Todd Wade is the man at Left Guard

I think the only area of concern about Wade to me is run blocking, bc. he will have to get under the DT to move him and it a whole lot easier for a guy 6'6" to get under a guy thats 6'4" than it is for someone who is 6'8" to get under the same guy; that and getting to the next level and blocking a LB BUT... I think that he will GREATLY IMPROVE our pass protection over Dock now that he will not only have help from big bodies on BOTH sides but he also is going to be blocking slower players than hes used to. But with as much as we run the ball his mobility could be the big issue

What I'm most excited about is Wade's ability to pull. We'll finally have someone like Thomas on the other side who can get out into space. How effective he'll be remains to be seen, but there's no way he's worse than Dockery.

It seems to me that if you can play tackle you can play guard. Jacoby made the switch and he was a big man. Nobody will know for sure until the season starts. Until then its just speculation. Just remember that this aint the first rodeo for Buges. I think he has guys that he likes in this group. I expect the trend of the last five games to continue into this season. Good luck to Rest of the League (ROTL) stopping our run game. Now I'm getting all fired up.

Todd Wade has outstanding work ethic, I think he will do a fine job at starting LG. We won't even remember who dock was, we'll read about how they overpaid for a middle of the road guard, that's not playing as well as they expected.

If we are going to be a successful team, there should be no talk of hiding Wade away in the line or that the guard spot is somehow unimportant. Our running game will need for him or anyone else at that spot to perform just like any other spot on the line. Bottom line is that buges didn't start doing this yesterday so if he is confident enough to name him the starter this early in the offseason then Wade must have some skills.

The key will be Saunders scheming to use Wade's strengths and minimize his weaknesses. Wade's not going to line up and mash guys like Dockery did, so running right behind him on goallines is probably out.

But Saunders loves to get his RBs out on the edge, and as has already been said, Wade's strength will likely be pulling and blocking out in space. I'd look for more pitches and sweeps to the left side of the field. The left side is shaping up to be the athletic side, while the right side is more power (though Randy Thomas is a nasty mix of both).

Care to elaborate?

Why won't Wade work at LG?

Becasue this guy has been an average RT his whole career. He was released by Houston and Miami. So how is this guy going to change positions this late in his career and be effective, when he wasn't effective on the worst line in the NFL? If it was college I wouldn't be so worried. But this is the NFL. I just don't see it working. If he was switching from LT to LG then I wouldn't be so worried. Joe Jacoby did this w/ alot of success. Most of the time guys switch from guard to center or vice versa. Raleigh Macenzie did this as well. But RT to LG isn't very common and that's becasue of all the different footwork. I hope I'm wrong but I think the coaching staff is putting way too much stock in the one game he started.

Or maybe Wade should have been a LG all along but was being misused at RT?

Or maybe Wade should have been a LG all along but was being misused at RT?

I think your onto something Capt. Obvious......?

Becasue this guy has been an average RT his whole career. He was released by Houston and Miami. So how is this guy going to change positions this late in his career and be effective, when he wasn't effective on the worst line in the NFL? If it was college I wouldn't be so worried. But this is the NFL. I just don't see it working. If he was switching from LT to LG then I wouldn't be so worried. Joe Jacoby did this w/ alot of success. Most of the time guys switch from guard to center or vice versa. Raleigh Macenzie did this as well. But RT to LG isn't very common and that's becasue of all the different footwork. I hope I'm wrong but I think the coaching staff is putting way too much stock in the one game he started.

He wasn't released by Miami, he left as a free agent for a big contract in Houston.

Houston let him go due to injury problems, which appear to be behind him now.

I'd trust the coaches on this one. There were a few attractive free agents out there, like Edwin Mulitalo, and the Skins barely showed any interest. They must be pretty confident in Wade.