Our OL IS awful and has been for years but...

[Carne Asada]

The real reason our QBs have been under consistent pressure is that we don't run well and/or often enough. The threat of a running game will greatly help. I estimate our pass blocking will improve proportionally to how improved our running game is. Both our running game and our pass blocking were ranked dead last and were orders of magnitude worse than second to last place.

If our running game can climb the steep cliff to 31st and then some I forsee our pass blocking will improve proportionally not only because front 7 players and blitzers will have to account for the running threat and won't be able to crash, stunt and pin their ears back but also because our OL will feel more comfortable and confident run blocking and once they wear the guy in front, our pass sets won't be as difficult.

 

[AdamD13]

If our running game can climb the steep cliff to 31st and then some I forsee our pass blocking will improve proportionally

So our pass blocking will also improve to 31st…this is good news and a reason to celebrate.

 

[1972forever]

The real reason our QBs have been under consistent pressure is that we don't run well and/or often enough. The threat of a running game will greatly help. I estimate our pass blocking will improve proportionally to how improved our running game is. Both our running game and our pass blocking were ranked dead last and were orders of magnitude worse than second to last place.

If our running game can climb the steep cliff to 31st and then some I forsee our pass blocking will improve proportionally not only because front 7 players and blitzers will have to account for the running threat and won't be able to crash, stunt and pin their ears back but also because our OL will feel more comfortable and confident run blocking and once they wear the guy in front, our pass sets won't be as difficult.

They signed the top rated offensive linemen in free agency. They also signed a young offensive lineman who was a starter on a very good Cowboys offensive line.

Hunt played very well at right guard last year and while I was hoping they would bring in a new center, Deiter actually wasn’t that bad last year.

RT is the huge question mark going into the season, IMO. I think that with better coaching, a different blocking scheme and another year of experience playing in the NFL, Eichenberg, Jackson, Jones and possibly Coleman can come in and show enough improvement to upgrade the RT position.

While the OL remains a concern until they show they are much better than last year. I do expect better play from that unit this coming season but only time will tell.

 

[Carne Asada]

So our pass blocking will also improve to 31st…this is good news and a reason to celebrate.

View attachment 109023

LOL, you did comically overlook where it says "and then some" right next to it. Also we were so far worse from the 31st place both rushing and pass blocking it'd be a substantial improvement to just catch up with second worse, let alone surpass them.

On another thread there was a ranking for the number of hurries given up and we gave up about 25% more hurries than second worse. Just shaving those would be a a heck of a lot better.

 

[Austin Tatious]

No question, when you can run the football, it helps your pass blocking too because the defense can’t just pin their ears back and have to be prepared to hedge their bets both ways. But ultimately it still falls on our offensive line to give the backs room to gain consistent yards on the ground. MM can scheme it up, but we will still need execution.

Armstead, Williams, and Hunt give us a good nucleus for the line but C and RT are the lingering concerns. We’ve heard Williams was tried at center but one of the media outlets (maybe Barry or one of the podcasts) indicated he struggled with the shotgun. Whether that’s hopeless, we don’t know. But I’m assuming Williams at LG until we hear otherwise. That would leave Deiter at Center where he graded out near the bottom of starting centers according to PFF.

The bigger issue is frankly right tackle. It’s Tua’s blindside and we need competent play there. Hopefully between AJax, Robert Jones, or Eichenberg, one of them is up to the task. Worst case, maybe Hunt kicks outside and you insert Eichenberg at RG (assuming Williams indeed holds down LG). Bottom line, Tua can get hit hard and injured from his blind side if it’s not fixed. It’s amazing that our offensive geniuses last year kept Jesse Davis out there, just letting Tua get clubbed and hurt. There were better options. Hopefully this year, it’s all behind us.

The best part is we have a head coach and offensive coordinator who will scheme line play better and they both understand offensive line play, in addition to having a new position coach. We have some young prospects who have struggled, but with better coaching, you never know, this thing could gel.

 

[phinzfan21]

A good run game will certainly help, hoping they can clear some lanes for that too.

 

[Kamelion4291]

Unless my understanding of what happened is way off, I believe it was as simple as teams being able to play at minimum cover 2 against us constantly because they could easily shut down the running game without the need for a safety to move up. In addition to that, because we were pressured so quickly due to our garbage pass blocking we had to hold in extra blockers which gave us even less targets against cover 2 and STILL couldn't buy enough time to push the safeties back.

Basically it was an unmitigated disaster and I said all year it was a miracle we scored any points at all.

With McDaniel, he'll run and run and run to get single high and then it's just going to be constant passes to Hill and Waddle in space. We went from a situation where teams could just stack everything up and not worry about anything to maybe being completely forced to play cover 2 even when they don't want to because of having two extremely good deep threats on the field at the same time.

If our line is merely average in both run blocking and pass blocking and guys stay healthy, there's no reason why we shouldn't have a top 10 offense.

It's going to be fun.

 

[ABFinsfan]

I still believe this O-Line is still a big concern. Yes it is better to start the season than last year, but what happens in the games Armstead doesn't play? C and RT need to be upgraded. For me I believe we need to sign Tretter or Paradis at center. Both are upgrades and we need depth at the position. Sign Daryl Williams for RT and pray he stays healthy. We also need to sign a LT to spell Armstead when he can't go. I believe Fisher would be a good signing. Yes he is not the healthiest, but maybe between TA and him they can piece togehter 17 games. The other decent LT out there are Brown, Reiff, and Solder. All of these are back ups now and would be good 1 year signings. I believe AJ and LE need more time to develop. and learning behind some veterens can't hurt.