None of this is new information, but having carefully watched four of last year's games this is all the more clear to me:
On the OL, the players who were consistently the weakest, who continuously cost the unit yards and allowed negative plays, were at positions where we expect lineup changes. The interior spots were brutal last year, but all three should be manned by new faces: RG: Membou (who has already demonstrated he can play in this league at OT), C: C. Johnson, LG: Ndoma-Ogar (who was really coming on before being injured). If these three are significant upgrades over last year's starters (and I don't see how they could be as bad) we might be in business. Yes, the two Johnsons, Cam'ron and Marcellus, are question marks, but even average play from them would represent an upgrade.
I guess my point is, there's no place on the OL where we go in knowing we just have to live with a guy who has demonstrated he's a liability.
The two positions where that might be true--that we're going to have to grin and bear it--are, of course, QB and TE. We all know TE was weak, but focusing on that position for 300-some-odd plays, I was shocked by how bad we were. I mean putrid. I mean it's practically playing 10 v 11. And I don't see anyone who can swoop in and save the day...
On the OL, the players who were consistently the weakest, who continuously cost the unit yards and allowed negative plays, were at positions where we expect lineup changes. The interior spots were brutal last year, but all three should be manned by new faces: RG: Membou (who has already demonstrated he can play in this league at OT), C: C. Johnson, LG: Ndoma-Ogar (who was really coming on before being injured). If these three are significant upgrades over last year's starters (and I don't see how they could be as bad) we might be in business. Yes, the two Johnsons, Cam'ron and Marcellus, are question marks, but even average play from them would represent an upgrade.
I guess my point is, there's no place on the OL where we go in knowing we just have to live with a guy who has demonstrated he's a liability.
The two positions where that might be true--that we're going to have to grin and bear it--are, of course, QB and TE. We all know TE was weak, but focusing on that position for 300-some-odd plays, I was shocked by how bad we were. I mean putrid. I mean it's practically playing 10 v 11. And I don't see anyone who can swoop in and save the day...
