Our exaggerated Oline problem

[Rally5]

On 3/3/2016 at 7:04 PM, The Peytonator said:

There are a lot of people on here who subscribe to the notion that we have one of the worst lines in the league. Sure, just as with any team, the line could be improved and we shouldn't exactly be happy with it, especially their run and screen blocking. But it has improved every year under the new regime, and by my eyes was right around par with the rest of the league. The Patriots and Seahawks both had far worse lines, but they negated it with excellent scheming/QB play. The whole, 'We went through 5 QBs last year so our Oline sucks' narrative is wrong for several reasons. 

 

1. Technically we only had 3 injured QBs. Freeman and Lindley were brought in for the last game; Freeman played the bulk of it, Lindley ran the hurry up offense at the end of the first half and got us a TD.

 

2. Luck had a couple injuries, and contrary to what a lot of posters would have us believe, they were largely on him. A lot of people think he was hurt in the first or second game when he was getting hit left and right from NY and Buffalo's massive blitzes. That very well could be true, but that doesn't mean it was the line's fault. Typically when facing all out blitzes every down, an offensive coordinator and QB will call out quick hitting plays. You can't expect 5 or 6 pass blockers to be able to block 7 guys long enough that a WR can run a go route and beat his man. Whatever game caused Luck's first injury, it was the fault of Pep Hamilton and himself. Against Denver he got hurt again. I'm sorry, but I have a hard time faulting the Oline with the amount of times he was taking off and running with the ball, only compounding the issue by never sliding. The guy has the biggest balls of any QB in the game, and it caused him to get hurt this year. I'm hoping these issues are fixed this year with a new OC and QB coach.

 

3. Hasselbeck is a 40 year old man. He scraped out a few wins until the league realized that the old man can't throw down the field, negating our deep threat, and they were able to adjust their defense accordingly. He started taking a few more hits once the offense became too predictable, and big shocker, the 40 year old man's arthritic body couldn't hold up. 

 

4. Then there's Clipboard Jesus. I'm not even sure why we signed a guy who's been in the league for 10 years and has 2,000 career yards passing. Pat McAfee would have been a better option. Regardless, he also is pretty old, and has never really proven to know what he's doing, so it shouldn't surprise anyone that he lasted half a game. I assume teams just sign him because he has a moderately funny nickname.

 

I am happy with what Grigson/Pagano have said about the Oline; we're set at tackle and left guard. I would not be thrilled with starting Holmes and Thornton next year, but I would be far less thrilled with using a first rounder on a center or guard. I'm hoping we get some cheap, veteran help at those positions, and also see how Denzelle Good looks at RG. We don't need Alex Mack or Kelechi Osemele. I want to see Irsay's money spent on defenders, and I want to see us draft defenders. 

We can draft both, however, it may assuage your concerns if you simply flip the question...what's the worst thing that can happen from having an amazing offensive line?  In fact, we can continue to flip the question to say, would an offense that can stay on the field and sustain drives impact the effectiveness of a defense? All the while we would be protecting our best asset.  I'd like to see some running lanes and third and short versus third and eight.  Just a different way to view the issue...

[basspapaw]

On 3/6/2016 at 4:34 PM, Gavin said:

Excellent insight and perspective. Tell us more. While your at it tell us how reaching for a lower graded player on a teams draft board is better then taking the BPA on a teams draft board

Its really not that hard a lower graded o-line man might have played a few more snaps because we needed  one alot of good it did to draft  bpa , For sure our first rounder did nothing last year to keep our qbs from getting hurt.

[masterlock]

I'm sorry, but the problem is not exaggerated. Luck leading the league in QB sacks for 3 consecutive years indicates a serious problem. All those hits can change a player. Just ask David Carr. And the rushing game has been mediocre as hell. It doesn't matter how bad some other teams have it. The numbers don't lie. The o-line has stunk.