Random Offensive Line Thoughts

[AbeBeta]

what hurt us was DRAFTING Arkin and then not willing to admit it was a mistake.

He was a 4th round pick. Do you really expect all of those picks to develop? Do you expect them to develop if we don't keep them around long enough to, you know, develop?

 

[speedkilz88]

what hurt us was DRAFTING Arkin and then not willing to admit it was a mistake.

Well, Miami isn't admitting it's a mistake picking him off waivers. They still are trying to develop him.

 

[AbeBeta]

I've spent more time reviewing Free from 2013 than any other player. He was not nearly as good as most people believe. They did things in the scheme to hide his problems in both pass pro and run blocking. It was brilliant coaching by Pollack and Callahan, but it made the job of the 3 interior guys more difficult because of how the scheme tweaks affected them.

So let me throw a few questions out - fine if you don't know the answers. But one thing I was wondering is what the differences are between the good years and the bad years? Another piece is whether you saw in your review whether or not teams are moving their better pass rushers to Free's side as the chances of getting a sack off Smith are very low.

 

[honyock]

I'm concerned about Martin. He is changing both positions OT to OG and sides Left to Right. In addition to that, Bern's job was more difficult than normal because of how they had him helping Free. That adds up to a lot to put on Martin as a rookie. I don't know if he is as good in game 1 as Bern was in game 16 of last season. I'm sure by the end of the season he'll be really good, but he could struggle in the first few games. The other issue is that he was only 308 at the combine. There are some NFL OGs that play at that weight, but their technique has to be perfect. Leary and Bern are both 320+.

Nice post and those are good points about Martin to keep in mind the first part of the season. It's not automatic at all that he steps in and provides a big upgrade from last years guard play in game one. I'm sure he'll get there, maybe sooner rather than later. But it may take a little time.

I'm also really interested and curious in how RT plays out. I'd love to see an open competition between Free and Parnell, and Weems for that matter. I saw Parnell the same way you did on 2012, which was rady to step in and play at a pretty good level. That's one thing I'm really going to be watching for in TC, whether Free is just plugged in with the 1's or whether Parnell/Weems appear to be getting decent looks at the job as well.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

I want to say that I have watched all of the Cowboys games recently focusing on the oline and Bruce Carter. i watched the losses twice to see what went wrong.

I think that the Free bashing is a severely unfounded.

The people bashing Free cannot point to particular failures from last year. Instead I hear stories about shifting lines and the like which are absolutely unprovable. Free did not get beat a lot last year. Teams would also try and move their best pass rushers, Orakpo and Tuck for example, on passing downs to get them away from Tyron and Free stoned them too.

He was surprisingly effective in the run game. He is excellent is getting his feet moving and riding DE down the line. While he will not overpower DE as often as you would like, he does wall off the zone fine and when he goes to seal LB and S he not only reaches the blocks but he will drive those guys as he should.

 

[rathalarge]

I'm sitting here on a little break at work, and just thinking about our trench buildup on both sides of the ball.

I wanted to share this one random thought, and there's a substantial likelihood I'm 100% wrong:

I think that by the end of the year, our starting line, from left to right, will be Smith, Leary, Frederick, Bernadeau, Martin.

I just think at some point we're going to have to get Free off the field and get Berny back in the rotation. He was better than Doug Free all year last year and was the sole reason the right side of the line was not a sieve. Removing him and inserting Martin just puts a rookie there instead of a proven vet, and I think we'll see some rushers in Tony's face from the right side early this year when Free is exposed.

Now if we run the ball, I think we'll do just fine. The line looks to be the best run-blocking line in football this year.

What are your thoughts on the present and future state of our offensive line?

I never thought about this scenario Cas? It is very interesting to say the least, and has me wondering whether Free played that well last season?

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Bernadeau is a power guy and while he has good feet, he is a bit stiff in the hips. You don't want him pulling on sweeps. that being said, he was the only guy that could execute the OG/C combo block with Fred and he was dominant and executed it similar to what Warmack was doing at Alabama a couple years ago. The lead we built in the first half of the GB game was behind him executing that block and dominating the middle of the defense. He was the running game we all freaked out about them going away from.

I am still a bit baffled why Martin is not playing LG. I just see him being the best equipped to handle the Geno Atkins and the other top 3T of the world.

 

[jobberone]

I'm sitting here on a little break at work, and just thinking about our trench buildup on both sides of the ball.

I wanted to share this one random thought, and there's a substantial likelihood I'm 100% wrong:

I think that by the end of the year, our starting line, from left to right, will be Smith, Leary, Frederick, Bernadeau, Martin.

I just think at some point we're going to have to get Free off the field and get Berny back in the rotation. He was better than Doug Free all year last year and was the sole reason the right side of the line was not a sieve. Removing him and inserting Martin just puts a rookie there instead of a proven vet, and I think we'll see some rushers in Tony's face from the right side early this year when Free is exposed.

Now if we run the ball, I think we'll do just fine. The line looks to be the best run-blocking line in football this year.

What are your thoughts on the present and future state of our offensive line?

I think it more likely Parnell beats Free out. I'm not putting a rookie out there unless I have to....at least not to start with unless he's better than anyone else which is doubtful.

I think Martin is more likely to compete with an interior player. I like Fred's power game as I do Mack's. Leary not as much. All three need to get better in pass protection. My guess is Fred is pretty much a lock at C but I base that on him getting better in this aspect. AFAIC, the only lock is Smith. I think Fred will win the C, Mack will stay at RG and Martin will win the LG position. Nwaneri may be one of the starting guards.

But there are lots of other scenarios as you mentioned.

 

[speedkilz88]

Leary from my recollection is powerful.

 

[jobberone]

I would be surprised if that happened. If Free doesn't play well I think they would try Parnell or Weems there before Martin. OL coaches don't like to move players during the season, especially rookies.

The other issue is that I don't see Martin as a good fit as an NFL OT. Yes, he could probably do it, but I think he'll always be better at OG due to his lack of length.

I've said it before, but I believe that Parnell could be much better than Free with some experience. The problem is that his development is probably maxed out from just practicing. He would have to play in real games to get better and could make a few mistakes in the beginning. He was solid in 1 start at LT in 2012. He also play the majority of another game at LT and split series with Free at RT in the final 4 games. He was solid in all of them and his run blocking was better than Free's. Physically, he has everything that you want in an OT with size, long arms, excellent power and "punch" and very good athleticism. Unfortunately, he was injured for most of the 2013 preseason and never got a chance to unseat Free. I'm looking forward to seeing him in the preseason games.

Also, Weem is an interesting player. He appears to have the physical ability to play in the NFL but was raw in preseason last year. He is Broaddus pet cat and Broaddus claims that he has made big improvements during the season. They had to really like him because they kept him on the 53 man roster as an inactive developmental player for the entire season.

As you said, Weems is just raw just as Parnell was and still partially is. And they do like the player. So he's a possibility at swing tackle or even to start at RT. I don't think he's going anywhere. Free could be dispensable or more likely end up as the 3rd or 4th tackle.

 

[AbeBeta]

Well, Miami isn't admitting it's a mistake picking him off waivers. They still are trying to develop him.

you gotta leave Burma alone man. He's right like once or twice every decade about OL players. When he is, he crows about it. Of course, when you are predicting 4th or 7th rounders are never going to make it, it is sort of like shooting fish in a barrel.

 

[Alexander]

I think that the Free bashing is a severely unfounded.

I agree and I think the Parnell praise is just as irrational.

 

[jobberone]

Free has great feet; it's his hands and punch that are the problem. He also has to stay focused on technique. I don't see as much scheming as @xwalker does. Free is a capable RT and he played out of his mine the first part of last year and did tail off to a respectable year.

Leary is the weakest of the bunch and likely why they drafted Martin IMO; also why they brought Nwaneri in. He may play better in camp with a year under his belt.

Fred needs to work on his feet and pass protection. Hopefully his strength is better and capable of taking on the bigger tackles. He also needs to get out of his stance more quickly and consistently. He is an asset in the run game and will only get better. I do wish he was more mobile and he has probably worked on his agility this offseason.

Mack is very strong. His feet are the problem. How much of this is/was injury I don't know. If you don't ask too much of him as in pulling etc then he is a pretty good player. Again, at times he looks very very good.

Parnell is all that @xwalker says he is.

 

[jobberone]

I agree and I think the Parnell praise is just as irrational.

I don't see how you could watch film on the player and say that. I will say he fails to get out of his stance at times for whatever reason and that is a concern. That happened 4 times in 2012. And maybe that is a deal breaker if they can't coach it out of him or fix whatever the problem is.

 

[Alexander]

Parnell is all that @xwalker says he is.

Must be some sort of grand conspiracy that is keeping him from Free's job then.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

I agree and I think the Parnell praise is just as irrational.

I see people using a zero sum approach. They like Parnell and see Free as preventing him from getting on the field so they bash Free.

 

[jobberone]

Must be some sort of grand conspiracy that is keeping him from Free's job then.

Like he was injured in preseason then Free played extremely well at the start of the season and reasonably well the rest of the season. You mean that kind of conspiracy.

So you haven't studied or really looked at any film of Parnell? Kinda what I thought.

 

[AbeBeta]

I don't see how you could watch film on the player and say that. I will say he fails to get out of his stance at times for whatever reason and that is a concern. That happened 4 times in 2012. And maybe that is a deal breaker if they can't coach it out of him or fix whatever the problem is.

Yet, instead of cutting Free outright last year, we opted to keep him, albeit at a reduced price of 3.5 mill per year.

What you are basing your analysis on is exactly what they saw right before they asked Free to take a paycut in exchange for fully guaranteed money in 2013.

I would think if the team saw what you see then we'd have set Mt. Baldy free.

 

[casmith07]

I think it more likely Parnell beats Free out. I'm not putting a rookie out there unless I have to....at least not to start with unless he's better than anyone else which is doubtful.

I think Martin is more likely to compete with an interior player. I like Fred's power game as I do Mack's. Leary not as much. All three need to get better in pass protection. My guess is Fred is pretty much a lock at C but I base that on him getting better in this aspect. AFAIC, the only lock is Smith. I think Fred will win the C, Mack will stay at RG and Martin will win the LG position. Nwaneri may be one of the starting guards.

But there are lots of other scenarios as you mentioned.

Wait, jobber you think Frederick isn't a lock at Center?

Who would start at center over Frederick?

 

[CCBoy]

First, good OP, Sir...and it was a good one going immediately into Training Camp.

My first thought, was of Flozell Adams, 'Hotel,' and him playing guard his first season to get a feel of the climate before moving out. That could be wisdom here.

My second thought was an appreciation on the knee braces being worn and how that might affect the longevity of Ronald Leary. This is not a small matter in my eyes.

A background thought could be the pass blocking ability of Uche Nwaneri, and this could solidify any thoughts to moving Zach Martin outside.

I very much like the inside combinations that involved with the presence of Travis Frederick, Leary, Nwaneri, and Mackenzy Bernadeau.

I think that the future at left tackle is as important a decision as the OP points towards. Like X stated, I do like the development of Jermey Parnell. I'd like to see a definitive decision made upon him now. He does remind me of a player developing, such as Mark Tuinei. But another concern, is the need to keep options open this next season for the defensive box area. Parnell would be sweet if he does leave solid footprints further as to his career outside. He would meet a needed value if he does...or Doug Free gets another contract.