be effective. Not to mention having a healthy Crayton who killed the blitz when he was healthy last year.

Then there's T.O. whose best asset is his ability to take a short hot route deep because he's so big and has such wide strides when he runs with the ball. All of which means Bledsoe can be more effective while taking shorter dropbacks.

Even still, 2007 may be a rough go at it with the age of the O-Line and I'm not exactly sure how they are going to find a new influx of talent to replace the old guys. The best we can hope for is to get a huge improvement out of both Petermann and Petitti.

Rich.........

 

[Yakuza Rich]

Well, for that, it would certainly help if we had an outstanding O-line coach. I fear Tony Soprano is not up to the task.

You can tell Tony that, I surely won't.

This will be his first year at O-line coach for us.

Actually it's his second year as Dallas O-Line coach.

Rich..........

 

[InDakWeTrust]

Anyone want some more cheese with their whine?
For anyone to claim that we have not upgraded the line - nuts to them and don't bother trying to talk to them- they are too dense to bother with.
Fabini, FLozel back, a healthy Rivera- those are all upgrades to what we had last december/jan. kosier is certainly more agile then LA- we will have to see there. BUT it is likely that that is at least a push.Al has put on 17 pounds- we will have to see what difference that makes. BUT it is certainly arguable that the line that starts this year could very well play better then 4/5 's of the line that started LAST year in Sept. I know some here want to always look at the dark side of things- but that is THERE problem.

Dont worry about Iceberg and Eddie, they will be shunned from the boards once DB lights up defenses this year.

Kosier this year>LA the past 3 years
Rivera this year>Rivera last year
Fabini>Pettiti & Tucker

I still would be suprised if we dont win 10 games with TO and Vanderjagt, then add to the fact with Ayodele, Kosier, Fabini, & Carpenter there is no way we cant win the division and maybe more.

 

[DallasDW00ds0n]

this oline will make or break this team

 

[burmafrd]

I think that it is probable that next draft the BOYS look real hard at getting some high picks on the O line. BUT that will only happen if the young guys this year (Kosier, Peterman,Pettiti, Columbo, the two 7th rd guys) do not shine. IF they do- then we do not need to go high for O line next year.

 

[DLCassidy]

You make good points and I'm not exactly content with the O-Line, even if they do stay healthy from a long term perspective.

They are more versatile than they were in the past as Fabini can play LT and Kosier can play RT. If one of the guards gets hurt, they can move Gurode to guard.

Plus, going to more of a 2 TE scheme should help matters greatly as they can have Bledsoe take shorter steps back and still be effective. Not to mention having a healthy Crayton who killed the blitz when he was healthy last year.

Then there's T.O. whose best asset is his ability to take a short hot route deep because he's so big and has such wide strides when he runs with the ball. All of which means Bledsoe can be more effective while taking shorter dropbacks.

Even still, 2007 may be a rough go at it with the age of the O-Line and I'm not exactly sure how they are going to find a new influx of talent to replace the old guys. The best we can hope for is to get a huge improvement out of both Petermann and Petitti.

Rich.........

If we can avoid major injuries we will be ok for this year. Next year we will surely address OL on the first day.