AgentDib":v5obtzh1 said:
vin.couve12":v5obtzh1 said:
My main concern is the same as the last 2 years in that they keep said competition going until the day before week 1 and the OL as a whole doesn't know how to play as a unit. It's ridiculous.
Agreement here as well. 'Always compete' is a great philosophy most of the time but conflicts with cohesion within our starting OL when guys go in and out constantly based on their last outing. We need to have a great competition with a clear end date and then a plan for how the five starters will improve together. If Gilliam is going to end up in the doghouse in week 3 then I'd rather just have somebody else start week 1.
I might be inclined to write Gilliam off as the backup swing tackle, but Bennett seems to believe he'll make a big leap. I find that odd. Bennett is often critical of even his own teammates and he faces Gilliam at times. Maybe he thinks something sparked.
Glow has his limitations as well. He's a powerhouse, even at 310 or whatever it is now, but he's also mechanical because of it. He's really lacking laterally. If he's N/S in the run game then he's golden. Even holds up against a bull rush well, but when he has to move laterally and keep his shoulders square he can have some problems. It's possible he gets challenged, but probably wins
Britt just needs to keep improving. All the pieces are there and that veteran consistency should be there at some point.
Ifedi was all over the place. Flashed at times, looked like he completely didn't belong at times, and generally was as helter skelter as a lot of rookies do. I don't think someone will take his job, but he's got a lot of work to do.
Fant just really needs to work on his functional strength. If he loses some athletic ability doing so, that's fine. He's got it in spades. He's got issues with pretty much every type of rush, however, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that he can get pushed around. Obviously, you still want to keep developing Fant and I still can't say that he won't do exactly what he needs to do this offseason and win that job. Can't rule it out. I do think Joekel gives him a serious run for his money though.
I think the idea, regardless, is that Joekel is there to take someone's job. It's not a given that it happens, but it's a good 50/50 and you can almost deduce that either Fant or Gilliam shapes how that ends up in getting your 5 best on the field. If both those players hold onto their jobs, then maybe you kick him inside to complete with Glow.