Scruggs, Patterson, Fisher, and Howard. That is what they are banking on to improve with the change in scheme. A 1st rounder, 2 - 2nd rounders, and a sixth rounder. The other are vets to help with leadership.
Nobody has given up on him. He's gotta get better because he's got real competition for his job. He looked like a rookie last yr.
I haven't even given up on Metche and Hutchinson yet. But I do think Demeco is doing the equivalent of WAR in baseball while others continue to use BA which doesn't include things like penalties, blocking on running plays and the dreaded SWARM in practice. How many times have you heard the players repeat his theme, gotta put in the work in practice to execute on Sunday?
I haven’t given up on Metch either but I really like him in college and might be holding on to that. Hutch, I don’t really care for because he was a late pick. I kinda don’t care after the 4th unless it’s someone I knew in college.
Yes, I'm concerned about the offensive line. How could anyone not be concerned? Last season the offensive line play was a train wreck. But, I think there is room for hope. We didn’t stand pat and just hope for the best. We did make some major changes. Now, you can make the argument that the vet players we brought in are no better than the players we got rid of. But, I’m hoping that our younger players will show improvement in their second and third years. Fisher, Scruggs, and Patterson have all played a relatively few games as pro players. I’m looking at those guys to improve our line play more than the vet players we brought in. So, I think we do have reasons for hope. Also, we have new coaches, so that could also make a difference. Still concerned, but willing to give the new players and coaches a chance.
Sometimes the sum of the whole is better than a collective of a few. At least that is what I am pinning my hopes on. I also know we won a playoff game with the mess we called our o line last year. No where to go but up!! Right?
Coaching. The real way our offensive line will improve is with new schemes and better coaching. I think it was overblown how bad they actually were last year because any exotic look or stunt by the d line automatically resulted in a free rusher. It was more about lack of communication and leadership. Hopefully with Slowik out the guys will be more accountable. That's the hope,
I'm hoping the new coach makes a big difference too. Remember after Stroud's first year when everyone said our offensive line would be fine last year, and blamed it on all the injuries the previous year? Then last year with healthy starters Stroud got sacked over and over and over and over and over? The excuses then went to it just being the coaching. I'm guessing it's a bit of both, but hopefully our younger players get better, and our new coach can draw up better plays, and CJ gets the ball out faster this year. As much as I b*tched about Tunsil he was one of our best players, and is gone. With Diggs gone and Dell out we aren't really any better at WR than last year, so CJ hopefully gets better too. Hopefully our draft picks can stay healthy and we avoid so many of the injuries at WR we had last year. It seemed like almost every other week one of our top receivers was out for injury.
All I can say is that the organization must be very certain that the OL wasn't coached properly because their lack of urgency to address the issue much in the draft has been surprising. I hope they are right!
Tunsils stats are inflated in my opinion. Even if he didn't give up sacks it was mostly because he got a penalty before. Penalties killed our offense just as much as sacks. Dude had 6 false starts in 1 game... I don't think we will miss him as much as you think.
I didn't like Tunsil because of the penalties, but I have to question if the guy they got in free agency as his replacement is going to be a better player. It's the sacks that killed us too. So many lost downs and yards. That, and CJ's risk of injury every time.
Our guard play was so terrible that CJ got sacked so quick on the middles that probably had a lot to do with why Tunsils numbers look good as well. Even if he got beat it didn't matter cus the other guys were already beat. That being said we needed to improve the interior, but maybe the guy they drafted will start at guard first.
I'm also a bit shocked that they didn't draft a single interior offensive lineman (IOL) in this draft. Maybe that's just how the draft board fell, or perhaps they just didn't prioritize the IOL. Concerning given the IOL struggles last season. Many perceived the IOL as the team's greatest weakness. I'd disagree that was merely a "lazy narrative". Suspect they'll continue to address by trade or in free agency. But surprised they didn't even pick up any IOL in the draft.
