Another Oline Thread... Food for Thought.

[JTech194]

I found an article on bleacher report saying that L'ael Collin could win a starting G spot in Dallas because the cowboy's current LG isn't very good in pass protection. and this made me think, I also recall that the Seattle Seahawks had a guard that was rated low in pass protection, the Patriots lost a probowl caliber guard and still won the superbowl, Which brings me to my point. How Important is a G? People are making it seem as though this team has no shot at making the playoffs if the Guard play (specifically in pass protection) isn't good. And I'll argue that if you have a super bowl or deep playoff run, caliber team, a guard will NOT stop you from getting there. if you have a QB that knows the offense like the back of his hand and can get rid of the ball (Brady) OR a QB with some excapability (Wilson) Guards that aren't very good at pass blocking shouldn't be a big deal. Why? Because you can get rid of the ball or buy yourself time because THEY'RE COMING FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE FIELD, RIGHT IN THE FIELD OF VISION OF THE QB. There's a reason why DE's get paid more than DT's because they are rushing from places the QB can't see. And if you can't see the rush, you can't dodge it, or get rid of the ball. Now what do those aforementioned guards have in common? They are both rated very high in RUN BLOCKING!! a guard HAS TO BE ABLE TO OPEN HOLES in the run game. Our guards did a decent job doing that last year. We were doing just fine prior to Albert going down where we had to shuffle things up with a rookie playing LT and a backup playing RT. Pass blocking is a MUST at the tackle position and it's no coincidence that things got a lot worse for Ryan when the tackle play got worse. My biggest concern on this line is Albert and Tannehills awareness Not the Guards. Your thoughts?

Acording to Brandon George of the Dallas Morning News, Collins has been working at guard this offseason and could unseat starting left guard Ron Leary. Leary was a liability in pass protection last season and was rated just 124th overall among guards in that category by Pro Football Focus. He was rated fifth overall in run blocking, however, which means Collins will have to excel in both areas to have any real chance of starting. http://teamstre.am/1MFSzI9

I think James Carpenter was the Seattle Guard that didn't rank real high in pass blocking but i could be wrong.

 

[Wildbill3]

you can lose a guard, you have to have good players elsewhere on the line. it restricts what you can do pass wise, you have to have a credible run game to overcome bad pass blocking and keep the defense honest.

 

[JTech194]

you can lose a guard, you have to have good players elsewhere on the line. it restricts what you can do pass wise, you have to have a credible run game to overcome bad pass blocking and keep the defense honest.

The inability to pass block affected us last year because we didn't have the skill position players to make up for it. It took Hartline a long time to get open, Wallace best routes were deep, and Thill didn't have the best pocket awareness and elusiveness, so if the Oline doesn't hold up for 5 seconds, the plays don't work. That's why Landry was so affective last year because he could actually get open quick. I feel like this year, we have players that can get open much faster which will discourage Dlineman from going balls out to rush the passer because they will get frustrated that the ball is out so quick, and they will try to sit back and tip the passes more. I don't know... At least I'm hoping this is the case :-\

---------- Post added at 01:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:31 PM ----------

you can lose a guard, you have to have good players elsewhere on the line. it restricts what you can do pass wise, you have to have a credible run game to overcome bad pass blocking and keep the defense honest.

Do you think we have good players elsewhere on the line to overcome poor guard play?

 

[maralieus]

The problem with that idea is your guards have to at least be serviceable. Our guards often have let rushers through so fast that they can sack tannehill before he even gets his feet set or hit Miller before he even has the ball secured. That's not good enough to get anywhere but a first round exit IMO. We need Mathis. Having him starting with Turner as the rg and Douglas the backup sounds so much better than having Douglas fighting for a starting spot with Dallas Thomas. I seriously don't see why they are even letting other teams think they have a shot. Nobody needs him like we do. We could go far if we have a good line. Without we aren't going anywhere far.