O-line has to be #1 priority over everything else offseason.

[Largent80]

This line got blown up inside all season. Hunt, while short was stout and got absolutely TRUCKED repeatedly. Britt had a bad injury. Hunt is FA. I say draft one of the many very good C available this draft, also draft a good G. We have crap at G right now. Iupati is done. Pocic is injured more than healthy. Fluker is signed for one more year.

C and G are huge needs and both are in good supply this draft and we are loaded with pics.

 

[John63]

Here is my theory on why we should spend more on DL than OL. With the premise that the key to success for either line is protecting your QB and/or disrupting you opponents QB.

The Story For Paying DL-
Pass Rush can be solely generated from one player, you put your best man on ours and having an elite Passrusher can still get you pressure and sacks. You coudl have one completely crap DL and you can still have a stellar Pass rush.

Run Stopping cannot be effective with only one great run stopper on the line. It is really a matter of the weakest link. If you have one poor run defender the whole DL can look like crap. But back to the key to success this is not the key success factor.

The Story against OL-
It only takes one bad linemen to make the whole line look like. You could pay $100mil to 4 lineman and if you have one that just sucks, the other team can still get pressure on your QB.

Where having a great run blocking lineman can potentially blow a hole in the DL and it won't matter if there is a weakness somewhere else

So basically I say spend the money on 2 or 3 top notch DL who can disrupt the QB and continue to protect Russ's blindside and lets try to overachiever without backing up the brinks truck to a bunch of other O linemen.

Okay and if one of the oline weaknesses leads to Wilson being injured and out then what? OR are you saying we can win without Wilson?

 

[Sprfunk]

I would love a dominant Oline. They are just hard to come by. It generally takes years to gain the skills at the position, and when they get decent they get paid generally more than we can afford, or want to afford. Rock/hard spot.

 

[TwistedHusky]

#1 Priority should be a new DC.

 

[TheLegendOfBoom]

1A. Offensive line
1B. Defensive line
1C. Defensive coordinator
1D. Pete Carroll learns better clock management
1E. Cornerback

 

[justafan]

After the year our D had we need an infusion of speed and Dline help but with the way the draft looks to be shaping up it would make sense to focus on the O line. Maybe the quickest answer to Dline is free agency and cover our butts with finding tackles and center.

IMO we could easily come away with 2 tackles and a guard or center. Haynes and Jones could develop to become good guards. There are some good centers in the draft so maybe thats the way to go.

 

[kf3339]

This line got blown up inside all season. Hunt, while short was stout and got absolutely TRUCKED repeatedly. Britt had a bad injury. Hunt is FA. I say draft one of the many very good C available this draft, also draft a good G. We have crap at G right now. Iupati is done. Pocic is injured more than healthy. Fluker is signed for one more year.

C and G are huge needs and both are in good supply this draft and we are loaded with pics.

yep, I agree with your inside OL needs as well. There are actually some really good OG and C in the late first, early 2nd that we could target. Of course, who knows what JS and PC have in mind, but would be very happy if they went this route.

I wonder if they sometimes forget just how much they're paying our All World QB, or not.

 

[scutterhawk]

Based on your first paragraph wouldn't a first rate D Line be most important?

What I mean is that we have to contend with Bosa and Donald in our division. We need lineman that can compete with them.

What's the point of having a first-rate D lineman when we are putting our QB at risk? Wilson by himself is worth at least 8 games and a fighting chance for an SB. Thats why getting him protection imo should be the number one priority.

Hard to argue with your reasoning blaze, There's a damned good reason you'd want to bolster your Team MVP.
By the same token though, I don't think Pete & John have abandoned RW ( like many in here have claimed), picking up DJ Metcalf last year to go with Lockett & trying to shore up the RB stable, I don't think they were anticipating so damned many Offensive player injuries, I think they got caught with their Jock-straps down.
That many injuries DO MATTER, and even with all the odds stacked against them, coming out with a 12 & 6 season = REMARKABLE.
Hard to imagine how well Wilson could do with a mostly healthy Offense Line, RB's & TE's eh?

 

[scutterhawk]

This line got blown up inside all season. Hunt, while short was stout and got absolutely TRUCKED repeatedly. Britt had a bad injury. Hunt is FA. I say draft one of the many very good C available this draft, also draft a good G. We have crap at G right now. Iupati is done. Pocic is injured more than healthy. Fluker is signed for one more year.

C and G are huge needs and both are in good supply this draft and we are loaded with pics.

I think if they pick up a decent RT & C, Fluker would have a lot better showing, You're only as good as the guys that are playing on either side of you....too many plays...Fluker had his butt hanging out in the wind, TRYING to help those other two.

 

[HawkerD]

I get what you are saying and agree with you unfortunately Pete & JS just won't go for it. This has been a problem the entire time they have run the team. Heck if I recall correctly Russell had to take a pay cut in order to get Duane Brown.

It’s not that they don’t want a good OL. They just are piss poor at assessing young talent. That’s PISS POOR! They are living off 2012 and 2013 drafts for 6 years now. It time we wake up.

 

[Largent80]

This line got blown up inside all season. Hunt, while short was stout and got absolutely TRUCKED repeatedly. Britt had a bad injury. Hunt is FA. I say draft one of the many very good C available this draft, also draft a good G. We have crap at G right now. Iupati is done. Pocic is injured more than healthy. Fluker is signed for one more year.

C and G are huge needs and both are in good supply this draft and we are loaded with pics.

yep, I agree with your inside OL needs as well. There are actually some really good OG and C in the late first, early 2nd that we could target. Of course, who knows what JS and PC have in mind, but would be very happy if they went this route.

I wonder if they sometimes forget just how much they're paying our All World QB, or not.

Rarely do we get a draft where our draft picks align with what we need and what will be there. This isn't a draft to be "cute" or sexy. Pick some proven (in college) guards and a center. There are a bunch available. This draft will determine our window for several years. It may be the most important of the PC. JS, RW era.

Yeah we need DL, but the OL is also in transition

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Both sides of a the line need to be top priority. Swiss cheese blocking and a zero pass rush for a good portion of the season. That must be fixed.

 

[Appyhawk]

Pick your poison.
Our O Line sucked due to injury, but also due to the high level of D Line our opposition has assembled (Rams and Niners for example). Our D Line was simply not up to level needed, which led to added pressure on our secondary, points scored against, both of which increased pressure on our offense. We gave up inordinate yardage on a consistent basis.
So we have a conundrum of priorities.
Football is football. You win at the line of scrimmage or you don't win. We have to fix our lines both sides of the ball. Or accept life as an also ran.
This draft has more talent available on O Line. That's where I would start. Spend cap money on D Line and CB.

 

[Largent80]

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=162843

 

[Keyhawk]

Totally agree .... O Line is top priority

 

[onepicknick1]

I agree the OLine is a problem, but to say the team has thrown resources to upgrade this unit is incorrect.

It’s quite simple, because fans forget some minor details, like Tom Cable.

He coached the team from 2011-18 and he had a lot of say on who we should draft since he was looking for athletic type lineman to play his zone system. The team drafted a whopping 16 Olineman during his time, the most of any team during this time period. And, the next team was not even close.

2011: James Carpenter, John Moffett
2012: JR Sweezy
2013: Ryan Seymour, Jared Smith, Michael Bowie
2014: Justin Britt, Garrett Scott
2015: Terry Poole, Mark Glowinski, Kristjan Sokoli
2016: Ifedi, Rees Odhiambo, Joey Hunt
2017: Pocic, Justin Senior

We had salary cap limitations the past two years limiting its ability to go after free agents.

Mike Solari has done a lot with less. He stabilized the Oline.
-D Brown regressed w/Cable. Solari installed a completely different system and Brown excelled.
-Ifedi was terrible, but he played better.
-Sweezy, Fluker, Iupati. Aging and oft injured. they succeeded here.
-Jordan Simmons. Oft injured at USC. Waived by the Raiders. No offseason w/the Hawks, but he filled in nicely for Fluker last year.
-Jamarco James. Never played OG in HS or college but did a good job filling in for a Fluker and Iupati.
-Phil Haynes. Looked good against GB with little time to prepare.

I suspect the team to sign a player Solari,s worked with/knows his system. I also believe we’ll draft several Olineman. He has spent 2 years w/the Hawks, but he’s managed to do a lot more with less when you compare with Cable.

This is absolutely correct but why do you think it was Tom Cable I like how people think. Do you think PC and JS don't have any input Hunt was an absolute joke this year. Do you think they draft lineman thinking well he might do he might make the 53 man roster no they draft who they think is quality lineman and they're not IMO they need to hire someone that knows how to grade lineman because it's apparent this is there achilles heal. They've been selling this crapy line for years not able to confess to themselves maybe we need some help.

 

[BASF]

Do you think PC and JS don't have any input Hunt was an absolute joke this year.

It's a little difficult to play well when you are playing on a broken leg for ninety percent of your snaps.

As far as the discussion, we had the twenty-sixth ranked defense and the eighth ranked offense, but offense needs to be our top priority? A little bit of a stretch there.

 

[Sports Hernia]

Do you think PC and JS don't have any input Hunt was an absolute joke this year.

It's a little difficult to play well when you are playing on a broken leg for ninety percent of your snaps.

As far as the discussion, we had the twenty-sixth ranked defense and the eighth ranked offense, but offense needs to be our top priority? A little bit of a stretch there.

Yep. Defense IMHO should be a priority. Not sure I’d draft an o-lineman unless it’s a
Can’t miss prospect. Hawks have sucked at developing O-linemen. Go the FA or trade route.

 

[xray]

both lines

 

[scutterhawk]

An above average offense coupled with a below average defense = an average team overall . Average teams seldom make SB appearances . The Hawks need upgrades on both lines .

What you are suggesting is Balance?...…….Who ever heard of such a thing? :smilingalien: