fortdick said:
It is slow right now in the football world, and a lot of prognosticating about who will do what this season is filling time. There have been some predictions that the Boys will be world beaters, and some that they will be roadkill. Those that say TO will be a distraction are just haters. But those that say our O Line wasn't improved enough to make a run are not seeing the big picture.
First, we did strengthen our O Line with one very big acquisition; Flozell Adams. Prior to Flo going down with the knee injury, our offense was rated near the top of the NFL. With Flo back, we should be able to protect Bledsoe and buy him time to find some pretty good receivers.
I try not to overreact to things, but last year when Flo got hurt I said we were probably done for. Some argued Flo was way overrated anyway and Tucker might even be an upgrade. Sadly I was right on that one. Flo is a good player, great is a stretch but certainly above average. Will he be 100% this year? Don't know but
if so you're right that gives us a fighting chance right there. I would add that the addition of Fabini who has over 5 years as a starter at LT makes me feel we could lose Flo for a few games and not have it be a catastophe.
Kosier is not Larry Allen. But then again, Larry Allen wasn't Larry Allen last year either. With Kosier at LG, we lose the explosion at the LOS that Larry gave us, but we gain a presence in the second level and the ability to pull - one of the main prerequisites for a LG. Heck, maybe we can even throw a screen pass now.
Good point.
Riveria is healthy now, Pettiti has a year of experience and conditioning, Peterman and Gurode look to compete, and Columbo may sneak in if he is healthy. And let's not forget Fabini who can start right away if Pettiti doesn't show improvement.
How much of Rivera's performance was related to his back and how much was related to getting old? Don't know. He's a question mark for me. I'm not ready to put him back in the Pro Bowl yet. The others? We're all rooting for Petitti, he had an injury last year, he's reported to be in better shape but frankly he Columbo and Peterman can't be termed as anything more than question marks at this point. I expect Johnson to be better and Gurode is an adequate reserve. But even if neither Petitti nor Columbo step up, having Fabini available makes me feel we'll be at least adequate at RT which is a clear upgrade from last year.
All that is great, but what everyone is forgetting is the changes we have made in personnel at other positions. With TO and TG wide, and two tight ends that can catch, opposing defenses cannot continue to load up against the run. Instead of the eight man front we saw most of last year, we will be blocking seven, and probably six most of the season. I see the nickle becoming the base defense against the two TE offense. You have to double TO, and then play man up on Glenn, Witten, and either Fasano or Hannam.
This new personnel package and scheme will relieve a lot of pressure on the O Line. Against 4-3 defenses, that means no corner or safety blitzing. Against 3-4 defenses, pressure off the corners should be eased.
What you say makes sense and I agree it should help. TO's both a deep threat and a RAC threat. That deters the blitz some. But IMO there is still pressure on the OL and in particular on Julius Jones to show the running game is capable not only of rushing effectively but in breaking big runs. That again means showing speed to the edges which is the bigest deterrent to the blitz. The more big runs (20 yards and over) Jones makes the less blitzing we'll see.
I see reasons for both optimism and concern for the line this year. There are still too many question marks even with the additions of TO and Fasano to feel totally confident but unless we have a series of injuries we should be at least fair up front. Assuming we're at least fair the guy I'm really counting on to step up and stay healthy is Julius Jones. If he does, we could be really good.
Taken as a whole, Parcells has done a great deal to help our O Line without adding a mess of new people. I think the threat of our passing game will open up the running game, and JJ will have the year we have all thought he was capable of.
JMHO.
I think even Bill is still worried some about how things are going to shake out simply because there are so many question marks. Count me as cautiously optimistic.
