Posted on Thu, 06/12/2008 - 10:54 — by OldFaithful
As much as things seem to be looking up in terms of talent, I think the O Line is less talented this year than it was last year. That is not a good thing at all. Honestly, the only way to get this line fixed is to get Gallery to be the franchise left tackle that they drafting. Paying him starting left tackle money for him to play guard is ridiculous. Harris will not be the answer at LT. He is an NFL bust. If Cable is as good as everyone says he is, he need to transform Gallery into a starting LT. It will be much easier to find a new guard than it will be to find a franchise tackle. As a man, if I were Gallery, I would be demanding that they put me back at LT so I could prove I was not a bust and just a victim of bad coaching. Even bad linemen can play guard. Good linemen play tackle.
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Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 263
Report Xplosive
We have to bring in talent for the Offensive line position. that is the key position of attack that we have to win. yes we have some of all the talent in the world but we need the middle men the trench fighters the Chain moving gaing in the middle to be the best they can be.
Gallery is good in the position that he is in. making it 2 real needs on this team Offensive Tackle positions and Center positions.
my thing would be to find either some young undrafted talent and bring em in or bring in a proven veteran at the Tackle position.
Gallery needs to stay at the Guard he only allowed 1 sack all last season.
pushing for more offesive line machine.
Nate dorsey is at the top of my OT list right after is pork chop floyd womack
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Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 201
Report s1illafan
Less Talent on the OL? Hmm...we lost two over the hill players who were shadows of their old selves (newberry and simms) and added John Wade and Kwame Harris. While neither one will likely never go to the probowl, they should be upgrades and were signed at the encouraging of the OL coach Tom Cable. These are guys whose talents may be maximized in our ZBL. In short... YOU ARE WRONG.
Put Gallery at LT? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?????? He seems to have finally found a home on the OL as a guard. He is comfortable there and once again, Tom Cable thinks LG is his best position. While it would have been nice if Gallery panned out as expected at LT, it seems he is a bust at that position. Get over it, accept it and move on. We need him at Guard. You are so misguided in saying "Even bad linemen can play guard. Good linemen play takle" You are right in both respects, however. Yes bad linemen can play guard but they play it badly because they are bad...and yes good linemen do play tackle but they also play at guard...
Fact is, LT is a premium position that takes a rare athlete to play it well. Gallery does not seem to be one of those athletes. He may yet make a very good LG and I will take that. Besides, didn't Gene Upshaw play guard? Last time I checked, he helped solidify the left side of the OLine that won us at least one Superbowl.
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 355
Report NavigataR8dr
All, here is the thing about our Oline. One, we dumped Sims, which automatically cuts down on our offensive line penalties by 50%. Yes, Kwame Harris isn't all that great, but he is slightly better than Sims, the fact that Cable wanted him says something, but not too much. Here is my point, at the LT position, we will reduce penalties, and improve athleticism, the play is yet to be seen. I consider Kwame Harris an upgrade over Barry Sims, but not by much. We need to look at the draft or FA next year, unless Harris proves to be a beast in the Tom Cable system.
LG, Gallery, playing the same position two consecutive seasons in a row. WOW, I was beginning to think that would never happen. Let's face it, Gallery can't play tackle at this level. It was pretty obvious. Lets look at something real quick. What was Gallery? A Big 10 lineman. What do big 10 linemen struggle with the most? Speedrushers, which was one of the things Gallery struggled the most with. I think it's crazy to even consider him at LT again. Sure, as a man, I'm sure his pride is hurt, and he would love to be that LT for 10 years, but, I would hope he's a smart guy, and realizes he has a real chance at becoming a darn good LG. I consider the fact Gallery finally has a home, with this being his second year at the position full time. That's an upgrade to me. I see him as a 2nd year player right now.
Center, Newberry is gone. Can't say I'm too surprised. Here's the thing, the fact that this guy didn't play for two years and came back from terrible knee injuries and performed at the level he did, was amazing. He should truly be applauded. However, he is an older player, with no knees. A great stop-gap, but we all knew he was not a permanent fix. Also not a permanant fix was Jake Grove. A better guard than center, a better burger flipper than guard, this guy was WAY overrated coming out of college. He's smallish for the line and is oft injured, never lived up to expectations. We came in and brought in John Wade, an older player, who is pretty darn good, but a few years away from the end of his carrer. This guy is Newberry, but in better physical shape. Then we have Chris Morris, the "projected starter". This guy has really stepped it up, not sure how well he will do if he starts, but it's captured my interest. Point being Wade/Morris, or Newberry/Grove. I'll have some of the Wade/Morris please. I'll consider this an upgrade, however, we need to determine if Morris is our center of the future, if not, we need to address in the draft next year.
RG, Cooper Carlisle, nuff said. This guy is great. Getting up there in age, but has a few years left in him. If Mcquistan or one of the other young up and comers can't replace him in two years, we should look to the draft in the next couple years or FA. No change
RT, Green, OK I'm going to start off saying that there's no change. This guy is a backup, but the best thing we've had since Lincoln Kennedy retired. We have a few backups that may test him, but I don't think any of them will unseat him. Next year, draft, FA, something.
Therefore, overall, I believe the line has been slightly upgraded from last year and I expect them to perform as such. However, for the future and the success of JRUSS and gang, we will need a future long term answer at RT. We need to determine if Morris and Harris can come into this system and own their positions. We need to have Gallery continue to step up at LG. We need Carlisle to hang on until we can figure out the other Oline spots, WR, and DT. This season, particularly in the first six games, will determine our future.