ckparrothead
Premium Member
****. Le'Raven Clark is good.
Slimm's 2016 Offensive Line (Seniors)
- Thread starter Pachyderm_Wave
- Start date
ckparrothead
Premium Member
I'm a USF guy and they rushed for like a billion yards with Marlon Mack and Quinton Flowers this year, so naturally I'm supposed to like some of their offensive linemen. Especially OG Thor Jozwiak. I think scouts like him. But I'm not sure I like him. Short arms, wide chest, lets people get into his body, kind of dumpy and lumbers around, doesn't really connect on blocks much, you know the type.
I get more excited watching how Brynjar Gudmundsson was able to slide inside to center after Austin Reiter left for the NFL, and really take care of business despite his natural position being guard. His first couple of outings were rough. I was at the games and thinking dude, this guy CANNOT snap the ball. That was even before he had any bad snaps. The signs were there. He went on to have some awful snaps and I'm just thinking, told you so. But that was his first game snapping the ball pretty much ever. Those practices before the game were even his first practices snapping the ball. They just dumped the position onto him because they were desperate and they had the most confidence in him as a total football player to learn it. To his credit, he did. Within a game or two you never notice the difference, and this was a shotgun-based offense.
To me that's a real good sign. You're looking for guys with unusual intelligence, strength, versatility, coachability, etc. As a player he looks more structurally sound to me than Thor Jozwiak. I probably wouldn't draft Gudmundsson, but I'd bring him into camp.
I get more excited watching how Brynjar Gudmundsson was able to slide inside to center after Austin Reiter left for the NFL, and really take care of business despite his natural position being guard. His first couple of outings were rough. I was at the games and thinking dude, this guy CANNOT snap the ball. That was even before he had any bad snaps. The signs were there. He went on to have some awful snaps and I'm just thinking, told you so. But that was his first game snapping the ball pretty much ever. Those practices before the game were even his first practices snapping the ball. They just dumped the position onto him because they were desperate and they had the most confidence in him as a total football player to learn it. To his credit, he did. Within a game or two you never notice the difference, and this was a shotgun-based offense.
To me that's a real good sign. You're looking for guys with unusual intelligence, strength, versatility, coachability, etc. As a player he looks more structurally sound to me than Thor Jozwiak. I probably wouldn't draft Gudmundsson, but I'd bring him into camp.
ckparrothead
Premium Member
I would gladly have California OL Jordan Rigsbee on my roster. I don't know if that son of a ***** is a starter or not, but he's the most through-the-whistle player I've seen in a bit. He takes to heart an offensive lineman's job of being an absolute frustrating as hell annoyance to whatsoever any defender is trying to do. People use terms like "never takes a play off" too much. This guy never takes a single second of a single play off. I wouldn't say he always finds a way to get the job done. But I would say he always finds a (legal) way to be a prick to defenders.
CBS currently has Clark as their 124th ranked player and 13th OT. I can't see that holding up. Here and there, he bends and reaches, but that's not a 4th RD frame/skill set.
Looking at the early results, there are a lot of OT's with great length in this draft.
ckparrothead
Premium Member
Joe Thuney has grown on me quite a bit. So much lateral mobility and range, good hands. Based on his size you keep waiting for some big 300+ pounder to toss him around like a rag doll but I've only seen it happen once, back in 2014 when Sheldon Rankins did it on one run play. But that game was not necessarily a win for Rankins against Thuney because Thuney more than held his own on the rest of plays they faced one another. The guy was moved to left tackle which isn't his position, and he had to face the likes of Noah Spence, Shaq Lawson, Demarcus Walker and Devonte Fields. He managed to be quite the annoyance for those guys at times. He took his licks particularly against Spence and Lawson, but again he's not a left tackle. And in the Louisville game on the occasions when Thuney and Rankins went one on one again, Thuney definitely got the better of Sheldon. He's an interesting player, runs a low 4.9 at 6'5" and 304 lbs, and that time was definitely not a surprise because his film drips with that kind of athleticism.
Tannenbombs
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He should go in the top 75 picks at the least.. I think he's a 4-1 and a utility lineman (who may be a viable starter at Left Tackle) is worth at least a 3rd round pick. Chaz Green went in the 90's to Dallas last year. He's not even close to Clark.......
And that draft had a much stronger top 100.
ckparrothead
Premium Member
Really appreciate Max Tuerk of USC. I'd like to study some film of him playing at the other OL positions as I've only seen him playing center.
Great bend, straight back, wide base, quick and effective hands (damn near 11 inches too), active feet. Certainly a savvy guy though he could use a bit more awareness in zone protection and at times some more discipline. One of the only centers I like on the pull, which means it goes without saying he's effective at the second level in straight up release or combo blocks. Has a get-it-done mentality, willing and effective at cutting. Can lose the hand battle with long-armed, really powerful guys. At only 300 pounds (which is where he is now) there's got to be at least some question about his anchor ability even if it didn't show up much on tape (at his USC playing weight of 285).
Obviously coming off ACL tear is a concern.
Reminds me quite a bit of Cody Whitehair actually. If Whitehair played center at Kansas State, which I'm sure he could do because he's a savvy guy, he'd be Max Tuerk.
Great bend, straight back, wide base, quick and effective hands (damn near 11 inches too), active feet. Certainly a savvy guy though he could use a bit more awareness in zone protection and at times some more discipline. One of the only centers I like on the pull, which means it goes without saying he's effective at the second level in straight up release or combo blocks. Has a get-it-done mentality, willing and effective at cutting. Can lose the hand battle with long-armed, really powerful guys. At only 300 pounds (which is where he is now) there's got to be at least some question about his anchor ability even if it didn't show up much on tape (at his USC playing weight of 285).
Obviously coming off ACL tear is a concern.
Reminds me quite a bit of Cody Whitehair actually. If Whitehair played center at Kansas State, which I'm sure he could do because he's a savvy guy, he'd be Max Tuerk.