Will Our crappy O-Line kill cooleys production?

We have some talent on the line but they dont play like it. God I hate the left side...

My question is:
With 3 WR's, CP in the backfield and Cooley at TE, Is saunders going to keep cooley on the line to help block?
Portis is a great blocker but I think its safe to say that we would rather have the ball in his hands than cooleys.

I'm worried that Cooleys production will mostly come from 2nd and short plays.
Ideally, I would love to see cooley go down field taking a safety with him leaving the middle open for our WR's or vice versa, have our WR's take the safety deep and leave cooley over the middle being covered by a linebacker but I dont see our O-Line giving brunell enough time.

man its late, im going to sleep :(

I really dont think that our line is all that bad, and no I dont think that Cooley will suffer from keeping him to block. I think that Cooley will still get his TD's and what not. Remember defenses will not be able to play us like they did in the past by stacking the box to stop Portis. If defenses played us like that then maybe we would need Cooley to block more, but being that we have other WR threats than just Moss I highly doubt they will stack the box and if they do we have enough offensive power to make them regret in doing so...

i think this will be a big year for our line.might be one of the stronger suits of our team

I really dont think that our line is all that bad, and no I dont think that Cooley will suffer from keeping him to block. I think that Cooley will still get his TD's and what not. Remember defenses will not be able to play us like they did in the past by stacking the box to stop Portis. If defenses played us like that then maybe we would need Cooley to block more, but being that we have other WR threats than just Moss I highly doubt they will stack the box and if they do we have enough offensive power to make them regret in doing so...

i couldn't agree more, opposing teams will not be able to put 8 in the box for fear of us burning them on a pass play

I really dont think that our line is all that bad, and no I dont think that Cooley will suffer from keeping him to block. I think that Cooley will still get his TD's and what not. Remember defenses will not be able to play us like they did in the past by stacking the box to stop Portis. If defenses played us like that then maybe we would need Cooley to block more, but being that we have other WR threats than just Moss I highly doubt they will stack the box and if they do we have enough offensive power to make them regret in doing so...

I'll go one step further and say that suggesting that our line is crappy is downright crazy and makes no sense. First off, if we need a tight end to do some blocking for us, then Fauria will come in the game. Cooley will be expected to block about as often as Tony Gonzalez was expected to block.

Samuels is slightly overrated, but he's still a very good left tackle. He blocks all above average DEs in the game, the only guys he has trouble with are the superstars like Simeon Rice. Dockery is not a pass protection liability, he's so big that not too many DTs can get by him. The knock on Dockery in the past was always his discipline - too many penalties. But he curtailed that stuff last year, he was much better. He could still stand to improve his technique to harness all his power in run blocking, but overall he's solid. Rabach is unspectacular but solid, he's quick enough to get to the LB level of the defense, and he makes all the right calls on the line. Randy Thomas is a friggin beast, one of the best RGs in the game, big, athletic, and disciplined. Jansen is rock-solid, he struggles with guys like Strahan, but he can be relied on consistently.

Someone's going to have to convince me in what way our line is a weakness. That doesn't make any sense to me.

A line that produces a 1500 yard back, a 3000 yard passer and pushes the team into the playoffs in November and December is hardly what I would call crappy. Oh...and all of them are returning for the third straight year.

I think that it may be correct to say that our line has underacheived in the past, but I think that it is crazy to say that our starting line is any kind of liability. I expect them to be strong again heading down the stretch.

Schneed had it right, Fauria was brought in for his excellent blocking ability.

A line that produces a 1500 yard back, a 3000 yard passer and pushes the team into the playoffs in November and December is hardly what I would call crappy. Oh...and all of them are returning for the third straight year.

TRUE, can't deny it. Like Schneed pointed out, Samuels may be somewhat overrated, but basically had a good year. Dockery is coming along nicely, if a little bit slow. While not the HOGS, they are solid. With the new recieving core, it should only help them!

Calling our line crappy shows ignorance. Get some perspective and watch a team with a line that IS ACTUALLY bad. You'll see what a crappy line looks like. Is our line at "Hogs" level? Maybe not but it is in the top 10 in the league.