Predict Our Five Starters On the O-Line

[Longtimefan]

Originally Posted by diehard

I don't think Mike Williams is going to cut it. He's way too slow. I want Rinehart in the mix. He was highly regarded coming out...

Chad Rinehart

You think MikeWilliams will be cut because you like Rinehart....umm interesting!!

I beg to differ....I think M. Williams will be the starting R/G (bar injury) when the season starts JMO. If there's an in-road to be had, he has it. He and our OC (along with Derrick Dockery) were college team-mates, there's some history there.

[MTK]

Yeah Shanahan had some good things to say about big Mike when we re-signed him. So you have to figure he's going to be a part of our plans going forward.

[T.O.Killa]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

There's some talk of actually moving Heyer inside to guard. Probably something they'll experiment with this summer

From what I have seen of Heyer, there is no way he can play guard. He does not get low, especialy on goal line and plays with poor leverage in the run game. Realy his strength is pass blocking with his long arms, and he sucks at that. Best place for him is Dallas, New York, or Philly.

[Lotus]

I'm still concerned about the middle of the OL, whether Heyer moves inside or not, but the main concern seems to me to be getting another tackle who can play better there than Heyer. Maybe some good RT will appear as a post-draft cut that we can pick up.

[over the mountain]

Originally Posted by CRedskinsRule

Williams(Brown)/Hicks,
Dockery/Hicks,
Rabach/E Williams,
M. Williams/Rinehart
Bushrod(Williams)/Heyer

I think Williams allows us to get Bushrod OR Brown from the Saints. If we get Brown, we start him at LT, and Williams at RT. If we get Bushrod than Williams starts at LT and Bushrod starts at RT

what makes bushrod an attractive option at RT? admittedly i never really focused on his play when i watched saints games this year but from what i read and his rankings, hes not much better than a heyer or jones.

i think he did well for being a backup plugged into a starting role but hes been with the saints for 3 years as a backup learning their system, had drew brees as his qb and a dynamic offense. putting up points and winning the SB may make every saints players efforts in 09 look probowl in rose colored retrospect.

with all that being said he ranked something like 68th overall for tackles last year. heyer and jones were 71 and 72.

idk about bushrod, local guy but still dont see him being anything more than quality depth, not a long term answer at either tackle spot.

[diehard]

Originally Posted by Longtimefan

You think MikeWilliams will be cut because you like Rinehart....umm interesting!!

I beg to differ....I think M. Williams will be the starting R/G (bar injury) when the season starts JMO. If there's an in-road to be had, he has it. He and our OC (along with Derrick Dockery) were college team-mates, there's some history there.

I didn't mean he would be cut. MW has limited range. He's slow footed. I cannot believe he thinks he can play OT in this league. Fans are quick to bash Heyer for giving up sacks. MW was just as bad. Most DEs in our division could run around MW twice untouched and still sack who's ever under center! Watch the tapes. All this dude has is size and strength. No speed. No stamina. He gets in the way of opposing defenders and his fellow linemen. He doesn't even dominate guys who he's lucky (or might I say say rarely) get his hands on. He have a better chance winning on The Biggest Loser. Rinehart could be the promising OL we long to draft today.

[CRedskinsRule]

Originally Posted by over the mountain

what makes bushrod an attractive option at RT? admittedly i never really focused on his play when i watched saints games this year but from what i read and his rankings, hes not much better than a heyer or jones.

i think he did well for being a backup plugged into a starting role but hes been with the saints for 3 years as a backup learning their system, had drew brees as his qb and a dynamic offense. putting up points and winning the SB may make every saints players efforts in 09 look probowl in rose colored retrospect.

with all that being said he ranked something like 68th overall for tackles last year. heyer and jones were 71 and 72.

idk about bushrod, local guy but still dont see him being anything more than quality depth, not a long term answer at either tackle spot.

umm, the grass is greener in New Orleans. My basic thinking is that Brown was better than Bushrod, but Bushrod was still better than anything we had, but I didn't really look deep at him.

[Longtimefan]

Originally Posted by diehard

I didn't mean he would be cut. MW has limited range. He's slow footed. I cannot believe he thinks he can play OT in this league. Fans are quick to bash Heyer for giving up sacks. MW was just as bad. Most DEs in our division could run around MW twice untouched and still sack who's ever under center! Watch the tapes. All this dude has is size and strength. No speed. No stamina. He gets in the way of opposing defenders and his fellow linemen. He doesn't even dominate guys who he's lucky (or might I say say rarely) get his hands on. He have a better chance winning on The Biggest Loser. Rinehart could be the promising OL we long to draft today.

There is some truth in the way you characterize Williams from the tackle position. It could be the reason why they feel G is the better position for him at this stage of his career. Also, you must remember that he dealt with various injuries for most of last season, couple that with it being his first time back in football after an extended absence could explain some of his uneven play. Look for him to be a much better performer this year, more so from the G position than that of tackle.

[diehard]

Originally Posted by Longtimefan

There is some truth in the way you characterize Williams from the tackle position. It could be the reason why they feel G is the better position for him at this stage of his career. Also, you must remember that he dealt with various injuries for most of last season, couple that with it being his first time back in football after an extended absence could explain some of his uneven play. Look for him to be a much better performer this year, more so from the G position than that of tackle.

OK. I'm a believer now. Go Skins!

[saden1]

Does sit really matter who starts? As of right now the best guy on that line is Trent Williams.

God help us

[Monkeydad]

Originally Posted by Longtimefan

I can just pencil in Williams instead of Okung now, and my origional group remain unchanged.

T. Williams L/T
D. Dockery L/G
C. Rabach C
M. Williams R/G
A. Hicks R/T

Subject to change between now and then.

Looking better. If we can upgrade one more position (either C, RG or RT), it'll look like a solid line.

[Dirtbag59]

Breakdown of all our O-Lineman

Trent Williams - Amazingly athletic, versatile prospect. Compares to....Ryan Clady. He will be a pleasant surprise this year for the people who didn't like this pick.

Derrick Dockery - Reported to have short area quickness and he's a solid NFL starter regardless of the scheme.

Dockery is one of the most consistent and durable players in the league. He has excellent size, strength and limited-area athleticism. He has great power and punch at the point of attack as a zone run-blocker, while having the strength and size to anchor versus interior bull rushers.

Casey Rabach - I personally like him in this scheme. He's smarter then most people give him credit for and he fits the athletic profile of a zone blocker.

Mike Williams - Putting a tackle at guard is always a plus when you want athleticism and from what I've heard about BMW is that he moves amazingly well for a big man. I would personally love it if he emerged as a starter.

Stephon Heyer - Apparently the Bronco's coaching staff fixed Clady's habit of bending at the waist so maybe they could help Heyer recover after his horrible year last year. It will also help if he's healthy. Of course keep in mind Heyer isn't nearly as athletic as Clady but as Shanahn said Heyer has "untapped potential." Weather he capitalizes on it or just said it to say it remains to be seen. I think our 4th round pick, along with who's available at Tackle when we pick will tell us a decent amount concerning how the coaches feel about Heyer.

Artis Hicks - Versatile strong lineman that apparently can play in a Zone blocking scheme in spite of the fact that he's pretty big.

He has decent initial pop off the line of scrimmage as a zone run-blocker and is best in a confined area. He uses his hands well to lock on but is inconsistent to stay connected to defenders. Hicks has average lateral agility and quickness, and gets exposed in space.

Chad Rinehart - Wildcard in the O-Line shuffle. Apparenlty he played well last year before getting injured so we'll see if he can live up to his potential this year. The fact that he played LT in college suggest he has the athleticism to succeed at Guard in the ZBS. At the same time I could easily see him getting cut.

Kory Lichtensteiger - I like his prospects of succeeding Rabach, especially if Rabach plays down to a lot of peoples expectations. He could also easily be in the mix to start at Guard.

Edwin Williams - I just want him, BMW, and Trent to start. Maybe Roydell Williams can get in at Reciever. However in all seriousness he seemed to generate a strong buzz in camp last year, but he's another guy I could see getting cut.

Conclusions:
We have a lot of people that have played Tackle, but not a whole lot of people I would be comfortable with playing Tackle for us. This includes BMW and Rinehart. Shawn Andrews seems to be catching some buzz around the fan base but that will likely be BMW 2.0 for us. We have some talent, now the only thing we need to find out is if Shanahan can experience the same success with "rejects" as he did in Denver.

Also right now I have 9 players listed as possible factors on the line. I think at max we carry 10, but thats pretty rare around the league to carry that many O-Lineman. Then again after last years walking wounded fiasco God knows we'll need all the help we can get.

[NYCskinfan82]

Love the the name BMW, hope he lives up to the value and reliabilty.

[Dirtbag59]

Originally Posted by NYCskinfan82

Love the the name BMW, hope he lives up to the value and reliabilty.

I guess it emerged last year out of necessity. I mean last year we had like a 1,000 people named Williams on our roster. This year it's like 1,500.

[JLee9718]

It'll be Williams at LT and Adams at RT.