The Frightening State Of Our Offensive Line
by Dave the Falconer
on May 12, 2008 12:45 AM EDT
in Falcons News
Remember that scene in Indiana Jones where the Nazis get their head melted by the terrifying force that is a mediocre offensive line? Quail in fear, my friends, for those days come again, striking our fearful eyes like dark lightning. Alack, alas!
Understanding where the Falcons are coming from on the offensive line issue is difficult at best. I'm sure the coaching staff has watched the same tape I have, and that tape suggests that our line was simply incapable of sustained quality play last season. Instead of placing the blame on the personnel, the coaching staff is blaming the attitudes.....or something?
Let's look at our AJC article of the day:
Falcons offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey believes the linemen will be motivated by last season's performance.
"That's a driving force in my mind for those guys," Mularkey said.
Mike, Mike, Mike. You know why you can't squeeze blood from a stone?
No?
It's sure as hell not because of its attitude! Call me crazy, but I think the overall talent level of the line wasn't great last year. With the exception of Quinn Ojinnaka, everyone who was playing along the line at mini-camp was in the exact same spot as last year. While Blalock and Clabo are young enough to make a difference, it is my firm belief that McClure and Forney have topped out as NFL starters. I don't care how badly they want to make up for last year; it's not realistic to believe that they're going to turn the ship around because of that. Even Blalock and Clabo are going to have growing pains; this makes no mention of the fact that Sam Baker is going to struggle mightily at times to keep up with the pace of the NFL. Without new blood, this line just isn't going to turn into the best unit in the league.
That's not to say that they can't be decent enough to open up a few holes and keep Redman/Harrington/Ryan from getting killed out there. It's almost unrealistic to expect them not to improve a little bit, just because Petrino's blocking scheme sucked so badly. Still, I get both terrified and confused when I hear our new offensive line coach say things like this:
"We have to play with our feet on the ground," Boudreau said. "We have to make sure we are not on the ground. We have to play out there like the ground is on fire."
If I stab myself in the brain with a ballpoint pen, that statement almost makes sense.
What do you guys think? Will the line be any better this year?
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O-Line NOT TOO BAD!
The O-Line is composed of some solid players (Weiner, McClure, Korney, & Clabo) that just need to step up and be above average. The younger players (Blaylock & Ojinnaka) need to advance and become solid contributors and we need to be patience with Baker who I feel will become a contributor early despite his learning pains. I am very concerned about our Defensive Line especially the DTs! They are all career “Backups” with nothing outstanding about any of them! Trey Lewis performed solidly last year but not spectacularly; Babinaux had some good moments but not enough to be excited about; our pickups rarely played for their respective teams and Stanley has size and nothing else! The Falcons will be very weak against the run and will not have a major disrupter (penetrator) from the middle of the line. The DEs should be solid but without a disrupter in the middle of the line, Jamaal Anderson will be just ordinary. Abraham will be facing double and triple teaming on each passing down and will be ineffective.
by remoley on
May 12, 2008 10:23 AM EDT
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O-Line/D-Line
I agree with REMOLY. We have some potential up and down our offensive line (I see Baker/Clabo/Blaylock doing some things in the next few years). I don’t see this unit being fantastic this year, but I see them making some important steps forward. As far as McClure/Weiner/Forney go, obviously they aren’t going to get much better. I think we can shore up our problems with age and inexperience in the next few years. It isn’t going to be an overnight thing. Even if we really really really want it to be. Maybe via free agency and next year’s draft this our o-line will be able to gel and come together as a productive and cohesive unit.
As for our defensive line, I really can’t figure what Smith/Comrade are doing. I see the value in having plenty of depth (which we do), but there has to be one or two guys who can step up and be impact players. Babineux and company are going to keep me up at night next season. Bet on it.
"You never know what I'm going to do..."
- Michael Vick (Palm Beach Post 11/6/2005)
by jamesrael on
May 12, 2008 10:43 AM EDT
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Better
The O-line last year was in fact quite offensive last year.
I think they will do much better this year. I don’t know that the traces of Alex Gibbs where completely washed away last year. I feel like we got stuck with a bunch of zone blockers trying to do everything but zone block (I wrote “butt zone block”). Bobby Petf*ckhead-o fell into one of the classic blunders that college-to-pro coaches make:
The First: Never go against a Sicilian when death is on the line
The Second (only slightly less known): Concentrating to much on his playbook and not enough on finding the right personnel to execute it.
The O line was built from the ground up to zone block and Petpoopypants-o was trying to make them run plays better suited for guys twice their size.
In a way, each of us has an El Guapo to face.
by runningback on
May 12, 2008 10:53 AM EDT
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Agreed
I do agree that as a whole the line will be better as they will be back to a more doable blocking scheme compared to what PetRhino was trying to force them to do. Indivually I also agree that the young guys will inevitably get better and the older crew have already passed their peak and/or have no room to go further.
I mean, afterall, they aren’t ROUS!
Yes, I can play this game too Runningback.
by Jesse28 on
May 12, 2008 2:30 PM EDT
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Running Backs Of Unusual Size?
They don’t exist. At least not since TJ Duckett left town.
In a way, each of us has an El Guapo to face.
by runningback on
May 12, 2008 5:49 PM EDT
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Get your excuses ready!
Well, when the O-line and D-line both suck and the Falcons start out 1-4 then we’ll hear the following:
1. Petrino’s bad blocking schemes are bringing us down
2. Gibbs’ bad blocking schemes are bringing us down
3. We’ve had a lot of injuries on the D-line
4. We’ve got a lot of young players who need to learn to play together
The truth is our linemen just aren’t very good and we should have drafted a lot more help. Big, athletic guys are at a premium in the NFL and they cost real money. Big, non-athletic guys are a dime a dozen. The Falcons have about 20 cents worth of them and they will be worked over on a weekly basis by stronger, faster and quicker opponents.
Falcons management at least said it right, “You build a football team from the inside out.”
by Falco Chicquera on
May 13, 2008 3:12 PM EDT
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O-Line Draft
We had a similar discussion about the Steelers failure to draft OL help. The problem for both teams was that the premium OL players were taken in the first round between picks 10 and 20. The Falcons traded up to get Sam Baker, who was projected to be a early to mid second round tackle. A lot of teams reached for OL because of that big run on them the middle of the first round.
It’s certainly the true that the Falcons need OL help now. The problem is that it wouldn’t have helped the team to reach for guys that wouldn’t have been an upgrade over what they have today. Most likely, the guys that weren’t taken in the first round will not be ready to start at the NFL level for 2 or 3 years.
by WolfpackSteelersFan on
May 14, 2008 12:37 PM EDT
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