Re: Is having a great LT overrated?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
lobachevsky
IMO if the rest of the line is rock-solid, you can live with a below-average LT, because you can scheme to lighten his load--chip with the TE or slot receiver, keep a back in to block, move the pocket to the right, etc.
(Two examples from late in games vs Stealers: Polymullet's strip-sack of Joe that essentially lost that game, and the TD pass to Housh that definitely won that one. Both times The Hair blitzed through the LG-LT gap. The difference? Todd Heap--who'd been kept in to block on the latter play--slid over & stopped #43 cold, giving Joe the half-second he needed to hit TJ with a perfect throw.)
But if you have problems
anywhere else along that line as well, you're perilously close to getting Joe (as the Scots say)
kilt.
Putting Oher at LT last year created 2.5 line issues at a stroke:
- Below-average LT play
- Below-average-to-bad LG play
- Average-to-below-average RT play
(The last is the half-issue, as KO @RT may not have been a significant downtick from Oher.)
If GG at center pans out & the Ravens can find (or cobble up) a
viable option at RT whose surname doesn't start with O, then KO can stay at LG where he excels, & IMHO Oher @LT wouldn't be nearly the fuster-cluck of 2012.
But if KO moves to LT, you're still putting Joe at risk unless you find (or cobble up) an above-average replacement @LG--especially since Gino is odds-on to make his share of first-time-starter mistakes no matter how good he eventually becomes.
(JMO
comme toujours.)
Good post.
This is why I suggested that Eric Winston or Tyson Clabo may be decent options. At least with them, the Ravens can leave KO at left guard and increase the level of play at RT.
Re: Is having a great LT overrated?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
wickedsolo
The whole point of the OL is to have 5 guys who can function together because the sum total is greater than individual parts. If Oher ends up being the LT, but KO, Gino, Yanda, and the RT end up being studs, then Oher's downfalls become much less apparent and impact the game plan significantly less.
You've got a point. An OL is an ensemble. Like a band, the more it plays together, the tighter it plays. That alone is why I'd like to see a long term solution at LT (a LT LT, if you will). Let's find a guy at LT (it could be McKinnie or Oher) and let him play there consistently, so that the OL gels. The merry-go-round rotation is a bad way to go on any positions on the OL. The Ravens like OL guys who can go at multiple spots (e.g. Yanda, KO, Harewood, or the guy they just drafted from Wisconsin) which I suppose is good for depth, but I'd like to see as much continuity on our OL as injuries allow. :alien:
Re: Is having a great LT overrated?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Tucker: M&T Sec 527
You've got a point. An OL is an ensemble. Like a band, the more it plays together, the tighter it plays. That alone is why I'd like to see a long term solution at LT (a LT LT, if you will). Let's find a guy at LT (it could be McKinnie or Oher) and let him play there consistently, so that the OL gels. The merry-go-round rotation is a bad way to go on any positions on the OL. The Ravens like OL guys who can go at multiple spots (e.g. Yanda, KO, Harewood, or the guy they just drafted from Wisconsin) which I suppose is good for depth, but I'd like to see as much continuity on our OL as injuries allow. :alien:
Of course we'd all like to see a long term solution @ LT. That's easier said than done though. The Ravens consistently pick at the bottom of the draft, so our chances for a franchise LT are non-existent. Note the top three LTs were chosen within the first four picks. Teams try to keep their top LTs too, with large long-term contracts. That's why the Ravens have to sign guys like McKinnie or move Oher. With the success of the Ravens, we have no other choice... Bc