I'm still not thrilled w/ the OL

[DandyDon]

You guys need to remember something about Johnson. He has had 2 1/2 YEARS since his surgery to get bigger and stronger- and he hasn't.
Last season was his SECOND as a full time starter after taking a YEAR off to recover from his surgery. He is NOT going to get any bigger or stronger unless he bulks up- and that will take away from his quickness- which was the only thing he had going for him. I cannot believe how many here cannot COUNT. He has had 2 full off seasons- 2 full TC's- AFTER a YEAR OFF from his surgery. He is not going to get any stronger unless he trades bulk for quickness.

It seems to me everyone is already giving this job to Al Johnson. Parcells has said that Gurode will challenge Johnson this year, as he has said in the past that Gurode's only problem was that he was slow in picking up the defensive schemes that were being thrown at him. But as far as the actual physical part of the position, he has a huge advantage. So what I'm saying is that with another year under his belt in learning this system, I believe he may actually win the starting job and we will no longer be getting pushed up the middle.

 

[big dog cowboy]

I think... that group will be better than last year's line, I'm pretty sure of that...

Ahhhhhhhh. The voice of reason.

 

[wileedog]

While the line isn't massively better right now it's looking a good 20% better to me. And if you improve the pass protection by 20% and the running game improves 20% we're talking about an offense that is much better than last year and looks like a solid playoff offense.

Agreed. Give me a FS, a K, and a solid pass-rushing SOLB and I feel real good about our chances right now.

Just hope Julius can't stay healthy all year and TO can stay quiet.

 

[TunaFan33]

While the free-agent OL moves have been necessary, I'm still not all that thrilled about the OL as it stands right now.

At LT we still have a guy in Adams who is coming back from an knee-injury that takes at least a full season's time before nearing 100%. And who do we have backing up Flozell? Please don't say Fabini because he was brought in to play RT. If he steps in for Flo, then who plays RT?

Speaking of RT, Fabini was an okay signing but the guy's got age on him and is also coming off an injury. And now we wnat him to switch positions from LT to RT? And we still have veery little to back him up there. To that end, I like Pettiti but he's just not ready to man the position next season - which is why Fabini was signed. In fact if Fabini went down then I'd be inclined to start Tucker over Pettiti, and that's saying something frightening.

At LG we're likely moving to replace a legend in Larry Allen with a good - but not great - player. I like Kossier (sp?), but let's not pretend he's an upgrade over Larry Allen. All he has over Allen is younger age. I'll call this a push before calling it an upgrade. If Kossier gets a little bit better, then he might be able to match the play of a Larry Allen in his decline. And I mean "Might"!

At Center all we have is Al Johnson - who played poorly last season - and Gurode to challenge - who also played poorly when filling in at Center. If Gurode wins the job I'd be concerned, because that would say more about Al Johnson's fall than aout Gurode's rise. Basically we still have this huge gaping hole in the middle of the line, leaving the quickest lane betwen the defense and Bledsoe wide-open.

And finally at RG we still have Rivera, who played well below par last aseason. And again, we're very thin behind him. He had a back injury and at his age, those just don't go away quietly. And unfortunately we have nothing behind him to back-up that bad back. Too bad Peterman can only play the backup spot at LG, if he can even do that???


Long story short, the OL signings Dallas has made are very necessary but I don't believe we;ve really upgraded the OL just yet. There's still a lot of free-agency left, the upcoming draft, and even june 1st cuts to follow. And given the current state of the OL we better still be targeting OL in all of those offseason phases, because what we've done up to now isn't a whole lot.

**

Bingo-Bentley would have been a MUCH bigger upgrade than signing cancer Owens.

 

[ghst187]

I think considering what our options were and what was out there and what we need....we're doing okay.
RT: We played our cards right and ended up getting Fabini without overpaying, that was big. He helps us out at RT, our biggest, most glaring need. We will also have Petitti who should come back much better next year. Improve his footwork, agility, and technique and he should be good to go, at least as a backup if not a future starter. Sure Fabini is probably only good for this season and next, but he at least buys us that much time.
RG: I have no doubt Rivera will be better. I think his back bothered him a lot this year. He didn't play well. I expect him to have a good year next year. If not, we have Kosier to step in. If that isn't enough, we still have Gurode who can play there (and frankly looked like a probowler in the Carolina game). So we at least have depth there.
C: AJ didn't get it done last year, Gurode didn't either. One of these guys has to step up. It would've been nice to get Bentley and I wanted him badly, but I realize that he would've gobbled up much of our cap space. We have two already competing for the spot, so I don't expect to draft anyone.
This is probably my biggest concern on the OL right now. I think we missed out on Hartwig, if there's one guy I point to that we probably should've gotten, its him.
LG: I hope LA restructures. I don't think he's great anymore but he's still good and can do some rotating with Kosier now. I think our best interest would be to restructure because it gives us good depth. Now if we draft a OL in the first day and he's a guy like Jean-Gilles, LA may become more expendable. As it stands now, we still need LA. Moving Tucker to this position should be a consideration since he can't play T. Hutchinson would've been great, but goodness, not at the price he would've come with. Sheesh.
RT: Flo, please don't go down again. Please come back strong. Tucker is not a viable backup. I think we draft a T on the first day if one is available, but there aren't a lot that excite after Ferguson.

I'm not sure what more people expect. This was a horrible FA class, esp of OL. Guys are either OLD, or grossly OVERPAID. Like I said, I think Hartwig would've been a good signing but I think for what's out there and the market prices, we've done okay so far. We still have the draft and I expect us to get at least one, probably two more OL in the draft, probably one on first day, one on second.
With TO and TG to worry about, not to mention Witten, JJ and MBIII should find plenty of room to run. If the playcalling has a better mix on first and second down, Bledsoe should have time. Still a concern, but no doubt we're better than we were last year, and we are deepening our depth.