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The Offensive Line Thread

Haven't seen the tape, and I was only able to catch the majority of the game today and not the entire contest. Obviously an absolute killer loss for Marshal Yanda to miss the remainder of the season. It could destabilize the performance of the offense, at least to a degree. I know that Myles Garrett was sidelined and Cleveland doesn't have much in the pass rushing department, but it was encouraging that Ronnie Stanley, Austin Howard, James Hurst and Ryan Jensen apparently only allowed 1 pressure each in 36 pass blocking snaps. Obviously a far bigger test coming next week.
 
Lost_In_Translation said:
Although this is true, going with Alex Lewis at LG was/is a terrible idea I hope we don't go with in the future, and not trying to find a replacement for Wagner until later was moronic. I've been saying it for awhile, and while I've been chastised for it, LG has been a big need since KO left. Lewis didn't play that well overall. We needed more. Sure, we got Howard who looks like he's going to be okay, but still. We should have committed to the rest of the line. We got desperate, hence trading late round picks for depth.

You're right. Ozzie is incapable of predicting the future. If he could, he wouldn't have a job in the nfl, but would play the stock market every day. But that doesn't excuse the fact that he neglected the offensive line this offseason. A mistake that might ruin our season utterly, and is something we should have addressed as a top priority. In fact, I think it will kill our season. We have to play some great pass rushers this year, interior ones included, and Flacco is going to take a beating. It will be our down fall since it seems to currently be our only weakness. Yanda was great in pass pro. Always took on the best interior lineman. Which was huge. Even with the dink and dunk stuff. I expect our pass protection be a massive liability and for Flacco to get hurt more.

At this point. A Flacco injury would be somewhat unexpected.
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So let me ask this- what would you have rather seen happen regarding the offensive line and what corresponding moves do you give up?

Also, Lewis was a really good pass blocker and there was a lot of optimism surrounding his status at LG in a gap/power scheme where he wouldn't have to move as much.
 
Lost_In_Translation said:
Hmmm.. Yeah I'd pay him that much. Given the increasing importance of having a good RT in today's NFL given the emergence of JJ Watt, Von Miller, Mack, who all line up on the right side.. Yeah. Not a bad deal. He's clearly an above average RT. Not to mention it's clearly a passing league and he's great at that, and Wagner has done well as a run blocker so far in Detriot per PFF. Sure, the Lions saw that as an overpay but given that he's an above average player at the position, and that right tackles have become far more important than they were in the past, and the fact that he's in his physical prime? Then yes. I would have paid him. RTs that can keep the QB upright are not a cheap commodity.

Williams on the other hand is still heavily rotated out on passing downs and sure he's made some strides, but he's not very good in that facet.

I'll the RT who doesn't have to rotate out of the game on third down over the one dimensional NT. Every day of the week. Wagner was a top ten RT in the NFL during his tenure here. I get why got he got paid that much. Stop underrating the RT position.
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Austin Howard has played very well these past two games and tbh he's completely justfying the decision of letting go of Wagner as of now. We're getting close to the same production through these two games as Wagner at literally more than half the price. I'm not a huge PFF fan but if they got him as the #6 RT than I don't think he's a problem for us. In our case, injuries just ruined everything. You don't put all your resources into the depth at RG when you have a proven iron man who plays at a elite level through any injury.

I didn't think in my wildest imagination that Yanda would ever be done for the year. Guy has been an iron man and even when he's got an injury he plays at an elite level. If there's anyone you want to be on to be there for you for a full 16 game season, it's Yanda.

I really did want Zeitler here, same with Lang and other LGs but I think that Lewis did enough to bet on him. Sometimes you have to just take a chance on guys and hope it pays off. We did it with Wagner when we needed a RT and it paid off tremendously with us getting CJ Mosley. We even did it with Zach Orr and it worked out as well. Extending Wagner probably would mean we don't get Carr and Jefferson and the secondary has been a longer issue than the OL. You just got to keep with your players and develop them, I honestly have no issues with moving forward with Lewis, it's just a damn shame he got injured.
 
29BmoreBird22 said:
So let me ask this- what would you have rather seen happen regarding the offensive line and what corresponding moves do you give up?

Also, Lewis was a really good pass blocker and there was a lot of optimism surrounding his status at LG in a gap/power scheme where he wouldn't have to move as much.
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I'm still upset that Lewis is hurt because I feel like he would've been really good for us this season. He was a really good fit for the system we have now.

To add, Hurst hasn't even been awful. He's played some solid football. If your back ups can come in and play good football then your depth wasn't bad to begin with. You're not going to be able to do a whole lot with 3rd string players out there. The flat out truth is injuries has shredded this OL completely.
 
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TheCity5 said:
I'm still upset that Lewis is hurt because I feel like he would've been really good for us this season. He was a really good fit for the system we have now.

To add, Hurst hasn't even been awful. He's played some solid football. If your back ups can come in and play good football then your depth wasn't bad to begin with. You're not going to be able to do a whole lot with 3rd string players out there. The flat out truth is injuries has shredded this OL completely.
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People are forgetting that he is a rookie! Theyre counting him out already like he cant develop into a quality guy, yet they will make excuses for people thatconsistently plays bad.
 
Deebo813 said:
People are forgetting that he is a rookie! Theyre counting him out already like he cant develop into a quality guy, yet they will make excuses for people thatconsistently plays bad.
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Who is this referring to? Just curious.
 
29BmoreBird22 said:
So let me ask this- what would you have rather seen happen regarding the offensive line and what corresponding moves do you give up?

Also, Lewis was a really good pass blocker and there was a lot of optimism surrounding his status at LG in a gap/power scheme where he wouldn't have to move as much.
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Lewis per PFF was ranked 137th out of 150th per pff at tackle giving up 4 QB hits and 17 pressures in 150 snaps. He was hornedous

Granted he was better at guard. But he still gave up one sack, 4 QB hits, and 3 pressures in 185 snaps. So he was 61/153 of all guards. So even then, he wasn't that great at all. When he was at his best, he was solid. Sure, in theory he'd have more upside in a power man, but again it's a gamble and not a great one. His output wasn't really that great. We should've and could've invested more. Sure, we drafted Siragusa, but even then a mid round rookie isn't going to solve our problems.
 
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