LT Garry Gilliam

Gilliam ran with the with the first team at LT this weekend, and Carroll sounded excited about him during his press conference. “He has really good mobility, he has left tackle type of quickness,” Carroll said. “He looked very good at the spot, so that’s a real plus for us. We need help there. We need the competition there.”



Gilliam had several knee issues at Penn State, including ACL surgery in 2010. He actually played TE until last season when he was moved to OT. He ended up starting four games at the position.

Garrett Scott, who they drafted to add depth to the LT position, has not yet been medically cleared.

JS mentioned that though Gilliam went undrafted, they had him graded out as a 6th round prospect, So I'd imagine there isn't a whole lot that separates this him from our actual 6th round pick Garrett Scott. Also mentioned the UDFA TE also had a 6th round grade.

I'm excited for all these backup OTs with LT potential:

Alvin Bailey
Caylin Hauptmann
Garett Scott

And

Garry Gilliam.

These guys have 2 years to develop and hopefully one can replace or stop-gap Okung's place, so the Seahawks can just move on especially if Okung is going to be asking for 8mil+.

Gilliam actually played RT for the Nittany Lions, so there's some potential versatility there. He had the 3rd highest SPARQ score among all OT's in the draft, behind 1) Garrett Scott and 2) Taylor Lewan.

NorthDallas40oz":39e7flvr said:

Gilliam actually played RT for the Nittany Lions, so there's some potential versatility there. He had the 3rd highest SPARQ score among all OT's in the draft, behind 1) Garrett Scott and 2) Taylor Lewan.

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He played SOME RT, and looked pretty awful at it. Finding footage of him playing RT at Penn St was not easy, I ened up watching footage of other prospects so I could watch GIlliam, and he wasn't at RT for much of the year. The guy who was was terrible, but better than Gilliam.

I am not kidding myself about Gilliam. He is a big athletic conversion project who got big enough to play tackle late in college. I will be extremely surprised if he is anywhere but the PS or cut when TC is over.

Scottemojo":170pzm50 said:

NorthDallas40oz":170pzm50 said:

Gilliam actually played RT for the Nittany Lions, so there's some potential versatility there. He had the 3rd highest SPARQ score among all OT's in the draft, behind 1) Garrett Scott and 2) Taylor Lewan.

Click to expand...

He played SOME RT, and looked pretty awful at it. Finding footage of him playing RT at Penn St was not easy, I ened up watching footage of other prospects so I could watch GIlliam, and he wasn't at RT for much of the year. The guy who was was terrible, but better than Gilliam.

I am not kidding myself about Gilliam. He is a big athletic conversion project who got big enough to play tackle late in college. I will be extremely surprised if he is anywhere but the PS or cut when TC is over.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the buzz kill.

Scottemojo":ey5spajz said:

NorthDallas40oz":ey5spajz said:

Gilliam actually played RT for the Nittany Lions, so there's some potential versatility there. He had the 3rd highest SPARQ score among all OT's in the draft, behind 1) Garrett Scott and 2) Taylor Lewan.

Click to expand...

He played SOME RT, and looked pretty awful at it. Finding footage of him playing RT at Penn St was not easy, I ened up watching footage of other prospects so I could watch GIlliam, and he wasn't at RT for much of the year. The guy who was was terrible, but better than Gilliam.

I am not kidding myself about Gilliam. He is a big athletic conversion project who got big enough to play tackle late in college. I will be extremely surprised if he is anywhere but the PS or cut when TC is over.

Click to expand...

I wouldn't say he looked awful at OT; he was just very new to the position. He added a bunch of weight in a few short months and was taking reps at OT for the first time in his life. He's athletic and intelligent. Carroll seems to think Gilliam has the raw material to potentially add depth at LT if he continues to develop. You can see some clips of Gilliam's first game at OT below (he's #77). His technique is obviously extremely raw, but you can get a glimpse at his size, athleticism, and effort. When his technique breaks down and he gets beat, he has enough athleticism to recover to prevent the sack.

[youtube]5Xm3MFgJaD4[/youtube]

Gilliam (6'5, 306) also had some of the best measurables of any OT prospect in this class. Let's compare them to Okung's for some perspective:

Okung's 40: 5.18
Gilliam's 40: 5.03

Okung's 10-yard split: 1.79
Gilliam's 10-yard split: 1.68

Okung's short shuttle: 4.80
Gilliam's short shuttle: 4.56

Okung's 3-cone: 7.79
Gilliam's 3-cone: 7.59

Okung's vertical: 32.5
Gilliam's vertical: 35

The odds are against Gilliam developing into a contributor, but the raw athleticism is certainly there.

Wasn't he once part of that Monte Python troupe?

Okung is a difference-maker and a potential Pro Bowler every year.

If he stays healthy, pay him the market rate.

chet380":8fxf9cim said:

Okung is a difference-maker and a potential Pro Bowler every year.

If he stays healthy, pay him the market rate.

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If Harvin is "injury prone" then Russell Okung is made of glass.

Market rate for a supposedly top shelf OT is likely going to be 10-12 mil per in 2016 when Okung is set to become a free agent.

IMO, Okung is not worth more than what Joe Staley signed for (6 for 43) when he was extended..

Scottemojo":26hinn87 said:

NorthDallas40oz":26hinn87 said:

Gilliam actually played RT for the Nittany Lions, so there's some potential versatility there. He had the 3rd highest SPARQ score among all OT's in the draft, behind 1) Garrett Scott and 2) Taylor Lewan.

Click to expand...

He played SOME RT, and looked pretty awful at it. Finding footage of him playing RT at Penn St was not easy, I ened up watching footage of other prospects so I could watch GIlliam, and he wasn't at RT for much of the year. The guy who was was terrible, but better than Gilliam.

I am not kidding myself about Gilliam. He is a big athletic conversion project who got big enough to play tackle late in college. I will be extremely surprised if he is anywhere but the PS or cut when TC is over.

Click to expand...

NorthDallas40oz only mentioned potential versatility. With all that Pete is saying about him, there's got to be at least something to his game to bring him in and speak so highly of him at this point. I don't think anyone has said anything to suggest they're kidding themselves. But, I just can't see Pete saying what he said if they weren't more optimistic than that. That's pretty interesting stuff, actually. He's not guaranteeing Gilliam gets a roster spot. Only that he has a chance to help them. That's more from a coach than I would generally expect about just a slim-to-no-chance conversion project. unno:

Gilliam is my adopt a rookie, so I will be happy if he makes the squad in some way shape or form. Even the practice squad.

I saw an interview on him, and I was really impressed. Give Cable a year or two with this guy and he could we'll replace Okung. Unless Okung has two great years to end his current contract, with no injuries, then we should be looking for his replacement because we can't pay him top tackle money....

Hey if they can convert a DT into a passable (and getting better) G, then why not a lifetime TE to T?

This coaching staff is magic!

He will have to improve quickly. Seattle let Rishaw Johnson and Ryan Seymour go last year, and they were accomplished/skilled players who stuck on NFL rosters after we cut them.

If we can let NFL caliber talent walk, then Gilliam is going to have to answer to that standard. Athleticism won't be sufficient to stick on the roster. At this point, I don't expect to retain any player we put on a practice squad this season. So when people mention PS -- I just assume they are gone. The only way to redshirt him, is to IR him for a year.

Attyla the Hawk":2rl2ak6z said:

He will have to improve quickly. Seattle let Rishaw Johnson and Ryan Seymour go last year, and they were accomplished/skilled players who stuck on NFL rosters after we cut them.

If we can let NFL caliber talent walk, then Gilliam is going to have to answer to that standard. Athleticism won't be sufficient to stick on the roster. At this point, I don't expect to retain any player we put on a practice squad this season. So when people mention PS -- I just assume they are gone. The only way to redshirt him, is to IR him for a year.

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Ryan Seymour was signed off of our PS by the Niners, he wasn't just booted by the Seahawks. Garry Gilliam would be substantially less likely to be signed off of our PS this year due to - as you stated - the fact that a player like Seymour was a multi-year starter across the O-line in the SEC, whereas Gilliam has played O-line for one year, as a part-time player (only started 4 games at PSU last year). No team is going to invest a spot on their 53-man roster for someone like that. Gilliam could very safely be stashed on the PS this year.