O'line. Two holes to fill.

[hawksurething]

Now for the OTs & OGs...
There are zero good LTs in this draft,but some good OGs in late rounds are... J.Harrison(pro bowl ability,he just needs motivation which the hawks provide).

Fabuluje(weak in practice,but is great in live games),Shepherd,Matias,Tre Jackson,poutasi(but he will need a lot of coaching for years). That's about all the good OGs for hawks scheme.

Key traits that make good lineman are... 6'6 & up for LTs,long arms,knee benders,footwork,change of direction & quickness,punch,hand technique,recognizes twist & blitzes,mirror & sustain,2nd level blocking,recover,anchor,aggression & leg power.

As long as a lineman has long arms,kneebend,mirror,anchor,enough quickness & 2nd level blocking?...they will be OK for hawks system. The other stuff can be taught. I see hawks getting a few in mid rounds. Harrison would be boss !

Clemmings is a probowl RT,but i did not list him since he is going to high.

OGs added ability to pull.
If I'm missing a key trait or you know of a good O-lineman that will be good for sure? Please tell us

 

[Ozzy]

Dude you're back and still killing it. Nice work.

 

[chris98251]

Now for the OTs & OGs...
There are zero good LTs in this draft,but some good OGs in late rounds are... J.Harrison(pro bowl ability,he just needs motivation which the hawks provide).

Fabuluje(weak in practice,but is great in live games),Shepherd,Matias,Tre Jackson,poutasi(but he will need a lot of coaching for years). That's about all the good OGs for hawks scheme.

Key traits that make good lineman are... 6'6 & up for LTs,long arms,knee benders,footwork,change of direction & quickness,punch,hand technique,recognizes twist & blitzes,mirror & sustain,2nd level blocking,recover,anchor,aggression & leg power.

As long as a lineman has long arms,kneebend,mirror,anchor,enough quickness & 2nd level blocking?...they will be OK for hawks system. The other stuff can be taught. I see hawks getting a few in mid rounds. Harrison would be boss !

Clemmings is a probowl RT,but i did not list him since he is going to high.

OGs added ability to pull.
If I'm missing a key trait or you know of a good O-lineman that will be good for sure? Please tell us

Most important one, intelligence, stupid Lineman cause stupid panties, Why Unger was so good, why Jones and Gray were so good, why Tobeck and Yarno were so good. You have to be as hard working as any Franchise QB in study and being able to make the right calls, you need to see things before they happen and react as stated above, bu8t to do that you have to recognize it before it's in your lap. Another reason why the Tobeck, Gray, Hutchinson Jones combination was so lethal, all smart.

 

[hawksurething]

Now for the OTs & OGs...
There are zero good LTs in this draft,but some good OGs in late rounds are... J.Harrison(pro bowl ability,he just needs motivation which the hawks provide).

Fabuluje(weak in practice,but is great in live games),Shepherd,Matias,Tre Jackson,poutasi(but he will need a lot of coaching for years). That's about all the good OGs for hawks scheme.

Key traits that make good lineman are... 6'6 & up for LTs,long arms,knee benders,footwork,change of direction & quickness,punch,hand technique,recognizes twist & blitzes,mirror & sustain,2nd level blocking,recover,anchor,aggression & leg power.

As long as a lineman has long arms,kneebend,mirror,anchor,enough quickness & 2nd level blocking?...they will be OK for hawks system. The other stuff can be taught. I see hawks getting a few in mid rounds. Harrison would be boss !

Clemmings is a probowl RT,but i did not list him since he is going to high.

OGs added ability to pull.
If I'm missing a key trait or you know of a good O-lineman that will be good for sure? Please tell us

Most important one, intelligence, stupid Lineman cause stupid panties, Why Unger was so good, why Jones and Gray were so good, why Tobeck and Yarno were so good. You have to be as hard working as any Franchise QB in study and being able to make the right calls, you need to see things before they happen and react as stated above, bu8t to do that you have to recognize it before it's in your lap. Another reason why the Tobeck, Gray, Hutchinson Jones combination was so lethal, all smart.

Great insight. Thanks

That's a reason I don't like the center Erving in the draft as he is still learning,while Grasu & Marpet are already smart and will be picked in late rounds anyways

 

[NorCalSeahawk]

I can't see the team coming out of this draft without drafting 2-3 O-linemen and 2-3 DE/DT. They have holes to fill and depth issues at the moment on both lines and the team would be insane not to draft some guys for the present and for the future. I also would be shocked if the team doesn't end up getting at least one FA C/G, they need someone to start or at least push Lewis and Bailey in camp.

 

[BigMeach]

Couldn't RW just play like a Tecmo Bowl QB? Soon as he gets the snap run backwards 30 yards, then turn around and throw it to a wide open Jimmy Graham for a touchdown.

*dreams of pixelated TD dance* TOUCHDOWN

 

[jammerhawk]

Are stupid panties the giant white cotton ones your big bottomed Mom used to wear? I think however auto correct made a fun change for you from penalties. Lots of good posts in this thread.

After 5 seasons of watching the team deal with the OLine it is clear the all All Pro approach is not one they think is necessary for team success. When Pittsburgh was very competitive they had an economical moneyball type approach to their OLine and had some success despite what was seen as a less capable OLine. Perhaps the Hawks are following this model and seemingly prefer that their guys be better run blocking than pass protectors, but maybe the plan really is to manage the cost of the OLine and make do with lesser quality players as long as they can runblock. The trade for Graham and the loss of Unger will require some adjustment but Unger had been somewhat unreliable in terms of availability the last 2 seasons. To me the upside from Graham far outweighs the downside from the loss of Unger, however time will tell. As well it was clear the team had seen enough of Carpenter to know they'd seen everything he could do and there wasn't any more upside except that which came through continuity and even there he was injury prone too. Ultimately I suspect the team saw they may be able to do better, cheaper. In terms of this line of thought we could be watching Okung's last season in Seattle unless his play improves b/c they will not likely pay him major money to stay.

I'm unsure that Bailey is the answer at LG as he has not shown he's a very strong run blocker but is a fairly good pass protector and may just be best used as the swing tackle or utility man guy. I suspect the team will continue to look to add another veteran player at OG or C but will draft several candidates to compete for roster spots. Several of the backups the team has on the roster at present may just have as yet unknown potential. It could be that one or more of the crew of Lewis, Gilliam, Milton, Isles, Davis, Wheeler, Nowak, or Renfrow will become a starter but they all hail from the ilk of UDFA (few were actually drafted) and they all have a good way to go to be starters but there are reasons why they are here beyond being just emergency fill-in players.

The '05 OLine was likely the best in the history of the team and the team has struggled to find genuinely talented players to replace several of the elite, very capable, and unheralded guys that played on that OLine. Blocking for a movement QB is different and requires special guys who may not fit the classic mould of player that the draftniks get moist about. those guys with the needed athletic ability may be found deeper in the draft than many think at first glance. So far the team's approach to the OLine has been satisfactory in terms of result, though at times ugly in terms of execution while playing. Finding a few guys that surprise and are in fact an improvement over those leaving would be sweet. I'm curious to see what the FO plans on doing.

 

[Hendo66]

Still surprised they haven't pulled the trigger on Wis yet.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Sounds like (if you believe Clayton, which is iffy at times) that he's asking around 5 mil a year, and the Hawks are offering around 3 or 4. Who knows, but would be nice to get him on the roster, along with another O-Lineman before the draft.

 

[Largent80]

Hopefully all holes get filled....... :shock:

 

[Seafan]

This draft is deep in OLs. The team will draft a couple and sign a few more after. I'm not worried. They like the young guys, Lewis, Gilliam, Bailey, Milton, Wheeler and Renfro. They are doing their due diligence searching for vets. But IMO they see this draft as offering better replacements than what is out on the vet market. As long as the Hawks have Cable and RW they don't need a lot of high end talent on the OL and no need to pay high end money for low or middling talent when they can go into the draft and pick up decent enough linemen. After the draft there will still be vets on the market who can be plugged in if needed. Likely there will be more.

 

[bigskydoc]

I was thinking about how a team could go about building a successful, primarily run blocking, O-line with the current CBA and salary cap, and thought it would be interesting to look at a couple of 2014 O-lines for comparison.

*

The first is a slightly over-rated, top tier line that excels in run blocking, was league average in pass pro, and comes with a 2014 cap hit of 11.5 million and an average age of 25.6. For the season, they were ranked 1st in Run Block and 17th in Pass Pro by Football Outsiders, and ranked 1st overall by PFF (4th in Pass Block, 2nd in Run Block, 2nd in Penalties).


The second is a slightly under-rated, league average line that excels in run blocking, struggled in pass pro, and comes with a 2014 cap hit of 20.9 million and an identical average age of 25.6. For the season, they were ranked as 4th in Run Block and 24th in Pass Pro by Football Outsiders and ranked 19th overall by PFF (18th in Pass Block, 17th in Run Block, 30th in Penalties).


The lines are, of course, The Dallas Cowboys and The Seattle Seahawks respectively. I chose these two for the obvious reasons, and the fact that I see a lot of similarities in how they are built going into next year, and in the way they play.


Average age and years of experience (2.6 C vs 2.8 S) were almost identical last year, but the distribution is quite skewed with the Cowboys numbers being pulled up by only one player and ours pulled up by 2 players. The age distribution next year for both teams will be significantly more similar.


With the new Tyron Smith contract coming in at 12.2 million this year, and replacements for Unger and Carp, the total cap hit will probably be very similar next season. Probably a bit higher for the Cowboys unless we do something stupid like overpay for Wis. Both teams have big dollars tied into top tier left tackles (I would be happy to share the PFF rankings of Okung and Smith if they would quit refusing to take my money for a subscription).


The big difference is that the Pokes have their more experienced players on the edges with newer guys on the inside, while our experience level was heavily weighted from the center leftward in 2014. Going forward, our experience level distribution is likely to reflect what we saw with the Cowboys last year. Britt will improve with more time on the right edge, Okung will remain a top tier left tackle, and we will probably have roster churn in the middle.


I don't know how much you can glean from just a 2 team sample size, but I thought it was interesting to look at nonetheless. Probably the most interesting is to look at the experience level in the middle for the Cowboys G-C-G, knowing that we are likely to have a similar average experience level in the middle next year (albeit with players drafted in later rounds).


- bsd


*All data taken from 2014-2015 season, except age which is the current age listed for the player on the team websites.

 

[brimsalabim]

Having Ervin at center could make QB sneaks pretty interesting though. I think Russell could actually run beneath him.