Right Tackle

[AKB]

I honestly do not think this position is getting as much attention as it should be. Understandably so as well, there is a lot of stuff going on with this team right now. 

 

62 has looked awful this preseason. I don't care what the "unit" did at the end of last season. It seems as if this board had penciled in 73 & 62 on the right side of the line before the boys even put the pads on. What I do know, is that if Clark is our starting RT this season we are going to see a repeat of endless rushed passes and Luck staring at the ceiling of Lucas Oil stadium.

 

I did notice him getting benched early last Sunday. What I personally want to see is more of Banner the Bear at RT. He isn't a dancing bear, but a bear he is none the less. 

 

In short, I do not think Clark is the answer at RT. I think he was slightly better than Reitz, but is that saying much?

 

Yes I know Clark is young.

Yes I know Banner is Raw.

 

Put the tape on. Clark is struggling. 

 

 

[csmopar]

1 minute ago, AustinnKaine said:

I honestly do not think this position is getting as much attention as it should be. Understandably so as well, there is a lot of stuff going on with this team right now. 

 

62 has looked awful this preseason. I don't care what the "unit" did at the end of last season. It seems as if this board had penciled in 73 & 62 on the right side of the line before the boys even put the pads on. What I do know, is that if Clark is our starting RT this season we are going to see a repeat of endless rushed passes and Luck staring at the ceiling of Lucas Oil stadium.

 

I did notice him getting benched early last Sunday. What I personally want to see is more of Banner the Bear at RT. He isn't a dancing bear, but a bear he is none the less. 

 

In short, I do not think Clark is the answer at RT. I think he was slightly better than Reitz, but is that saying much?

 

Yes I know Clark is young.

Yes I know Banner is Raw.

 

Put the tape on. Clark is struggling. 

 

 

You must not have read any of the training camp of practice threads or any of the other threads where RT especially Clark have been discussed to death

[AKB]

1 minute ago, csmopar said:

You must not have read any of the training camp of practice threads or any of the other threads where RT especially Clark have been discussed to death

Training camp is over. 

 

& I read every thread.

 

590 posts... But countless hours are spent reading.

[krunk]

I still like Clark there, although I do get concerned with some of his footwork sometimes and how he gets off balance.   Needs to be fixed.

[csmopar]

4 minutes ago, AustinnKaine said:

Training camp is over. 

 

& I read every thread.

 

590 posts... But countless hours are spent reading.

Well you've missed those posts somehow. And there's still the daily practice threads being posted

 

 

that said, I do agree with your post, RT at this point looks to be of grave concern. Sadly, until the cuts, I don't think there's much we can do about it at this point. If even this year.

[AKB]

1 minute ago, krunk said:

I still like Clark there, although I do get concerned with some of his footwork sometimes and how he gets off balance.   Needs to be fixed.

Have you noticed how far he lets defenders into the back field during run plays? Mack is quick enough to out run the pursuit, but I feel like it really hinders what Gore can do. 

[krunk]

Another option may be to slide somebody else in at the guard spot and move Haeg back out to tackle.  Keep Banner and Clark as the backups maybe along with Good.  Not certain.

[krunk]

11 minutes ago, AustinnKaine said:

Have you noticed how far he lets defenders into the back field during run plays? Mack is quick enough to out run the pursuit, but I feel like it really hinders what Gore can do. 

I've noticed some issues during passing plays that I think are footwork and technique related.  I think he can do the job but there are things to be cleaned up.  Glad Chuck has been all over him to let him know the leash is pretty short.  Hopefully he and whomever the other option is get a lot of work this weekend.

[NewColtsFan]

20 minutes ago, AustinnKaine said:

I honestly do not think this position is getting as much attention as it should be. Understandably so as well, there is a lot of stuff going on with this team right now. 

 

62 has looked awful this preseason. I don't care what the "unit" did at the end of last season. It seems as if this board had penciled in 73 & 62 on the right side of the line before the boys even put the pads on. What I do know, is that if Clark is our starting RT this season we are going to see a repeat of endless rushed passes and Luck staring at the ceiling of Lucas Oil stadium.

 

I did notice him getting benched early last Sunday. What I personally want to see is more of Banner the Bear at RT. He isn't a dancing bear, but a bear he is none the less. 

 

In short, I do not think Clark is the answer at RT. I think he was slightly better than Reitz, but is that saying much?

 

Yes I know Clark is young.

Yes I know Banner is Raw.

 

Put the tape on. Clark is struggling. 

 

 

 

 

I don't know what's going on with Clark?       Perhaps he took all the off-season stories that said the O-line is fixed and the O-line is set as gospel and he let it get to him.    Perhaps he's coasting on his talent.    Perhaps he needs a fire lit under him.

 

But the verey idea that a fan KNOWS that two crappy pre-season games tells anyone more than the performance of three regular season games is spectacularly silly. 

 

Coaches don't give up on talented young players that fast.     But fans do.

 

I suspect if we could give our coaches truth serum,  they'd tell us they want Clark to be the RT.    That he has more raw talent than anyone else for the RT spot.    But,  for right now,  he needs a good butt kicking for some motivation.

 

I don't think you saw Clark go out early last week.     First,  he didn't even start.     Second,  when he did play, he played a fair amount of snaps.    I want to say in the mid-20's.     Third,  I haven't seen a PFF grade for him but I haven't heard anything negative beyond Pags comment about the bad penalty.      Seems like Clark needs to pull his head out of his own rear end.

 

There are other guys who can play the spot....   but for 2017,  the guy who should be able to play it the best,  is easily LeRaven Clark.      Everything else is fan-boy talk......

 

[RockThatBlue]

I'd like to see Banner vs 1s. Hes looked good, albeit he probably should look good considering the competition.

 

Put him against 1s and lets see how he is.

[Douzer]

500 Swings

That's exactly what this looks like to me. WTH am I talking about? Hang with me a minute....

 

500 swings is the warning/caution I give to golfers who want to get better. Once you commit to changing the way you do something, you are 500 swings from making it work right. About halfway through, that player can neither do it the way they once did, or do it the new way. They become totally lost in a frustrating transition phase. It's the price for getting better.

 

I'm watching him and I'm thinking; Last year he basically played the way he had always played. He did OK because he trusted himself, his homemade technique and his athletic abilities. Now he's trying to do everything the technically correct way. He's in the transition phase... totally lost!

 

Fear not, if right, that means he committed to the fundamentals, and his journey to becoming a technically sound player is underway. Play him. Every snap is huge for him now!

[Fisticuffs111]

2 hours ago, krunk said:

Another option may be to slide somebody else in at the guard spot and move Haeg back out to tackle.  Keep Banner and Clark as the backups maybe along with Good.  Not certain.

I've been thinking the same thing. Haeg has a lot of experience at tackle, in college at least.

If Bond does well enough, Schwenke has proven he can play G, and they could just move Haeg out.

[BProland85]

I'd say unless Clark or Banner show they can lock down this position, OT needs to become a very high positional need next offseason. 

[NewColtsFan]

5 hours ago, BProland85 said:

I'd say unless Clark or Banner show they can lock down this position, OT needs to become a very high positional need next offseason. 

 

I believe Clark AND Banner will both show that they can lock down the position.

 

I would not be surprised if a few years from now, Clark is the starting LT and Banner is the starting RT.    They have all the talent.

 

I wouldn't give up on them just yet.....

 

[DaveA1102]

6 hours ago, Fisticuffs111 said:

I've been thinking the same thing. Haeg has a lot of experience at tackle, in college at least.

If Bond does well enough, Schwenke has proven he can play G, and they could just move Haeg out.

 

I was about to post the exact same thing.  Bond has shown himself to have some promise and so we can use Schwenke to realign and put more reliable personnel on the right side.

 

The other side to this is when Kelly returns our 5 would look pretty strong on paper and we have given Bond some game time experience.

[akcolt]

24 minutes ago, DaveA1102 said:

 

I was about to post the exact same thing.  Bond has shown himself to have some promise and so we can use Schwenke to realign and put more reliable personnel on the right side.

 

The other side to this is when Kelly returns our 5 would look pretty strong on paper and we have given Bond some game time experience.

Bond has done well given the circumstances. It's the preseason he hasn't had  to deal with the stunts and blitz's he'd see in the regular season. If we didn't have Schwenke coming back I think we would have looked harder at our options at C. 

 

As far as Haeg goes the staff believed his best position was LG  He's the starter so he's the best  LG on the roster. How does taking our best LG and moving him to RT then taking our best available C and putting him at LG and starting an UDFA at C make the line stronger? We are weakening the 2 interior positions to hopefully strengthen RT. I don't see the logic. 

 

I think Haeg stays at LG and Schwenke takes over at C. The winner of  the Clark and Banner battle starts at RT. I expect that will be Clark. I'm not convinced we go into the season with Bond as the primary back up. I think we look to sign a vet who can play C & G after cuts. 

[lollygagger8]

I'd like to see Bond stay at Center and Schwenke at Guard and Banner at RT. 

 

Not this year, but I wouldn't mind getting a legit LT and moving Castanzo to RT

[COLTS449]

13 hours ago, krunk said:

Another option may be to slide somebody else in at the guard spot and move Haeg back out to tackle.  Keep Banner and Clark as the backups maybe along with Good.  Not certain.

 

Yep. If only we had had enough sense to sign Zeitler or Lang. That would've given us a really good OL.

[Somewhere ovr the Waynebow]

This is an important topic. After showing some promise last year, Clark has been AWFUL. Not just bad, awful. 

 

This is a storyline more people should be talking about heading into the season. We really don't have any other options at RT. Banner isn't ready, and Good seems to be exclusively at guard this year. 

[Coffeedrinker]

13 hours ago, AustinnKaine said:

I honestly do not think this position is getting as much attention as it should be. Understandably so as well, there is a lot of stuff going on with this team right now. 

 

62 has looked awful this preseason. I don't care what the "unit" did at the end of last season. It seems as if this board had penciled in 73 & 62 on the right side of the line before the boys even put the pads on. What I do know, is that if Clark is our starting RT this season we are going to see a repeat of endless rushed passes and Luck staring at the ceiling of Lucas Oil stadium.

 

I did notice him getting benched early last Sunday. What I personally want to see is more of Banner the Bear at RT. He isn't a dancing bear, but a bear he is none the less. 

 

In short, I do not think Clark is the answer at RT. I think he was slightly better than Reitz, but is that saying much?

 

Yes I know Clark is young.

Yes I know Banner is Raw.

 

Put the tape on. Clark is struggling. 

 

 

You must not pay much attention to the oline if you think 62 and 73 have been penciled in on the right side. 73 is the starting LG this year. 75 is the starting RG.

 

As far as "the tape" Clark struggles in run blocking but his pass blocking has been pretty good.  It's is second year in the NFL and 2nd year in a non spread, get rid of the ball is under 2 seconds offense, there is a learning curve.  Banner shows some signs but he is too lumbering, quicker guys that can put together double moves will eat him for lunch right now.  He needs to learn to maintain his balance when moving, quit standing straight up off the snap and get his arms up and extended.

[DaColts85]

14 hours ago, AustinnKaine said:

I honestly do not think this position is getting as much attention as it should be. Understandably so as well, there is a lot of stuff going on with this team right now. 

 

62 has looked awful this preseason. I don't care what the "unit" did at the end of last season. It seems as if this board had penciled in 73 & 62 on the right side of the line before the boys even put the pads on. What I do know, is that if Clark is our starting RT this season we are going to see a repeat of endless rushed passes and Luck staring at the ceiling of Lucas Oil stadium.

 

I did notice him getting benched early last Sunday. What I personally want to see is more of Banner the Bear at RT. He isn't a dancing bear, but a bear he is none the less. 

 

In short, I do not think Clark is the answer at RT. I think he was slightly better than Reitz, but is that saying much?

 

Yes I know Clark is young.

Yes I know Banner is Raw.

 

Put the tape on. Clark is struggling. 

 

 

AGREE....Why have we not brought Pasztor in????

[Fluke_33]

12 hours ago, Douzer said:

500 Swings

That's exactly what this looks like to me. WTH am I talking about? Hang with me a minute....

 

500 swings is the warning/caution I give to golfers who want to get better. Once you commit to changing the way you do something, you are 500 swings from making it work right. About halfway through, that player can neither do it the way they once did, or do it the new way. They become totally lost in a frustrating transition phase. It's the price for getting better.

 

I'm watching him and I'm thinking; Last year he basically played the way he had always played. He did OK because he trusted himself, his homemade technique and his athletic abilities. Now he's trying to do everything the technically correct way. He's in the transition phase... totally lost!

 

Fear not, if right, that means he committed to the fundamentals, and his journey to becoming a technically sound player is underway. Play him. Every snap is huge for him now!

Are you paraphrasing vin diesel in knockaround guys?  awesome!

 

 

 

[Defjamz26]

This is an important topic. After showing some promise last year, Clark has been AWFUL. Not just bad, awful. 

 

This is a storyline more people should be talking about heading into the season. We really don't have any other options at RT. Banner isn't ready, and Good seems to be exclusively at guard this year. 

 

No one is talking about it because people wanted to push this narrative that Grigson had finally fixed the OL in his way out. So people penciled in Clark and Good as the future. But it looks like RT is an open competition. I didn't understand the Banner pick when Ballard made it, but now it's starting to look like a smart move. Haeg's spot as a starter would be up for grabs too if he had any actual competition.

 

 

*

[JMichael557]

Since this thread was started had to go back and look at our Right Tackles on each offensive play. None of the 3 were very good. 

[AKB]

4 hours ago, Coffeedrinker said:

You must not pay much attention to the oline if you think 62 and 73 have been penciled in on the right side. 73 is the starting LG this year. 75 is the starting RG.

 

As far as "the tape" Clark struggles in run blocking but his pass blocking has been pretty good.  It's is second year in the NFL and 2nd year in a non spread, get rid of the ball is under 2 seconds offense, there is a learning curve.  Banner shows some signs but he is too lumbering, quicker guys that can put together double moves will eat him for lunch right now.  He needs to learn to maintain his balance when moving, quit standing straight up off the snap and get his arms up and extended.

I said "before the boys put the pads on"

 

We did not know that 75 was gonna kick over to the right side of the line before it happened. There was no indication of this either, it was actually quite the surprise. 

[Track Guy]

Yeah - I figure there was a good chance we'd have O-line issues again this year after doing little to address it this off season. When you have multiple unproven guys penciled in as starters on the O-line, you're playing pretty dangerously. Haeg and Clark didn't really prove themselves last year. They showed flashes and some cause for optimism, but they also weren't good enough that if they plateaued, you'd feel great about them to be your starter... There was always a very real chance one or both wouldn't be able to progress. It seems like Haeg might be coming along more than Clark is, but unfortunately Clark is backed up by a mid-round pick rookie and a guy who's only rode the bench. So if Clark doesn't make a jump, we kind of have to hope Banner can handle pass protection duties at a passable level. 

[Dark Superman]

Hope the Colts draft Notre Dame OT Mike McGlinchey next year.

[IndyScribe]

The right side of the line hasn't been solidified. Hopefully they can continue building off where they ended last season, but we'll see. 

[Finball]

On 25.8.2017 at 4:11 PM, DaColts85 said:

AGREE....Why have we not brought Pasztor in????

 

He signed with Falcons.