Laurence Gibson

[Alexander]

After watching the game, I think the Cowboys moved him to left tackle so that he would fail. It looks like they wanted to put some bad film out there so he wouldn't get claimed. I had not heard of him working at all at left tackle in practice and then they throw him out there in a game. I know it sounds ridiculous but I do wonder if that was the plan make sure he ends up on our PS.

So if this is true we told Vaughan to look Quincy Carter bad so we could stash him as well. Sounds like a plan. All part of the master plan we just are not privy to.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

Put him on the Weems plan. Protect him on the 53. Develop him. He has all the physical tools you'd want in a tackle.

 

[AbeBeta]

I do not want Weems or Gibson playing LT at any point. With this roster I think if Tyron goes down that either Martin or Free needs to move over. I think upsetting two positions with good players is better than allowing a glorified speed bump at one.

Collins is an option too.

 

[dallasdave]

Likely gets cut and brought back for PS but anyway I think this thread is probably going to be moved to that roster zone.

Were moving on up

 

[AbeBeta]

After watching the game, I think the Cowboys moved him to left tackle so that he would fail. It looks like they wanted to put some bad film out there so he wouldn't get claimed. I had not heard of him working at all at left tackle in practice and then they throw him out there in a game. I know it sounds ridiculous but I do wonder if that was the plan make sure he ends up on our PS.

Yeah, pro scouts don't see what the people in this thread have seen. Sheesh.

 

[Sinister]

Seem like a good kid, but physically just isn't ready. Isn't going to do anything this year, send him to the practice squad. Next year there will be more swing tackle prospects...

 

[Stash]

Seems like a perfect PS guy but I don't want to lose him either. You really think someone would claim him?

In my honest opinion, yes. I know he was on the phone with the Broncos about signing there when the Cowboys drafted him, and that was before Denver lost Pro Bowl tackle Ryan Clady. And we know there are plenty of teams around the league that don't come close you our depth and will be closely watching for any lineman we cut.

I think the tools are there, and I think they've flashed at times. I would hate to risk losing him trying yo get him to the practice squad.

 

[TwoCentPlain]

I only watched the second half on the Houston preseason game. My impression of that is that he is not anywhere near ready if called into action. But, that is to be expected. What I did notice is that there might be something there to build on. It appeared to me he was trying to just manhandle his opponent. He needs to learn about the importance of technique and that brute strength alone will not work in the NFL.

After one year in the gym under a strength coach and one year of learning proper technique on film and we might have something. Hopefully, we get something a lot better next year after a year on the PS.

 

[calicowboy54]

PS

thats not nice to call him that....

oh wait you mean Practice Squad...

 

[Everson24]

So if this is true we told Vaughan to look Quincy Carter bad so we could stash him as well. Sounds like a plan. All part of the master plan we just are not privy to.

No, I think Vaughan is just bad. But like I said, I know it sounds ridiculous but I had not seen Gibson play LT before this game. I know they want to develop him further. They knew when they drafted him that it would take time and work but he has the athletic ability to play inthis league.

 

[Macnalty]

Seems like a perfect PS guy but I don't want to lose him either. You really think someone would claim him?

I agree hard to imagine a case where a NFL team needs a player of his talent level. IMO Gibson is the poster child for Practice squad.

 

[xwalker]

Like most people I watched the game and thought Gibson was godawful. I saw him get bullrushed into Vaughn. I watched him use poor footwork and fall down. I watched the 3 holding calls.

The thing is I rewatched the game and started doing my routine of watching each play 2 or 3 times to see how the lines and skill position guys were doing. Thing that stood out to me was the Gibson started out at RT and for the first few series I thought he played well. He was getting to guys on the second level. Beating the rush to the edge and driving the LDE in the run game. Then he switched to LT.

That is when the wheels fell off and well we all saw it and it wasn't pretty. First thing that I noticed from the beginning this offseason is that he is awkward in his stance and not comfortable with his footwork. That is still very much the case from the left side. OTOH, on the right side he now looks comfortable in his kickslide and such.

This may be somewhat controversial but I would like for them to keep him and continue to develop him. He needs to improve his flexibility still but his strength and agility is remarkable when he is technically sound. Further, I feel like despite his struggles on the left side that he has made considerable progress on the right side.

Yes, I like him. His raw physical ability is very good. He made some good blocks which is difficult with his lack of technique and poor footwork. If a less talented guy like Wetzel had technique and footwork like Gibson's he would fail on every single play because he does not have the talent to compensate.

Gibson actually looks strong. He just got bull-rushed a few times because of technique (standing too tall and loosing leverage, poor footwork) not because of a lack of strength. He actually threw the defender to the ground many times (not just on the penalty plays). He was sometimes so focused on wrestling with the defender and trying to throw him down that he forgot that's not the primary goal. His quickness and agility is really good. He was getting to some of those backup side reach blocks on the zone stretch away that many OTs struggle to reach.

He reminds me a bit of JP in his early years. Talented but no clue what he's doing. The negative is that he does not have the excuses that JP had of didn't play college football or OT before. I'm not sure how these guys come out of college so raw. He went to Virginia Tech. I've heard their coaching staff was not very good. Weems was very raw also and he played at Oregon under Chip Kelly.

This was the first game where he has really faced any significant stunts. I thought he looked decent in other games but those defenses didn't throw any stunts at him which I figured would be a big problem. Having him at LT next to an unknown UDFA made picking up stunts almost impossible; although, later in the game they did pick up one perfectly.

I actually watched him and then went back and watched Tyron's footwork. The difference between perfect footwork and terrible footwork can be just one or two wrong steps and just a few inches at times.

I think Gibson is ahead of where Weems was when he came to the Cowboys.

The other issue I try to keep in mind with these guys is that they are probably exhausted at this point after training camp. I saw some video of Weems in the individuals drills last week and he looked completely exhausted and they kept having him go again as if they wanted to see how he would respond to complete exhaustion.

 

[xwalker]

I do not want Weems or Gibson playing LT at any point. With this roster I think if Tyron goes down that either Martin or Free needs to move over. I think upsetting two positions with good players is better than allowing a glorified speed bump at one.

They could do some things to help Weems at LT but they didn't in the preseason games. Keeping a TE on that side forces allows the OT to know if that guy is rushing outside or inside. If Weems can know ahead of time if the pass rusher is rushing inside or outside I think he can do much better. It's his indecision on protecting the inside or outside that caused many of his fails.

Also having him play next to a veteran (Leary or Martin) would be really helpful on the stunts. If Doug Free had to play LT next to Ronald Patrick at LG it would be ugly for him also.

 

[xwalker]

agree, I think Gibson projects as a guard in the pros, not a tackle and is going to be cut and placed on the practice squad..

I don't see that at all. He is super athletic. His issue is technique/awareness, not a lack of physical ability.

 

[Kaiser]

They could do some things to help Weems at LT but they didn't in the preseason games. Keeping a TE on that side forces allows the OT to know if that guy is rushing outside or inside. If Weems can know ahead of time if the pass rusher is rushing inside or outside I think he can do much better. It's his indecision on protecting the inside or outside that caused many of his fails.

I've only watched the first half and haven't gone back to watch specific players but my sense about Weems is that he has played just well enough to hold onto that Swing Tackle spot but the team is hoping he never sees the field.

If a decent option can be picked up on the waiver wire I have to think they do it. Also I get why they developed Collins the way they did, but at this point I think the coaches should start prepping him to play RT in practices.

 

[xwalker]

I've only watched the first half and haven't gone back to watch specific players but my sense about Weems is that he has played just well enough to hold onto that Swing Tackle spot but the team is hoping he never sees the field.

If a decent option can be picked up on the waiver wire I have to think they do it. Also I get why they developed Collins the way they did, but at this point I think the coaches should start prepping him to play RT in practices.

I still don't really understand why they didn't have Collins practice some at OT. He played LT in college. It seems that mentally that would the where he is most comfortable. I think Guard is actually a little more difficult mentally. Maybe he does not have ideal physical ability for LT, but it seems that he could play it at a level that he could compete with Weems.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

I agree hard to imagine a case where a NFL team needs a player of his talent level. IMO Gibson is the poster child for Practice squad.

HAve you watched preseason games? There is an absolute lack of OL talent in the NFL.

 

[Kaiser]

I still don't really understand why they didn't have Collins practice some at OT.

I don't either, my guess would be that they want him to play OT and OG and figured he could already do the OT position so camp and preseason would be better spent entirely focused on Guard. I don't really get the big picture though.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Yeah, pro scouts don't see what the people in this thread have seen. Sheesh.

You don't get to speak for pro scouts.

 

[Macnalty]

HAve you watched preseason games? There is an absolute lack of OL talent in the NFL.

I know it is laughable but he looks like ground zero and to justify putting him on your 53 would IMO jeopardize your job status as a coach and GM.