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The 2021 Offseason Thread

rossihunter2 said:
for what it's worth it sounds like it was a different lineup today:



but also i really dont mind mekari at tackle in a pinch - i wouldnt want him as the named starter for teams to gameplan but i think coming in mid-game his footwork and technique are still pretty natural at tackle - just lacks the length etc. to hold up there if teams know he's the starter

but sounds like it was phillips at LT today and Cleveland at LG
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It's not really so much of a knock on Mekari. My thought is it would be pretty poor roster-construction wise to head into camp with Mekari as your default third Tackle. Again, similar to LG, if he wins that job in a competition, so be it.

It's good to see Phillips working there also. Maybe he'll end up as a better Guard than Tackle in the long run, but right now, I would hope they're not pigeon holing him into one spot, because he could be competing at both right now.

Starting LG should be wide open, and Swing Tackle should be wide open. Quite frankly, they're kind of the only position battles I really care about at this point. You've got a lot of depth battles at various positions (WR, TE, QB, Secondary) but you've got two pretty key spots on the Oline that are largely undecided and will make significant impacts early on in the season.

Likely I'm thrilled that guys like Proche are having great camps and are starting to open some eyes, but at the end of the day, how much playing time at WR is he really going to get, even with a strong camp? Like I still see no possible way he plays ahead of Watkins, Hollywood, or Bateman.
 
rmcjacket23 said:
It's not really so much of a knock on Mekari. My thought is it would be pretty poor roster-construction wise to head into camp with Mekari as your default third Tackle. Again, similar to LG, if he wins that job in a competition, so be it.

It's good to see Phillips working there also. Maybe he'll end up as a better Guard than Tackle in the long run, but right now, I would hope they're not pigeon holing him into one spot, because he could be competing at both right now.

Starting LG should be wide open, and Swing Tackle should be wide open. Quite frankly, they're kind of the only position battles I really care about at this point. You've got a lot of depth battles at various positions (WR, TE, QB, Secondary) but you've got two pretty key spots on the Oline that are largely undecided and will make significant impacts early on in the season.

Likely I'm thrilled that guys like Proche are having great camps and are starting to open some eyes, but at the end of the day, how much playing time at WR is he really going to get, even with a strong camp? Like I still see no possible way he plays ahead of Watkins, Hollywood, or Bateman.
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my best guess right now is that phillips wins both the swing tackle and LG competition

if we know stanley cant go before a game begins id imagine he'd be our starting T with whoever the first backup on the interior is - but it might be the case that to maintain continuity if an injury happens in a game that he'd stay at LG and mekari might come in at LT to finish a game...
 
rossihunter2 said:
my best guess right now is that phillips wins both the swing tackle and LG competition

if we know stanley cant go before a game begins id imagine he'd be our starting T with whoever the first backup on the interior is - but it might be the case that to maintain continuity if an injury happens in a game that he'd stay at LG and mekari might come in at LT to finish a game...
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Mekari, LT? Jesus H Christ… the team really does want Lamar to get killed back there, don’t they

Also if Tyre (with one ‘e’) wins LG and becomes something even a bit close to KO, hell I'm all for it
 
Sizzle said:
Mekari, LT? Jesus H Christ… the team really does want Lamar to get killed back there, don’t they
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mekari's actually a pretty natural tackle still - just doesnt have the length - as a 4th tackle in an emergency he's really not a bad option - obviously not someone you want starting but we saw when he came in and played RT to finish a game last year (cant remember which one) that he was pretty good filling in
 
rossihunter2 said:
mekari's actually a pretty natural tackle still - just doesnt have the length - as a 4th tackle in an emergency he's really not a bad option - obviously not someone you want starting but we saw when he came in and played RT to finish a game last year (cant remember which one) that he was pretty good filling in
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I think he’s god-awful, but hell what do I know? I thought Cleveland would be great and didn’t expect Tyre to look like the next half-KO
 
listening to Spencer Schultz's observations from today and it really stands out to me that Cleveland's not ready at all:

- Joe D was getting on him about his stance
- he was tipping his blocks in 11v11 drills (which is super basic stuff that you dont even see college linemen do so idk why he's doing that)
- getting too high and leaning too much in his blocks
 
rossihunter2 said:
mekari's actually a pretty natural tackle still - just doesnt have the length - as a 4th tackle in an emergency he's really not a bad option - obviously not someone you want starting but we saw when he came in and played RT to finish a game last year (cant remember which one) that he was pretty good filling in
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Perhaps. I would have thought you'd want Villanueva on the left side if Stanley can't play, but I also understand why he'd be spending most of his time at RT in camp, since that's where he will mostly slot in and its where he really hasn't played in a long, long time.
 
i know it maybe seems like im ragging on cleveland - i dont actually dislike him or the pick - just was never as hyped about him and his play and im seeing those concerns from watching him in college play out in various people's camp observations

i would very much like him to succeed and he has some physical tools that are very exciting - but idk - i liked Tyre's tape better and he's also got an extra year over Cleveland too

ben cleveland has nice physical tools - but idk that they're anymore exciting than Tyre's... Tyre has longer arms, similar mass and is only an inch shorter in height - but he's a more natural lateral mover and uses his length better

cleveland despite his size doesn't sustain blocks as well as you'd always want

maybe if he fixes his pass set there might be some hidden lateral foot quickness and then suddenly he looks like a starting pro level player (and if he does then we'll probably see him starting by the middle of the year if tyre struggles)
 
rossihunter2 said:


a bit of a worry with cleveland (whole thread between cole and spencer if you click on the reply)
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I think Spencer is the guy who’s YouTube Ive been following closely, great content from camp, and he hit on that in his livestream today, said he was getting chewed out by Joe D in a drill designed to force you to drop low and he wasn’t holding his base and couldn’t flatten his back. He also said he’s running with the 1s a lot and said he showed what he’s good at a number of times today, and also feels like in game action he can use his length much better to wall off his gap, which was literally what made him a good pass protector in college. Cleveland very well could lose the starting job which he seemed to be pencilled in early on, but that doesn’t mean he’s doomed to fail. If you watched his tape none of this is surprising. Honestly if he lost some weight and better conditioned himself and picked up yoga he would probably come out an absolute machine, Cleveland doesn’t strike me as the type to lose weight or pick up yoga though.

Phillips is back at OT and he said he had a great day at LT.
 
rossihunter2 said:
proche is doing exactly what you hope a 2nd year player on the bubble will do especially with vets etc. out

proche right now is basically the stalwart WR option with the 1s (although at this point with all the absences on offence it's hard to call them the 1s)

making the absolute most of the extra reps - he's unlikely to ever consistently win vertically but he's a tough cover and reliable - and right now he's building the coaches's trust
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My biggest hope is that our play callers utilize him. He’s going to draw very weak coverage on most of his limited in game snaps, he needs to be assigned these quick lateral routes, and use him wisely, struggling to move on first down to give ourselves easy 2nd downs? Hit proche for a quick 5 yard out as everyone keys in elsewhere, little situational shit like that is where our playcalling has been so bad.
 
JoeyFlex5 said:
I think Spencer is the guy who’s YouTube Ive been following closely, great content from camp, and he hit on that in his livestream today, said he was getting chewed out by Joe D in a drill designed to force you to drop low and he wasn’t holding his base and couldn’t flatten his back. He also said he’s running with the 1s a lot and said he showed what he’s good at a number of times today, and also feels like in game action he can use his length much better to wall off his gap, which was literally what made him a good pass protector in college. Cleveland very well could lose the starting job which he seemed to be pencilled in early on, but that doesn’t mean he’s doomed to fail. If you watched his tape none of this is surprising. Honestly if he lost some weight and better conditioned himself and picked up yoga he would probably come out an absolute machine, Cleveland doesn’t strike me as the type to lose weight or pick up yoga though.

Phillips is back at OT and he said he had a great day at LT.
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i already know that i want to see ben cleveland running lateral foot quickness drills next offseason (as well as pilates/yoga type stuff) - he's really stiff right now and it limits the technical improvements he can make
 
JoeyFlex5 said:
My biggest hope is that our play callers utilize him. He’s going to draw very weak coverage on most of his limited in game snaps, he needs to be assigned these quick lateral routes, and use him wisely, struggling to move on first down to give ourselves easy 2nd downs? Hit proche for a quick 5 yard out as everyone keys in elsewhere, little situational shit like that is where our playcalling has been so bad.
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he's gonna be someone who we'll probably find is pretty successful on 3rd and medium/long passing situations where we clear out the field and he's isolated on a safety or 3rd/4th string corner and converts - his success i think is gonna be directly related to 1) how much passing we do as an offence and 2) how good the pass protection is without playaction
 
Sept 8th, 2022 is very likely the start of the 2022 season. Orioles just released their schedule and they are not playing a game that day. We can finally get our home opener on Thursday Night after we win the Super Bowl this season.
 
Sizzle said:
The guy is 5’8” (5’9” on a good day) and 180 pounds, COMPLETELY soaking wet… it’s a wonder he’s been this durable so far. I love him but damn if he had a few more inches to his height and about 20 pounds bigger, he would be a top 5 guy
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anyone interested in loaning for the football season. I have nothing to give...
 


ardarius washington making an appearance - sounds like he's played a lot of slot early in camp and is now getting the opportunity to play some safety - i feel like as the pads start coming on and we get closer to preseason we might see him start to make more and more plays especially if he's as smart as he looked on the college film
 


look at calais investing his time in the young guys - especially madubuike - you can tell he knew madubuike was something potentially special when he took him under his wing last year
 
rossihunter2 said:


look at calais investing his time in the young guys - especially madubuike - you can tell he knew madubuike was something potentially special when he took him under his wing last year
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And great job on Madubuike for actually taking it all in and allowing Campbell to mentor him as he has. Sometimes rookies, no matter what round they're drafted in, don't want to hear what the "older" guys are saying
 
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