Jville":1w0kg2p8 said:
oldhawkfan":1w0kg2p8 said:
So either Tobin or Battle. What about Pocic? Is he ever going to play? And where?
Ethan Pocic is their active back up at center. He is also a backup at guard. Tobin has the depth of experience and is the versatile backup at both tackle and guard. Neither Pocic nor Tobin process the coveted 34+ inch arms for tackle. Battle is a big up side
project with a 6'-7" frame and coveted 35 3/8 " arms.
There is nothing wrong with holding off on Pocic as he works with position, strength and conditioning coaches. They can afford to be very deliberate with the development of their first year rookie. It's not like there is an offensive line tree out there with surplus candidates available for the picking. They traded for both Tobin and Battle to fortify their tackle positions.
I tend to agree here. I do think that Pocic's opportunities were stunted the moment that Fant went down. We ended up having to add both Tobin and Battle and to do that, lost Hunt. I think if Fant hadn't gone down, we probably don't make the move for Tobin, and keep Hunt and elevate Pocic on the depth chart.
And looking how it's shaped up 4 games in, I think that was a wise move. We're now down to our 3rd option at LT. Shoring up depth on that side may well be key to salvaging a tough year injury wise.
Kind of reminds me of 2008 (I think) when we lost like 6 WRs in a crazy fluke year. Attrition is really hard to absorb when it delves deep into your depth options.
I can understand the frustration. But Aboushi was a better hedge option at RG than Tobin or Battle was at LT. Cannibalizing an OL spot (Hunt) was merited. But it's at the expense of Pocic's ability to contribute this year which is tough in the medium term. The good news is, getting a backup center is pretty easy to do in the draft for next year. I expect Pocic will be on schedule for a starting nod in 2018 assuming Britt remains healthy this year.
