Doug Free

[casmith07]

It was only the Oakland Raiders, but given his performance against three relatively prolific pass rushers in Brian Orakpo, Greg Ellis, and a little Richard Seymour, does anyone else think that this guy might end up competing for a spot on the starting line next year?

Invariably people will bring up Flozell, so I'll go ahead and just say his name (I just did) in order to talk about who would get replaced. With Flozell getting older and being more expensive, it might make more sense to try to get Doug Free in there at LT, or possibly move Colombo to the other side and leave Free at RT.

Just some thoughts, but overall I'm liking what I'm seeing from Doug Free (except the False Start!)

 

[Gaede]

I didn't see the game so I have no idea how he looked.

But in watching highlights, I see that he got two big blocks on the Miles screen pass. Thought that was pretty impressive. He definitely does move well for a big guy

 

[THUMPER]

Free needs to work on his overall strength but his footwork is very good as is his intelligence. He is bound to make some mistakes in his first starts but so far he has been impressive. Only one penalty in two full games as a starter and only a few blown assignments. I like his energy and love seeing him in on plays downfield. He was into his 2nd or 3rd guy on some of the long runs & screens.

He has done well against some good passrushers too. I think he would be a better fit at LT than Columbo as he is a bit quicker on his feet. Just build up his core strength and upper body strength and he could be a fixture at LT for many years to come.

 

[CATCH17]

He is playing out of position too.

Its not to much of a difficult change. You pretty much have to do everything opposite of what the Left Tackle does.

But its still impressive considering these are his first 3 games in the NFL.

I do agree though that he needs to pack on more muscle but as of now I couldn't be more pleased with our backup.

 

[tunahelper]

Seymour plays RDE & DT for the Raiders, so Free didnt see him much if at all. Also Greg Ellis left in the 1st quarter with a knee injury. Free was playing against a rookie and he was beaten several times.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Seymour plays RDE & DT for the Raiders, so Free didnt see him much if at all. Also Greg Ellis left in the 1st quarter with a knee injury. Free was playing against a rookie and he was beaten several times.

I got news for you... The guys on the other teams get paid too.

 

[tunahelper]

I got news for you... The guys on the other teams get paid too.

And here I was assuming they were weekend warriors.

 

[dbair1967]

Seymour plays RDE & DT for the Raiders, so Free didnt see him much if at all. Also Greg Ellis left in the 1st quarter with a knee injury. Free was playing against a rookie and he was beaten several times.

I thought Free played pretty well for his 2nd start. He only had one penalty and continued to show how athletic he is.

Ellis got hurt but did come back in the game in the 2nd qtr. They also moved Seymour over in front of Free a few times as I recall.

To be quite honest, I thought Davis and Kosier struggled more than any of our other OL yesterday.

 

[THUMPER]

To be quite honest, I thought Davis and Kosier struggled more than any of our other OL yesterday.

I thought so as well. Not sure what's up with Leonard Davis lately but he has been struggling a bit and even getting bull-rushed at times. I never thought I would see that happen.

I would assume that both guys are bit nicked and just playing through it. Sometimes they look great and other times they look weak.

 

[JohnsKey19]

He's got to improve his strength whether he stays at RT or slides over to LT. Otherwise, his footwork is pretty good and his technique is solid.

 

[Oh_Canada]

Free did well..one of those sacks wouldn't have happend if Romo wasn't forced to take a step back in the pocket. He also came off his block to wipe out the linebacker on Austin's td.

 

[slick325]

I like what I am seeing from Free. As others have stated, I think he could use more muscle in his lower body in order to anchor better but he has looked very good. Justin Tuck will be a MAJOR test in 9 days. I look forward to seeing how Free responds.

 

[CATCH17]

Free did well..one of those sacks wouldn't have happend if Romo wasn't forced to take a step back in the pocket. He also came off his block to wipe out the linebacker on Austin's td.

It was on both players.

Romo didn't help the cause but when the DE is flying upfield like that you gotta stick a hand in his hip and use his momentum to drive him upfield.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

And here I was assuming they were weekend warriors.

Then what makes you think they're not qualified to win some battles?

 

[Yakuza Rich]

Well, we ought to get used to the idea because of Flo's age (and he's not the same player he was 2 years ago) and Colombo's injury. There's no guarantee that the Colombo injury won't come back to bother him or never properly heal or severely hurt his quality of play.

I've been high on Free for awhile and took a lot of flak earlier on because I thought Free should be given a shot at starting LT next year and we should consider releasing Flo after the season. I thought he played really well against the Commanders and in the first half against the Raiders, but he struggled a bit in the second half.

But we'll have to wait and see. If Houck is high on him, then I'm high on him. That's pretty much been my stance from the start. Houck can coach O-Linemen, we just need an O-Coordinator who doesn't call draw plays on every running play (O-Linemen love to drive block, hate to pass protect or draw block). And if given some time to draft his own guys, I think Houck will provide us with quality starters for years to come.






YAKUZA

 

[The Realist]

Wouldn't suprise me if we released Flo and saw Free as our starting LT next year.

 

[tunahelper]

Then what makes you think they're not qualified to win some battles?

I never stated they were/werent qualified, but I expect more from Free when he is playing a rookie most of the day. Sorry your panties are bunched up but get over it.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

I never stated they were/werent qualified, but I expect more from Free when he is playing a rookie most of the day. Sorry your panties are bunched up but get over it.

For some reason I smell "agenda" in your posts when it comes to Doug Free.

 

[RS12]

I've been high on Free for awhile and took a lot of flak earlier on because I thought Free should be given a shot at starting LT next year and we should consider releasing Flo after the season. I thought he played really well against the Commanders and in the first half against the Raiders, but he struggled a bit in the second half.

I would like to see how he does on the left side as well. I still think he is suseptable to the bull rush however.

 

[tunahelper]

For some reason I smell "agenda" in your posts when it comes to Doug Free.

OK, mall cop you have uncovered a conspiracy. I rewatched the game and focused on Free. I noticed one on one Free did not get any movement in the ground game. It explains why we run to the left/middle 90% of the time the last two games. Also seen him get a penalty, give up a sack and Romo ducked another sure sack as well. Also Free was facing 98 Henderson and 77 Matt Shaughnessy for most of the game. We will see how he plays moving forward and my hope is he does well.