Jah Reid or Bobbie Williams?

**leachisabeast** · 11-15-2012, 07:02 PM

Left guard has been an undecided position all year and it's time to make a final decision on who should remain the starter. Jah Reid has finally got healthy and played well last week when he replaced Williams as the LG, Williams on the other hand is clearly really struggling with his ankle issues and his age.

Jah Reid is a huge lineman at 6'8 and 330 lbs, he would clearly be very tall for a guard, but that doesn't mean he can't have success playing there, Alex Boone has been playing very well this year for the 49ers at right guard, and is around the same size as Reid. Reid is obviously much more athletic than Williams at this point in his career, and we need second level blocking in our run game if we want to get through this winter stretch running the ball effectively.

So yeah, it's clear who my personal preference is, but who do you think should be the LG?

**goodandfast** · 11-15-2012, 07:06 PM

Personally I think both Williams and Birk are liabilities at this point in their careers. I didn't understand the move to sign Williams at the time, and still don't. Having both of them on the field at the same time is putting Flacco's life on the line. If one is out there, we can probably get away with it using a back to help with protection. If we have better options at G than we have at C then Williams needs to sit. If we have better options at C than at G, then Birk needs to sit. As it is, there's more depth at G which makes Williams the odd man out.

**leachisabeast** · 11-15-2012, 07:20 PM

Originally Posted by goodandfast

Personally I think both Williams and Birk are liabilities at this point in their careers. I didn't understand the move to sign Williams at the time, and still don't. Having both of them on the field at the same time is putting Flacco's life on the line. If one is out there, we can probably get away with it using a back to help with protection. If we have better options at G than we have at C then Williams needs to sit. If we have better options at C than at G, then Birk needs to sit. As it is, there's more depth at G which makes Williams the odd man out.

I can see your issue with Williams, but from what I've seen, Birk has been playing well this year, apart from the first few games he was a little shaky in pass pro, but apart from that he's looked good. I don't think he'll be here next year, but he's by far our best option at this point.

**Bhcforlife** · 11-15-2012, 09:18 PM

I don't know if Reid is going to be any good at LG either, but I do know I'd much rather see him in there than Bobbie Williams. It's a no brainer. Williams is awful. At least with Reid, if he struggles, you can reasonably expect improvement as he plays more.

**lobachevsky** · 11-15-2012, 09:32 PM

Having perused Filmstudy's appraisal of the OL vs Oakland, I'd say Reid is the guy. Though I'm not really sure why Ken is so hot to shake up the line again (sounds like he wants McKinnie-KO-Birk-Yanda-Oher) when cohesion is such an important part of its game.

**Rayvens52** · 11-15-2012, 09:53 PM

Why not KO at LG and Reid at Rt?

**trailhiker85** · 11-16-2012, 09:56 AM

Originally Posted by goodandfast

Personally I think both Williams and Birk are liabilities at this point in their careers. I didn't understand the move to sign Williams at the time, and still don't.

This. I never liked or really understood the Williams signing. I mean, I understand about veteran depth. But considering that your center is already showing his age I'm not sure you really want another slow oldster next to him. Williams has looked pretty awful when I've seen him play this year. I really hope the O-line is addressed next offseason.

**Justlovemybirds** · 11-16-2012, 10:50 AM

Had he not gotten injured during training camp, Jah probably would've been starting anyway.

**Rxdoxx** · 11-16-2012, 11:03 AM

Originally Posted by Justlovemybirds

Had he not gotten injured during training camp, Jah probably would've been starting anyway.

Yep, we can't forget that when Grubbs signed with NO, Jah was declared the starting LG...
it seemed a little bit like fantasy fiction, but we are seeing there was a lot of seriousness behind that comment.
I'm currently thinking of him in a similar way I think of Adam Terry... that may change, after all he finally is healthy so we are now seeing on-field material.

Agree Bobbie was serviceable depth thats what he gave us when he could.

As a totally tangential piece of trivia on Adam Terry
Colts released him, SD signed him for two games then cut him to make room for another ex-Raven Kelley Washington WR (11-4-2010)

**BigPlayReceiver** · 11-16-2012, 11:20 AM

Bobbie has had 3.5 times more snaps than Jah, but in Jah's 61 snaps, he has played okay considering IMO that he is largely still a rookie. PFF scored as a zero vs. OAK; he had a penalty which negated his positive run and pass blocking scores. He has no other negative scores on the books besides the penalty.

I'm pretty sure what Bobbie will give us vs. PIT. No idea with Jah, so I'm excited to see how he does. And we traded up to get this guy, so it's definitely time to see the payoff.

**Tucker: M&T Sec 527** · 11-16-2012, 04:27 PM

Originally Posted by leachisabeast

Left guard has been an undecided position all year and it's time to make a final decision on who should remain the starter. Jah Reid has finally got healthy and played well last week when he replaced Williams as the LG, Williams on the other hand is clearly really struggling with his ankle issues and his age... Reid is obviously much more athletic than Williams at this point in his career, and we need second level blocking in our run game if we want to get through this winter stretch running the ball effectively.

All things being equal, I like to see an OL that's played together stay together. But all things aren't equal, as you point out. Youth and athleticism favor Reid. To stay on this roster Williams must have some locker room/mentor mojo. I remember him going out for the Opening Day coin toss as Offensive Capt., then Harewood starts (when did Ramon even get 1st team snaps @ LG??). Reid has gotten healthy and had a decent game vs. Oakland. He will help both Oher and Birk more than Williams has. Guys on here talking about moving KO to LG, Reid to RT, and McKinnie to LT - that's just too much change when we're facing these next 3 tough games. Gotta admit, kinda wondering why we're carrying so much "veteran depth" (Williams and McKinnie) on the OL. Compensating for our drinky OL coach? Or perhaps they were expecting McKinnie to be motivated by financial incentive, like it seemed they were trying to motivate Gaither by competion against Oher. I don't think a Gaither or McKinnie can be motivated in traditional Harbs ways. That's where Oher pulls ahead of other LT candidates of the Harbs era - on character issues.