Attyla the Hawk":4il6apo9 said:I'm reminded how Alex Gibbs mentioned that it took 18+ months of training/practice to get OL players fully functional in the ZBS system.
I would guess that onboarding process for OL players to understand scheme is lessened now. But also add in what is becoming increasingly clear league wide -- the teaching of the basic fundamentals of blocking that is generally missing.
Since the OL is going to be manned by cheap labor it appears going forward -- it certainly looks like we'll need to be reloading OL prospects almost 2 and 3 players every single year. Groom them and develop them for a year. And hope that two of the three pan out. The turnstile along this group seems destined to remain as long as we're paying our RB 10+ million and our QB 20+.
Seeing the difficulties almost every other team is having putting together an OL, despite dumping expensive high draft picks to their corps really does give me a greater appreciation for the job Cable has done.
kearly":1dwm5cda said:For as long as Okung is in there, this OL will be relatively decent in protection. Our power run situational blocking might be tough to watch this year, though.
So was drafting an undersized quarterback in the third round and letting him compete against a big free agent for the starting job. GO HAWKS!McGruff":3skhtq0d said:A college tackle playing guard is not odd.
But two OL who 3 years ago were DL, and one RT who played TE in college . . . that is outside the box thinking.
MontanaHawk05":3vuzq8te said:Seattle has allowed only two sacks in two games with that starting line. Makes sense.
Pandion Haliaetus":327c6phj said:I am actually excited, people are expecting immediate results are the ones who are always going to be dissatisfied.
My Logic is 2015 vs 2014
Contract/6th Yr Okung > Torn Labrum/5th Yr Okung
2nd Yr Britt > Inconsistent Carpenter
Contract/4th Yr Sweezy > 3rd Yr Sweezy
2nd Yr Gilliam > Rookie Justin Britt
Thats possibly 4 natural upgrades at LT, LG, RG, and RT.
The only comparable talent downgrade is at OC.
Nowak isnt Unger. And he may never get to that level. But that still doesnt mean Nowak can't improve the 2014 version of his position group where Unger started and played in only 6 games.
If Nowak stays healthy, continues to work hard, and learns, grows, progresses from game to game and gives the position consistency over 16+ games.
Nowak can be an upgrade over a position that saw 4 players combine for the 16 regular season starts.
Nowak in direct competition beat out 2 of the 4 players that combined for 7 starts last season in Jeanpierre and Lewis (and probably would have beat out Schilling too; 3 starts).
The O-line is not going to be pretty, it really hasnt been since 2007 but with a little injury luck it has the potential to progress towards the average possibly above that throughout the entire season, day by day, practice by practice, week by week, and game by game.
Just thank god im blessed with patience because I dont mind waiting for the end result and seeing the growth and progressions of what could be.
olyfan63":1nzl4lpi said:MontanaHawk05":1nzl4lpi said:Seattle has allowed only two sacks in two games with that starting line. Makes sense.
The low sacks-allowed numbers were because the offense was on the field so little. On the many, many 3 and outs, though, give the boy credit, Archer usually did a nice job of getting rid of the ball prior to a sack.
I know, I know, you just didn't feel like putting one of these, :sarcasm_on: in your post for something so obvious.
justthewest I sent you a personal message.justthewest":3szrdwu5 said:"Nowak is the wildcard. He’s never played on the offensive line during a real NFL game and was on the Seattle practice squad last year as part of his transition from college defensive lineman to center, a transition that started in 2012 with the Jaguars."
Reminds me of Devey with the 49ers--in a bad way. Nonetheless, I appreciate the optimism I'm hearing here on the thread.