Justin Britt and the O-line

[Jimjones0384]

I think the efforts of Rees Odhiambe at four (4) different positions is deserving of special recognition. It's astonishing to see a rookie step on the field in his very first game and demonstrate such versatile competence. Possessing excellent athleticism and conditioning, Rees Odiambe as a 6th lineman appears on his way toward becoming the replacement for Alvin Bailey. Can't wait to see how he progresses between now and Thursday verses the Vikings.

Excellent point. Gotta love it. Did anybody notice him getting schooled, or did he hold his own. Unfortunately, I didn't notice.

He struggled while trying to play on the right side.

Well, I guess it's at least good that he showed promise on the left side. Thanks for the info.

 

[vin.couve12]

Here were my thoughts going into the game and then my thoughts after the game of the starting o-line. Side note: I watched & re-watched every offensive snap at least 5 times with our starting o-line.

(LT) Sowell (before the game) - I had low expectations of him, given that it took him until this last week to be part of the stating o-line. I thought he was going to be a hot mess.
(after the game) - Sowell, at least in this game, looks like he could be an above average LT for us.

(LG) Glowinski (before the game) - I was really excited to see Glo, because of his upside. He is a very good athlete for an o-lineman and he is supposedly one of the strongest players in the weight room.
(after the game) - Glo was very disappointing, not that he was horrible, but I just had such high hopes for him. He fell off blocks, lost his balance a hand full of times, seen him tossed aside a couple of times. Maybe yesterdays game was a one-off for Glo.

(OC) Britt (before the game) - I had completely written off Britt and was expecting to see him look like a new born deer trying to walk on ice. Britt was a turnstile at RT and LG, I was expecting move of the same with him at OC.
(after the game) - Damn, Britt was very impressive at OC. He won the vast majority of his plays, only once did I see him lose his battle. He held his ground, did good at combo blocks, when he pulled to the second level he found a defender to block. Very, very impressive game for Britt.

(RG) Ifedi (before the game) - I was fairly excited to see Ifedi play. I like his size, his playing temperament at practice, and I like the he is a super-sized athlete. I questioned whether his on the field temperament that he has shown at practice would show up on game day, because I didn't really notice it when he was at Texas A&M.
(after the game) - Overall Ifedi had a good game. It was fun to see the few time he got the opportunity to block Chiefs nose tackle Dontari Poe, whom is 6-3 345 lbs and the best nose tackle in the NFL. Ifedi was able to push big Poe around a bit. His on the field bully mentality didn't show up in this game, I was expecting to see him play right up until the echo of the whistle, kind of like Breno Giacomini. Ifedi did get pushed back once or twice back into the QB, but overall he looked nice for his first game.

(RT) Gilliam (before the game) - I have complete confidence in Gilliam and think he has the ability to be a Pro Bowl player.
(after the game) - My thoughts on him did not change, he looked good and highly athletic.

Overall these five guys look like they could easily be our starting five for the season. Going off this one game, if I had to choose the weak link of the bunch it would be Glowinski.

This is some really good work. While I didn't get to re-watch this on gamepass with that invaluable 10 second rewind button, I did get to see part of the replay. I would agree with every bit of it from what I saw.

Watching Ifedi push Poe back 3 yards or so on some runs was a think of beauty. He even got Poe to turn sideways a couple of times because he just knew he was losing in a battle of strength, which says A LOT.

 

[Jville]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/gbellseattle/status/765259954173251584[/tweet]

Why did Garry Gilliam switch from left tackle back to right before even one preseason game? >>> [urltargetblank]http://www.thenewstribune.com/sports/nfl/seattle-seahawks/seahawks-insider-blog/article95666202.html[/urltargetblank]

 

[Attyla the Hawk]

Appending to C2's thoughts:

(LT) Sowell (before the game) - I had low expectations of him, given that it took him until this last week to be part of the stating o-line. I thought he was going to be a hot mess.
(after the game) - Sowell, at least in this game, looks like he could be an above average LT for us.

Can't read into this game. KC resting their pass rush stars. Minnesota might give a better indication of where Sowell is. They don't have great edge players but better than what was presented this game.

Against replacement level DE's, Sowell held his own. At least he's shown he's a backup quality player. Not at the point where I can call him average.

Otherwise, I had really low expectations as well. So he surpassed them mildly given the poor competition on the defensive side.

(LG) Glowinski (before the game) - I was really excited to see Glo, because of his upside. He is a very good athlete for an o-lineman and he is supposedly one of the strongest players in the weight room.
(after the game) - Glo was very disappointing, not that he was horrible, but I just had such high hopes for him. He fell off blocks, lost his balance a hand full of times, seen him tossed aside a couple of times. Maybe yesterdays game was a one-off for Glo.

I felt like Glowinski battled well. He was often facing Dontari Poe who is a pro bowl caliber 1T/NT. What I saw he was able to handle an excellent power rusher to a stalemate. Given the quality of competition faced, I think Glowinski probably had the best ultimate result. If he can duplicate that effort against that kind of opposition, we're looking good at LG.

(OC) Britt (before the game) - I had completely written off Britt and was expecting to see him look like a new born deer trying to walk on ice. Britt was a turnstile at RT and LG, I was expecting move of the same with him at OC.
(after the game) - Damn, Britt was very impressive at OC. He won the vast majority of his plays, only once did I see him lose his battle. He held his ground, did good at combo blocks, when he pulled to the second level he found a defender to block. Very, very impressive game for Britt.

I remember distinctly wanting to watch Britt intensely. And of course -- I totally forgot once the game started. I do recall however turning to my wife as halftime neared and said, "You know whose name I haven't heard at all? Justin Britt".

I considered that a good sign and after watching the game on playback he seemed to really shine. Maybe it's time to put my pitchfork back in the shed.

(RG) Ifedi (before the game) - I was fairly excited to see Ifedi play. I like his size, his playing temperament at practice, and I like the he is a super-sized athlete. I questioned whether his on the field temperament that he has shown at practice would show up on game day, because I didn't really notice it when he was at Texas A&M.
(after the game) - Overall Ifedi had a good game. It was fun to see the few time he got the opportunity to block Chiefs nose tackle Dontari Poe, whom is 6-3 345 lbs and the best nose tackle in the NFL. Ifedi was able to push big Poe around a bit. His on the field bully mentality didn't show up in this game, I was expecting to see him play right up until the echo of the whistle, kind of like Breno Giacomini. Ifedi did get pushed back once or twice back into the QB, but overall he looked nice for his first game.

Was pleased with his game. First out of the chute. Demonstrated real power. You know what I didn't see? Guys running by him completely untouched. Consider that an immediate upgrade from our recent experience at RG.

(RT) Gilliam (before the game) - I have complete confidence in Gilliam and think he has the ability to be a Pro Bowl player.
(after the game) - My thoughts on him did not change, he looked good and highly athletic.

Overall these five guys look like they could easily be our starting five for the season. Going off this one game, if I had to choose the weak link of the bunch it would be Glowinski.

Gilliam looked fine. I pretty much concur on these thoughts. But I differ in the assessments of Sowell and Glowinski based on level of competition.

The only legit test we're likely to see in games is this coming Vikings game. The Cowboys entire front 7 is pretty much replacement level to begin with. I don't know how the matchups will go in game two. If we struggle in game three though, I'm unpacking my pitchfork again.

This preseason isn't set up to really get a good grasp of where we need to be come opening day. We have to be on point with the home opener in LA coming week 2.

 

[hawknation2016]

Minnesota might give a better indication of where Sowell is. They don't have great edge players but better than what was presented this game.

Vikings DE Everson Griffen is a Pro Bowler and a beast. I see him as the ultimate test for a player like Sowell, who is perceived as kind of finesse. Griffen put Jake Fisher on his ass during the first play from scrimmage. He's a bull in a china shop. Carroll knows; Griffen played for him at USC, but he's a LOT better now. Vikings fans are calling Griffen their best player after training camp.

The only bigger test for a player like Sowell would be J.J. Watt, but we don't play Houston this season.

 

[Jville]

I think the efforts of Rees Odhiambe at four (4) different positions is deserving of special recognition. It's astonishing to see a rookie step on the field in his very first game and demonstrate such versatile competence. Possessing excellent athleticism and conditioning, Rees Odiambe as a 6th lineman appears on his way toward becoming the replacement for Alvin Bailey. Can't wait to see how he progresses between now and Thursday verses the Vikings.

Excellent point. Gotta love it. Did anybody notice him getting schooled, or did he hold his own. Unfortunately, I didn't notice.

He struggled while trying to play on the right side.

Well, I guess it's at least good that he showed promise on the left side. Thanks for the info.

I thought the play of Odhiambe was very encouraging at left tackle, left guard and right guard for his first NFL outing. Tom Cable waited until the end of the game to look at him at right tackle. By that point in the game, the quarterback was resorting to deep drops while looking to finish the game with pass plays. The 3rd string guards were giving up a lot of ground in pass protection. Opposing edge rushers were flying up field and challenging the ability of both offensive tackles to keep up. I thought the obvious need to pass compromised the uncertainty of play calls . KC's pass rush was able to tee off ....... it worked against protection efforts. But, in the end, KC's pass rush effort did fall short of securing a KC victory.

 

[sc85sis]

Minnesota might give a better indication of where Sowell is. They don't have great edge players but better than what was presented this game.

Vikings DE Everson Griffen is a Pro Bowler and a beast. I see him as the ultimate test for a player like Sowell, who is perceived as kind of finesse. Griffen put Jake Fisher on his ass during the first play from scrimmage. He's a bull in a china shop. Carroll knows; Griffen played for him at USC, but he's a LOT better now. Vikings fans are calling Griffen their best player after training camp.

The only bigger test for a player like Sowell would be J.J. Watt, but we don't play Houston this season.

Everson always had the ability, even at USC. He had some injury issues part of the time and lacking effort part of the time. He always had his eye on being three and out and was focused on the NFL. Probably should have focused more on where he was and he might have gone in the first or second round instead of the fourth.

 

[dogorama]

Minnesota might give a better indication of where Sowell is. They don't have great edge players but better than what was presented this game.

Vikings DE Everson Griffen is a Pro Bowler and a beast. I see him as the ultimate test for a player like Sowell, who is perceived as kind of finesse. Griffen put Jake Fisher on his ass during the first play from scrimmage. He's a bull in a china shop. Carroll knows; Griffen played for him at USC, but he's a LOT better now. Vikings fans are calling Griffen their best player after training camp.

The only bigger test for a player like Sowell would be J.J. Watt, but we don't play Houston this season.

Thanks for that, I am shaking my head at "They don't have great edge players."

 

[Jville]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/bcondotta/status/765270635316523008[/tweet]

 

[Jimjones0384]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/bcondotta/status/765270635316523008[/tweet]

Interesting.

 

[vin.couve12]

Kind of expected that one.

 

[vin.couve12]

Glow really is one of the strongest players in the weight room and even has some decent strait line speed and acceleration, but if he has a real weakness, it's that he's not quite as grounded in his base. He's more developed in his upper body and we kind of saw the result of that with him losing his feet on a few of those blocks. He still did fairly well though.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Definitely pleasantly surprise with the O-line play.

Having said that, and Millen explained this on this morning's show with Mitch................teams in the preseason run very basic sets, especially on defense. Even discussing it ahead of time with each other. That way they know what to coach up to evaluate.

So it's one thing to look good against KC in the pre-season, and another to look good against that defense during the regular season when they're running exotic complicated schemes actually TRYING to fool O-lines.

 

[Jazzhawk]

Definitely pleasantly surprise with the O-line play.

Having said that, and Millen explained this on this morning's show with Mitch................teams in the preseason run very basic sets, especially on defense. Even discussing it ahead of time with each other. That way they know what to coach up to evaluate.

So it's one thing to look good against KC in the pre-season, and another to look good against that defense during the regular season when they're running exotic complicated schemes actually TRYING to fool O-lines.

Ya, true...but last years O-line NEVER looked that competent during the pre-season. So, I'll take Saturday's game as at least some kind of indicator that they've taken a nice step forward.

 

[Trenchbroom]

Definitely pleasantly surprise with the O-line play.

Having said that, and Millen explained this on this morning's show with Mitch................teams in the preseason run very basic sets, especially on defense. Even discussing it ahead of time with each other. That way they know what to coach up to evaluate.

So it's one thing to look good against KC in the pre-season, and another to look good against that defense during the regular season when they're running exotic complicated schemes actually TRYING to fool O-lines.

Ya, true...but last years O-line NEVER looked that competent during the pre-season. So, I'll take Saturday's game as at least some kind of indicator that they've taken a nice step forward.

Exactly.

 

[Jville]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Curtis_Crabtree/status/765295852365635584[/tweet]

I think Andy Reed and the Chiefs are an excellent partner for the 1st preseason game. I hope they will repeat that preseason cooperation again next year.

 

[xgeoff]

Like most of you, I was blown away by how good Justin Britt looked at C. I have HATED Britt (with, I think, good reason) since he arrived because of, well, the way he played and because we spent a 2nd round pick on him. If he works out at C, and so far it looks like he is, I will jump on the Britt bandwagon full force. This is a really positive sign.

I also was really positively impressed with Sowell at LT. Am wondering why it took this long to try him there? Honestly, I need to watch the game again to focus on his play but on those plays where I did focus on him, he looked really good.

Ifedi. Ifedi ifedi Ifedi. Lots of positive comments here about Ifedi. And lots of big runs between the guards on the first series, but every time I looked at Ifedi I didn't see what you guys did.

Now, again, I really need to watch the game again (I have it taped) and watch what he does on each play. The plays I did see did not have him firing out and I saw him completely whiff in pass protection.

So, I'll watch the game again, and really look at how Ifedi handles himself. All the feedback from Camp has been great, and the feedback on this forum has been as well. Maybe I just caught those few plays that Ifedi didn't shine. I'd love to be on this kid's bandwagon, so I'll go watch the game again.

Overall, I still see too much pass pressure on our QB's, but Sowell and Britt have me cautiously optimistic about this group.

 

[xgeoff]

Like most of you, I was blown away by how good Justin Britt looked at C. I have HATED Britt (with, I think, good reason) since he arrived because of, well, the way he played and because we spent a 2nd round pick on him. If he works out at C, and so far it looks like he is, I will jump on the Britt bandwagon full force. This is a really positive sign.

I also was really positively impressed with Sowell at LT. Am wondering why it took this long to try him there? Honestly, I need to watch the game again to focus on his play but on those plays where I did focus on him, he looked really good.

Ifedi. Ifedi ifedi Ifedi. Lots of positive comments here about Ifedi. And lots of big runs between the guards on the first series, but every time I looked at Ifedi I didn't see what you guys did.

Now, again, I really need to watch the game again (I have it taped) and watch what he does on each play. The plays I did see did not have him firing out and I saw him completely whiff in pass protection.

So, I'll watch the game again, and really look at how Ifedi handles himself. All the feedback from Camp has been great, and the feedback on this forum has been as well. Maybe I just caught those few plays that Ifedi didn't shine. I'd love to be on this kid's bandwagon, so I'll go watch the game again.

Overall, I still see too much pass pressure on our QB's, but Sowell and Britt have me cautiously optimistic about this group.

So I watched the game again, focusing on the play of the 1st team offensive line and I think it reinforced my overall positive impression. The best result, however, is that the plays that I previously mentioned with respect to Ifedi seem to have been his only poor plays, and that overall he was pretty solid.

For this line, and being a rookie, solid is a really good thing.

Overall I would say the following:

LT Bradley Sowell -- Best performance at LT for a Seahawk that I've seen in a long time. That being said, this guy seems like a finesse blocker rather than a power guy. Showed some good agility and when he gets in front of pass rushers he shut them down. Had one questionable play where the rusher got the edge on him.

LG Mark Glowinski -- Solid game. I didn't see a lot of great blocks but I didn't see a whole lot of whiffs either.

C Justin Britt -- Looked very good at C. Worked to the second level well. I thought this guy was done. Nice to see they may have finally found a good place for this guy.

RG Germaine Ifedi -- Solid with a few notable mistakes. For a man his size he should never be ridden back into the QB, and this happened, but only once. My big concern with him is pass protection. If he can anchor himself in pass protection and build on the effort he showed in this game...

RT Garry Gilliam -- I didn't focus too much on Gilliam, cause he's a known commodity at RT. I'm not a fan, but I think he is serviceable.

 

[HawkGA]

If anyone is looking for a seriously good power play by the OL, check out the one that got CMike down to the KC 25 in the early 1st Qtr SH drive. It followed three other good power plays but that one was a thing of beauty, including for how CM took advantage so perfectly. Absolute team domination and a very encouraging sign of the power game's potential.

https://mobile.twitter.com/JaredStanger ... 92/video/1

I like that play a lot. So many different things they can do with it. Hand off, Russell keeps, Baldwin appears to be setting up for a (bubble?) screen. The only thing I would change is that it should be Lockett setting up to receive the pass. Get him the ball in space and see what happens! Just so much for the defense to have to account for.

Kearse needs to sell the screen more though. While it wasn't the DB who made the tackle, the DB probably would have but if Kearse had sold it more, the DB might not have been anywhere in the area of the tackle.

 

[firebee]

Prior to the game I was telling my friend about the Danny Oneal parcing Peet segment (thurs or fri) in which he basically says gilliam isn't working out at lt, Webb is a disaster, and Sowell is only playing because of neccecity. I have heard it said that our entire season comes down to Gilliam, and if that is the case we are already screwed.

I was delighted by the opening series.

Justin looked like he had decent series. He had good interior push on Dontari Poe during one of Michaels' nice gains. The interior line looks a lot more powerful in general. Russ said after the game that he an Britt were communicating really well. I was absolutely shocked at how much time Russel had on passing plays. I realize the Chiefs had a couple pass rushers out but still our protection was decent.

I went from doom and gloom to Super Bowl bound in about 5 minutes. Typical preseason mentality.

Gonna be a wild ride this year.

Everybody talking about how bad our offensive line looks against one of the best defensive fronts in the NFL during the training camps... Bwahahahaha!!!!

I seem to recall somebody raving about how great Sowell would be for our offensive line before he even signed with the Seahawks. Now he might be legitimately beating out Gilliam and/or Webb for the start. If I could only remember who that was?