As I watched our line play its worst that I have ever seen. I wondered to myself what was wrong with our line. I mean last year it was clear that our linemen simply lacked the talent to be a good line. There had no speed and no strength. This offseason we bought in young linemen to upgrade our line. One of the most important things for a line is cohesion. The chiefs have had one of the best OLs and they had played something like 25 straight games together at some point last year. On the OL everyone has to know where each other is going to be especially in picking up blitzes. I know most people are gonna say we should bench smith and maybe whitley. Maybe their right. Wade looked pretty bad tonight. But maybe if we give this line time to gel they can upgrade their level of play to sub-par. It could also be that our O-linemen lack the physical and/or mental talent to be NFL olinemen. Or it could be that Tony Wise is the worst OL coach ever. Since I am optimist I am telling myself that these guys will get better with time but deep down I have trouble beleiveing that.
Lack of OL talent or experience, or coaching
- Thread starter VJ1252
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Phinsfan1980
Practice Squad
Upgrade to sub-par. HA great quoteVJ1252 said:
It was that competitive spirit in last summer's training camp that was the catalyst to the Jaguars' dramatic development along their offensive line. Del Rio praised that group throughout the season, referring to it repeatedly as the most impressive area of his football team.
“That's something we've done since day one,†Boudreau said of promoting competition. “We're in the business of proving. You have to prove you belong on this football team. When you earn something, you have more respect for the job and the position.â€Â
The above comments were from a Jaguars site, March 26th 2004:
Same cannot be said for Tony Wise's line can it? Remember it was Wrongstate who sacked Boudreau and Westhoff to bring his Chicago coaching pals in.
Both replacement coaches have presided over a high rate of penalties against Miami. Whenever Wrongstate is interviewed about the penalties he states that they are "inexcusable". What is really inexcusable is that he allows them to continue, game after game after game.
The only thing Wrongstate is good at doing is waffling successfully to retain his job for SIX years at Chicago, and so far FOUR years at Miami.
“That's something we've done since day one,†Boudreau said of promoting competition. “We're in the business of proving. You have to prove you belong on this football team. When you earn something, you have more respect for the job and the position.â€Â
The above comments were from a Jaguars site, March 26th 2004:
Same cannot be said for Tony Wise's line can it? Remember it was Wrongstate who sacked Boudreau and Westhoff to bring his Chicago coaching pals in.
Both replacement coaches have presided over a high rate of penalties against Miami. Whenever Wrongstate is interviewed about the penalties he states that they are "inexcusable". What is really inexcusable is that he allows them to continue, game after game after game.
The only thing Wrongstate is good at doing is waffling successfully to retain his job for SIX years at Chicago, and so far FOUR years at Miami.
Saint Greg
Pro Bowler
VJ1252 said:
You answered your own question. Did you really think you could bring in 4 new starters and have a great line right away? It's simply not going to happen....I don't care if you have the 1st 4 picks in the NFL draft....I don't care if you bring in a couple of all-pros as free agents. The line has to work together as a team. It doesn't happen overnight. Ditka tried to do this with the saints....Wally Williams was a pro bowler..he signed him and Jerry Fontenot as free agents...his first two first round picks (both top 10) were Chris Naeole and Kyle Turley...The only person who had been on the line previously was willie roaf. It just didn't work. Fontenot and Turley ended up being pretty darn good. Williams had injury problems and Naeole was just a bad pick..he was asleep when he was drafted because he went in the top 10 and didn't expect to go until the 2nd or 3rd round..that's pretty bad....but still Roaf, Fontenot, Turley and a healthy williams would have made a good line if they worked well together it takes a year or two to gel.
I've never been a fan of Smith or Whitley....I think Carey and James were darn good moves. McIntosh is a decent move if he's healthy. With another good move or two, you have the makings of a pretty solid line in a year or two...but expecting it to happen overnight is expecting too much. Even if Smith develops into a good player..you can't just throw a rookie 3rd round pick in there at LT and expect him to be successful. I've seen this happen alot. Roaf started out at RT....Turley started out at Guard...then moved to RT...then moved to LT. Both were top 10 picks. Even Rober Gallery, a top 5 pick, hasen't been thrown into the LT spot. It's just too much to ask for most rookies...and way too much to ask of a 3rd round pick. I think you guys need to make a move next year..then i think you will be solid in 05...possibly damn good in 06. It's just not going to happen this year.
Phinsfan1980
Practice Squad
Funny stuff about Naoele sleeping when he was drafted.Saint Greg said:
All 3. Some aren't as talented as the staff would like us to believe. We have the youngest line in the NFL (total starts at least) and our coaching staff seems to be in a downward spiral.
FinzManiac
Practice Squad
this has to be the most terrible O-line I have ever seen. Hopefully we get some new coaches in the not so distant future who will help these guys come together. :shakeno:
fins4o8
Mac
jbond said:
agreed on all 3. our OL was in chaos most of the time.
ohall
A Miami Dolphins fan, not a players fan.
IMO the OL is lacking a leader and confidence. Someone in that OL has to step up and become the leader. I don't know who that will be, but someone has to at some point.
As far as the confidence goes, they are lacking that because they have not had succes as of yet. Looking back on it I think some of us were expecting too much too soon from this young group. We should have known better. They show signs of what they can do for 2 or 3 plays but then because they are young they tank it for the next 3 plays or so. For every step forward they take TWO back.
IMO a big step in gaining that confidence would be for our HC to name a starting QB, and say this is our guy no matter what. I don't know if this will happen, but at this point I think it is something that has to be done if we want to stop this bleeding.
As far as the confidence goes, they are lacking that because they have not had succes as of yet. Looking back on it I think some of us were expecting too much too soon from this young group. We should have known better. They show signs of what they can do for 2 or 3 plays but then because they are young they tank it for the next 3 plays or so. For every step forward they take TWO back.
IMO a big step in gaining that confidence would be for our HC to name a starting QB, and say this is our guy no matter what. I don't know if this will happen, but at this point I think it is something that has to be done if we want to stop this bleeding.
yankeehillbilly
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Not asking for a GREAT O-line. Just one that could stop my grandmother from sacking AJ .Saint Greg said:
right now they look like high school kids with no focus. they may have the talent as a group....but some are over-rated a bit and wouldn't be starting anywhere else. i.e. whitley/smith etc.
coaching needs to improve and the announcers said it best....something to the degree of 'they look lost, they need to block somebody....anybody....do something...'. THAT lack of focus comes from poor coaching and control of the team. Getting beat is one thing.....not even doing your job is another and stems from poor leadership and poor coaching. Better coaching and you'll see less missed blocks (albeit they may still get the crap kicked out of them at least they won't run around not knowing what to do). Give them credit for trying.....no focus however and appears to be no game plan and all doing their own thing. They should all know what their job is and how to handle a situation, that's Wise's fault which is why he was just looking at pictures not saying a word.
coaching needs to improve and the announcers said it best....something to the degree of 'they look lost, they need to block somebody....anybody....do something...'. THAT lack of focus comes from poor coaching and control of the team. Getting beat is one thing.....not even doing your job is another and stems from poor leadership and poor coaching. Better coaching and you'll see less missed blocks (albeit they may still get the crap kicked out of them at least they won't run around not knowing what to do). Give them credit for trying.....no focus however and appears to be no game plan and all doing their own thing. They should all know what their job is and how to handle a situation, that's Wise's fault which is why he was just looking at pictures not saying a word.
Birdman
Resident Pimp
THe O line Needs talent, and the coaches need to learn when to run and when to pass.
phunwin
The name's Bond...James Bond.
I think the talent is there, but there needs to be some changes. For one, I think Wade Smith needs to take a seat. Smith was two steps beyond awful last night. If nothing else, that needs to be done to give this unit a kick in the butt. He looked complacent in the preseason, and right now, he's not blocking anyone. Justin Smith made him look like a turnstile.
And I think that I would strongly consider putting Vernon Carey in. Put him in at RT or RG, it doesn't matter. This offense is going nowhere; might as well get him some on-the-job training.
And I think that I would strongly consider putting Vernon Carey in. Put him in at RT or RG, it doesn't matter. This offense is going nowhere; might as well get him some on-the-job training.