Sowell vs Everson Griffen

This is the matchup I'm most interested in watching tonight. If Sowell can hold up against Griffen (who's a stud) ok, I think our starting 5 is locked down going into the season barring injuries. If he gets blown up, then it's most likely musical chairs again.

I honestly fully expect us to finally come to realize why Cards fans were sniggering at us when we signed him in the first place.

I just hope Wilson doesn't get hurt as a result.

Expecting a bloodbath. And a reprise of "Trade for Joe Thomas" threads tomorrow.

EDIT: I'll be happy though to be completely wrong in this regard. I just don't put a lot of stock in recycling other team's garbage.

Yeah, the Vikes' D line likes to get after it, so all of the match ups will be interesting to watch. Also, scheming against that boulder named Linvall Joseph will be a must-see. Adrian Peterson won't play, but Teddy is being asked to show off his arm more this year, so the LOB likely will get good action.

Siouxhawk":1023m2p9 said:

Yeah, the Vikes' D line likes to get after it, so all of the match ups will be interesting to watch. Also, scheming against that boulder named Linvall Joseph will be a must-see..........

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Oh yeah, interior against Joseph is every bit as much worth watching. May only be 2 or 3 series but we're gonna learn quite a bit about our o-line tonight (tomorrow morning via DVR for me......damn job!).

I fully expect the O-Line to do a reversal of last week. This is a much better DL they are facing.

Attyla the Hawk":1083nv1n said:

I honestly fully expect us to finally come to realize why Cards fans were sniggering at us when we signed him in the first place.

I just hope Wilson doesn't get hurt as a result.

Expecting a bloodbath. And a reprise of "Trade for Joe Thomas" threads tomorrow.

EDIT: I'll be happy though to be completely wrong in this regard. I just don't put a lot of stock in recycling other team's garbage.

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Yeah, Sowell is what we call "quality depth" but he's not a starting tackle in the NFL. He's Alvin Bailey with a better attitude.

I dunno, i was pleasantly surprised by the Olines last week and am cautiously optimistic for today's game.

If we should dump anyone, in thinking it JaMarcus Webb, although we really don't have the depth to do so.

But I do like Gilliam on the right side, and maybe that's where my wishful thinking on the part of So well comes in.

I said it before he started the first game in another thread and I hold to it. I really think people are overlooking Sowell. He was never brought in as "the answer" but just as a guy with experience for depth and competition. Since then he's done nothing but work his ass off and bump the coaches favorite pick for LT back down to RT. I don't think Sowell will be some diamond in the rough pro bowl player that we picked off the scrap heap but I think he can be plenty serviceable. We've had plenty of success with people's cast offs or misfits in the past, actually it's something we seem to do pretty well.

Let's wait and see, Sowell has a high degree of athletic ability and may have been miscast in the blocking schemes used by AZ. Maybe in our scheme his ability will show.

If nothing else he will pass as a swing T. From what I saw last game he looked to be an improvement on Bailey.

DJrmb":7zrpdvps said:

I said it before he started the first game in another thread and I hold to it. I really think people are overlooking Sowell. He was never brought in as "the answer" but just as a guy with experience for depth and competition. Since then he's done nothing but work his ass off and bump the coaches favorite pick for LT back down to RT. I don't think Sowell will be some diamond in the rough pro bowl player that we picked off the scrap heap but I think he can be plenty serviceable. We've had plenty of success with people's cast offs or misfits in the past, actually it's something we seem to do pretty well.

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I think giving Sowell credit for "bumping the coaches favorite pick for LT back down to RT" is a bit revisionist. Gilliam is at RT because Webb is out/sucks and Gilliam is better than Poole and/or Odhiambo at the moment. Hopefully one of those guys steps up so Gilliam can go back to LT and Sowell can go back to quality reserve.

If the coaches were not serious about giving Sowell an opportunity to start, which they have said they are, then they would not have moved Gilliam. Gilliam needed as many live reps as he could get to become comfortable at the LT position, and Sowell had played RT in practice.

This is a great test for Sowell. I'm rooting for him to seize control of the LT position and to never let go. At this time last year, people were asking whether little-used Garry Gilliam would hold up at RT against Justin Houston. Several posters on this board were predicting that Gilliam had little chance to start once the regular season rolled around, all evidence notwithstanding. History may be repeating itself with Bradley Sowell.

jammerhawk":1q9q89d0 said:

Let's wait and see, Sowell has a high degree of athletic ability and may have been miscast in the blocking schemes used by AZ. Maybe in our scheme his ability will show.

If nothing else he will pass as a swing T. From what I saw last game he looked to be an improvement on Bailey.

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Yes, exactly. I don't know myself if ARI uses ZBS like we do, but just because Sowell was not good in prior systems does not mean he cannot be a decent LT for us.

If Sowell looks like trash tonight I hope we go out and get Will Beatty before he gets signed elsewhere. Sounds like there's 4 teams interested in him and he worked out with Carolina yesterday.

McGruff":2t2gokrs said:

DJrmb":2t2gokrs said:

I said it before he started the first game in another thread and I hold to it. I really think people are overlooking Sowell. He was never brought in as "the answer" but just as a guy with experience for depth and competition. Since then he's done nothing but work his ass off and bump the coaches favorite pick for LT back down to RT. I don't think Sowell will be some diamond in the rough pro bowl player that we picked off the scrap heap but I think he can be plenty serviceable. We've had plenty of success with people's cast offs or misfits in the past, actually it's something we seem to do pretty well.

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I think giving Sowell credit for "bumping the coaches favorite pick for LT back down to RT" is a bit revisionist. Gilliam is at RT because Webb is out/sucks and Gilliam is better than Poole and/or Odhiambo at the moment. Hopefully one of those guys steps up so Gilliam can go back to LT and Sowell can go back to quality reserve.

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Is this true? Honestly i've been at arms length with the oline. It scares me and didn't want to pay attention until closer to the year.

But isn't LT universally accepted as the most important spot on the line. Why would you move your preferred LT to RT just to fill RT?

McGruff":38mmcbqu said:

DJrmb":38mmcbqu said:

I said it before he started the first game in another thread and I hold to it. I really think people are overlooking Sowell. He was never brought in as "the answer" but just as a guy with experience for depth and competition. Since then he's done nothing but work his ass off and bump the coaches favorite pick for LT back down to RT. I don't think Sowell will be some diamond in the rough pro bowl player that we picked off the scrap heap but I think he can be plenty serviceable. We've had plenty of success with people's cast offs or misfits in the past, actually it's something we seem to do pretty well.

Click to expand...

I think giving Sowell credit for "bumping the coaches favorite pick for LT back down to RT" is a bit revisionist. Gilliam is at RT because Webb is out/sucks and Gilliam is better than Poole and/or Odhiambo at the moment. Hopefully one of those guys steps up so Gilliam can go back to LT and Sowell can go back to quality reserve.

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Sowell started getting reps at 1st team LT before Webb was hurt. Pete even mentioned that he was challenging Gilliam for the position a while back. Also if you really feel like Gilliam is your future at LT why wouldn't you stick with him there, continue to groom him, and push Sowell to RT (where he also was getting reps)?

All the actions point to Gilliam being beat out at LT imo. I hope that's not the case because I had high hopes for Gilliam at LT going forward, but it seems clear the coaches think Sowell is better than Gilliam at LT at least right now.

Sometimes moving elsewhere is a good thing for the soul, let's see what Sowell has going on in that regard.

I wouldn't say Gilliam was beaten out by Sowell. It's just a more natural fit for both players. Sowell has starting experience at LT, and Gilliam has starting experience at RT. Also, Gilliam has gained enough weight to make more of an impact in the run game at RT than Sowell. It just makes sense . . . if Sowell can seize control of the position.

Attyla the Hawk":9l98zkkl said:

I honestly fully expect us to finally come to realize why Cards fans were sniggering at us when we signed him in the first place.

I just hope Wilson doesn't get hurt as a result.

Expecting a bloodbath. And a reprise of "Trade for Joe Thomas" threads tomorrow.

EDIT: I'll be happy though to be completely wrong in this regard. I just don't put a lot of stock in recycling other team's garbage.

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Arizona fans were VERY happy to see Sowell go and absolutely THRILLED when we picked him up. Everyone deserves a second chance and players often get better w/time but the old adage about polishing a turd may apply here. We shall see.

I have to say I'm not the biggest fan of Gilliam playing RT in these preseason games. Even if it were true that he's more comfortable on the right side, there's a very high probability that we'll need Gilliam to play on the left side at some point this season. He needs to be getting those reps on the left side right now in preseason while those learning reps are still harmless. Gilliam already has plenty of reps on the right. At the very least, they should have Gilliam splitting 50/50 during the preseason.

Conversely, Sowell already has experience at LT and isn't benefiting nearly as much from the additional reps there.

Maybe Gilliam is one of those guys that is more comfortable on one side. Fair enough if true. That said, Gilliam was pretty bad at RT last year until the up tempo scheme helped cover up the stink in the 2nd half of the season.

Not only that, but Ifedi's long term future is almost certainly at RT. Gilliam's most likely path to starting long term is at LT.

I get that chemistry and continuity matter on the OL and that Seattle wants to set their starting line as quickly as possible. But I also think that Gilliam's lack of experience at LT could seriously bite us in the ass this season if forced into action at some point, which IMO is likely. Now's the time to get him some reps and experience there.