Ronald Leary has been a pleasant surprise

[mahoneybill]

Article from shortly after the draft:

http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sports/...d-be-a-steal-if-troublesome-knee-holds-up.ece

From what I recall most teams/draft sites had him as a 3-5 round talent but the knee scared teams off.

thanks for the link. great info

 

[mahoneybill]

It's a condition where he potentially could have a problem at any moment or not at all. Not a true degenerative condition since it may not get worse.

Lets hope he is in the " not at all category".

 

[RonSpringsdaman20]

leary is a pretty good guard.... love seeing him pull....

 

[Tusan_Homichi]

On that Murray TD run, he's a man possessed. He takes out 3 dudes and then after we score, he goes skipping down the field like a little girl. So awesome.

 

[gimmesix]

Im sure the different websites will post their statistical analysis and who knows what they will indicate. But to the naked eye, this guy has been a very pleasant surprise. He gave up a pressure but he was mauling and showing some impressive mobility in how he was able to reach his blocking assignments. We knew he had potential but it seems he has made significant jump in performance over the past season. Sure, that is the plan for all young players but it's never a given. With his measurables and performance, you could easily say he is playing like a 2nd-3rd round improving young player. That's 4/5 of a legitimate top 5 OL in the league at 25 years old and younger. Just want to give Leary some love because he is often overlooked and overshadowed by the 3 draft picks when discussing the development of the OL.

Knew he had the power, but he's displaying better range than I thought. He still has some trouble with quickness, but has definitely improved in that area. Should just get better and better if his knee holds up.

 

[manster4ever]

Im sure the different websites will post their statistical analysis and who knows what they will indicate. But to the naked eye, this guy has been a very pleasant surprise. He gave up a pressure but he was mauling and showing some impressive mobility in how he was able to reach his blocking assignments. We knew he had potential but it seems he has made significant jump in performance over the past season. Sure, that is the plan for all young players but it's never a given. With his measurables and performance, you could easily say he is playing like a 2nd-3rd round improving young player. That's 4/5 of a legitimate top 5 OL in the league at 25 years old and younger. Just want to give Leary some love because he is often overlooked and overshadowed by the 3 draft picks when discussing the development of the OL.

Great post and thread...leary was dominant yesterday... Getting to the 2nd level and mauling Seahags

 

[manster4ever]

On that Murray TD run, he's a man possessed. He takes out 3 dudes and then after we score, he goes skipping down the field like a little girl. So awesome.

Bingo... Hes a mauler!

 

[Idgit]

He's also an RFA after the season. At least he's restricted.

So, what do people think: who's our best OG after 6 games? You could make a good case for Leary after the last two weeks, which is something I never expected to be able to say with a straight face.

 

[Clove]

Nate Newton in the 90s, was basically a nobody until Jimmy started putting talent around him, then he becomes All Pro. It's funny how when you surround the team with talent, other players start showing up.

 

[Wheeltax]

Love having Leary perform well. Nice to see a fellow U Memphis guy, not many of those in starring roles around the NFL. Leary and Dontari Poe are the only ones that come to mind.

 

[Kaiser]

I love Leary but I discount the ratings on him a bit because he is playing between two beasts in Tyron and Fred. Easy to look good when you can focus completely on pounding the #%# out of the guy across from you.

The coaches said two offseasons ago that Leary had a shot at starting last year. He started and played well, now we are seeing an improvement as he matures into his starting job. The same coaches are giving Parnell, Weems and Hawkins roster spots and obviously believe in their potential as well, I still think one of those three is the starting RT next year with Free moving on.

 

[Clove]

I was shocked the amount of times they pulled him, and he was clobbering defenders, not just getting in the way.

 

[Kaiser]

BTW, some of the beat writers on Twitter are saying Free will be out a couple of weeks. Has that been confirmed?

 

[Wood]

Jonathan Vilma played 10 season at high level with same knee condition (osteochondritis dissecans).

 

[conner01]

Nate Newton in the 90s, was basically a nobody until Jimmy started putting talent around him, then he becomes All Pro. It's funny how when you surround the team with talent, other players start showing up.

that is very true. one weak guy on the oline can cause problems for other guys because you have to compensate for that.

 

[Texas_Pete]

BTW, some of the beat writers on Twitter are saying Free will be out a couple of weeks. Has that been confirmed?

Listening to Red on 105.3 The Fan, he just said they are still trying to determine the extent of his injury.

 

[Outlaw Heroes]

Lets hope he is in the " not at all category".

This is exactly what you can't do. Hope is a lousy contingency plan.

You basically have to treat Leary like you would an aging vet: assume he has a limited shelf life and will need replacing at any time. You might get lucky. He might play for ten years without the knee affecting him. You just can't plan for that.

Which is why, as good as he's been, you can't neatly lump him in with the three first-rounders in discussing the future of this O-line. His youth is, in a very real sense, potentially misleading.

Of course, he has nevertheless more than justified the investment the team made in him as a UDFA. Still, investing a draft pick in him would have been questionable given that he cannot be counted on (such that a draft pick would not adequately address the need without the further expenditure of resources needed to put the contingency plan in place).

 

[percyhoward]

Really impressed with his blocks on the Murray touchdown. First he fought over a defensive lineman to get to the next level and cut a linebacker. Then he had the presence of mind to reach out and block a third guy while laying on the ground just as that guy was coming up to hit Murray.

Everybody is talking about Romo-to-Williams on 3rd and 20, and rightly so. But two other plays that stood out to me were these two touchdowns: Leary on the play that you mentioned, and Witten's start-stop to get open at the goal line.

 

[mahoneybill]

This is exactly what you can't do. Hope is a lousy contingency plan.

You basically have to treat Leary like you would an aging vet: assume he has a limited shelf life and will need replacing at any time. You might get lucky. He might play for ten years without the knee affecting him. You just can't plan for that.

Which is why, as good as he's been, you can't neatly lump him in with the three first-rounders in discussing the future of this O-line. His youth is, in a very real sense, potentially misleading.

Of course, he has nevertheless more than justified the investment the team made in him as a UDFA. Still, investing a draft pick in him would have been questionable given that he cannot be counted on (such that a draft pick would not adequately address the need without the further expenditure of resources needed to put the contingency plan in place).

Agree that we need a longer term plan to ensure continuity. Right now I'm just interested if he can make it through the season based on what I had thought was a deteriorating condition.

 

[Zordon]

He's one of the leaders on the team imo. He's one of the guys you choose to be by your side in an alley fight. I love everything about the way he plays. He has some Marc Colombo in him.