The competition at center is heating up

[vin.couve12]

I watched some games a couple weeks back before my nfl rewind expired and I have some real concern on inside zone runs if Lem is starting. He holds his own his pass pro and absolutely knows all the right calls, but in games he is driven into the running lane too much and being the center, it drastically affects the outcome. I expect that Lemopedia is leading the charge right now strictly because of said know how, but by the time preaseason is fully underway I think he's relegated back to backup status. Or at least I hope so unless he's somehow improved in the core strength department. I thought Lewis was clearly the better run blocker last year, but obviously not quite the field general for line calls that Lem is. The problem is that we're a running team. Nowak is a completr unknown for me because I haven't gotten a chance to break down live action, so he's going to be a key watch on Friday.

 

[HawKnPeppa]

I watched some games a couple weeks back before my nfl rewind expired and I have some real concern on inside zone runs if Lem is starting. He holds his own his pass pro and absolutely knows all the right calls, but in games he is driven into the running lane too much and being the center, it drastically affects the outcome. I expect that Lemopedia is leading the charge right now strictly because of said know how, but by the time preaseason is fully underway I think he's relegated back to backup status. Or at least I hope so unless he's somehow improved in the core strength department. I thought Lewis was clearly the better run blocker last year, but obviously not quite the field general for line calls that Lem is. The problem is that we're a running team. Nowak is a completr unknown for me because I haven't gotten a chance to break down live action, so he's going to be a key watch on Friday.

Nowak strikes me as a stronger version of Tobeck. The coaches comment on his strength, athleticism and smarts. They say he's learning quickly. I hope he shows enough by pre-season's end to earn the spot.

 

[theincrediblesok]

An argument could be made that the free rusher situation you describe is a result of miscommunication starting with a faulty line call. Or maybe just a whiff by a particular player. Either way, working together as a unit is hugely important, and that usually starts with the center so everyone knows their assignment. Hard to say where the breakdown was all the time.

I agree that the OL as a whole has a chance to be better with better depth. Still a lot of hope needed at this point though.

I think it's a bit of both, Okung was hurt and you can see it affected his game. We had what 4-5 different centers last year that got a chance to play. Also Cable did mention that there was alot of miscommunications between the lines, and a rookie (Britt) was starting as well. I agree it is hard to know where the actual breakdown was.

I think the center battle is intriguing, even moreso just the entire O-line, I want an O-line just like the Cowboys, where they are great both at running and pass protection, even if we get to 75% of that I would be happy.

 

[McGruff]

http://www.fieldgulls.com/2015/8/10/912 ... -talk-ball

Some audio inteview clips. I just got done listening to the Cable and a couple of things stood out.

1. He loves Sokoli and Glowinski. He added Poole as an afterthought. But those two were obviously high on his list.

2. When listing the line, he had 4 presumptive starter and one spot still up for grabs. That spot was NOT center. He listed Okung, Nowak, Sweezy and Britt off the cuff without hesitation, and said they were still finding the guy at LG. Nowak seems to be winning the center spot, and Bailey seems to be losing the guard spot.

3. Keeping that in mind, Cable is going after toughness and grit, so I think either Glowinksi or Sokoli wins that spot. Bailey has always been a finesse pass blocking player. Cable also went on to say that this will be the grittiest, toughest line hes ever coached across the board.

 

[NorthDallas40oz]

I'm happy with someone other than Bailey winning the LG spot, because Bailey's true value comes from being a 6th man who can step in at any of the four G/T positions and serviceably get you through a game.

Poole is clearly and rapidly becoming this year's annual 4th round bust, following in the footsteps of EJ Wilson, Kris Durham, Chris Harper, et al.

 

[Attyla the Hawk]

Yeah it'll be interesting. It's early and obviously things change as they do almost every year when it comes to trying to forecast the OL group.

Poole and Lewis' absence from the discussions seem to be pretty big to me. The fact that Glow and Sokoli are shifting around to me was to be fully expected. They are both athletic OL and Seattle likes to have versatile athletic OL in the active group.

Especially considering the high profile of Nowak which has been a really consistent presence this offseason even before TC -- I'm finding it doubtful that Seattle can afford to carry a roster mirror for Bailey. The fact that Glowinski and Sokoli are being tapped to determine their suitability at Poole's expected LG position indicates to me that they are certainly exploring economy of roster spots as it pertains to the LG spot.

It's been presumed that Seattle/Cable likes a certain profile of athlete for the LG position in the physical realm of Carpenter/Bailey. Poole was drafted with that kind of profile. So it's possible Seattle is entertaining the idea of deviating from that ideal profile and flattening their requirements all along the LG-C-RG portion of the line. Which would provide much greater redundancy along the interior as well as narrow the kinds of players we're interested in with respect to interior linemen going forward.

 

[ivotuk]

Kudos to everyone for the posts in here. I love reading these types of discussions, so thank you all.

 

[Snakeeyes007]

Pretty wild to think that at some point this year, we could see a lineup consisting of 3 DL transplants at each of our 3 inside positions.

LG: Sokoli, Former DL
C: Nowak, Former DL
RG: Sweezy, Former DL

 

[hawknation2015]

Poole is clearly and rapidly becoming this year's annual 4th round bust, following in the footsteps of EJ Wilson, Kris Durham, Chris Harper, et al.

That was my LEAST favorite pick after the draft, and I usually love it when they draft linemen. His tape and athletic profile were both weak. He is probably better off developing at OT, where our depth is the shallowest.

Glowinski was one of my favorite picks, and he was selected AFTER Poole. Meaning, they risked losing Glowinski after selecting Poole.

 

[Attyla the Hawk]

Poole is clearly and rapidly becoming this year's annual 4th round bust, following in the footsteps of EJ Wilson, Kris Durham, Chris Harper, et al.

That was my LEAST favorite pick after the draft, and I usually love it when they draft linemen. His tape and athletic profile were both weak. He is probably better off developing at OT, where our depth is the shallowest.

Glowinski was one of my favorite picks, and he was selected AFTER Poole. Meaning, they risked losing Glowinski after selecting Poole.

Right there with you. I really felt like Poole was a pick steeped in the 'LG prototype' that Seattle had been looking for pre draft. And they may still prefer that at LG. If they do, I think that's even more damning for Poole if the current idea is to deviate from the ideal due to the on roster talent to deliver on it.

Kind of like how they felt that Irvin was the 'ideal LEO' when they drafted him. Then decided later on that they would move him altogether. I actually felt like it was a credit to the coaches that they could see something not working and reimage/reinvent what works in reality relative to what should work on paper.

 

[hawknation2015]

Poole is clearly and rapidly becoming this year's annual 4th round bust, following in the footsteps of EJ Wilson, Kris Durham, Chris Harper, et al.

That was my LEAST favorite pick after the draft, and I usually love it when they draft linemen. His tape and athletic profile were both weak. He is probably better off developing at OT, where our depth is the shallowest.

Glowinski was one of my favorite picks, and he was selected AFTER Poole. Meaning, they risked losing Glowinski after selecting Poole.

Right there with you. I really felt like Poole was a pick steeped in the 'LG prototype' that Seattle had been looking for pre draft. And they may still prefer that at LG. If they do, I think that's even more damning for Poole if the current idea is to deviate from the ideal due to the on roster talent to deliver on it.

Kind of like how they felt that Irvin was the 'ideal LEO' when they drafted him. Then decided later on that they would move him altogether. I actually felt like it was a credit to the coaches that they could see something not working and reimage/reinvent what works in reality relative to what should work on paper.

If Glowinski takes the LG position during the preseason, we would be a much stronger line. #1 That gives us a superior run blocker at the position. #2 It strengthens our depth at OT by keeping Bailey at the swing position.

An Okung/Glowinski/Nowak/Sweezy/Britt combo would be one tough offensive line on paper. Then you keep Jeanpierre and Bailey as good athletes and reliable pass blockers who can fill in for anyone when injuries strike without any drop off in pass pro. Gilliam, Sokoli, Milton, and Poole are all developmental guys; I can't say for sure who will be kept, as all three have struggled at times in both phases. Sokoli has the highest ceiling of the three, because of his freakish athleticism, but he is also probably the least game ready.

Milton actually received the first team reps at LG on Monday, with Glowinski at backup RG/RT and Poole running with the 3rd team at RT.

 

[jammerhawk]

Center and now LG . . . They have plugged both Sokoli and now Glowinski into the mix to start there. That may be more an indictment of Bailey than an endorsement of the rookies.

Hard to know, I suppose it could be.

At this point it's pretty early and before any preseason games but things seem to indicate that Glowinski is the backup for RG and Sokoli has been moved from learning to play C to learning to play LG at first as the transition from DT to OL for him has been tough and he is not getting enough reps at C to help his development.

Bailey appears to be the heir apparent to Carp so far and nothing I've read/heard indicates the team is anything but pleased with him his conditioning, weight, and focus. So far the guy who is getting a lot of 1st string practice time if that means much is Drew Nowak who is being spoken highly of by Pete and by Cable.

The guy that genuinely appears to be in the doghouse is Patrick Lewis who has gone from being actively in the convo about Unger's replacement to apparently being on the outs. There doesn't seem to be much if any explanation for this demotion that has been mentioned either by Pete or Cable or even anyone in the media. Makes you wonder?

 

[hawknation2015]

Center and now LG . . . They have plugged both Sokoli and now Glowinski into the mix to start there. That may be more an indictment of Bailey than an endorsement of the rookies.

Hard to know, I suppose it could be.

At this point it's pretty early and before any preseason games but things seem to indicate that Glowinski is the backup for RG and Sokoli has been moved from learning to play C to learning to play LG at first as the transition from DT to OL for him has been tough and he is not getting enough reps at C to help his development.

Bailey appears to be the heir apparent to Carp so far and nothing I've read/heard indicates the team is anything but pleased with him his conditioning, weight, and focus. So far the guy who is getting a lot of 1st string practice time if that means much is Drew Nowak who is being spoken highly of by Pete and by Cable.

The guy that genuinely appears to be in the doghouse is Patrick Lewis who has gone from being actively in the convo about Unger's replacement to apparently being on the outs. There doesn't seem to be much if any explanation for this demotion that has been mentioned either by Pete or Cable or even anyone in the media. Makes you wonder?

Bailey was again with the 2nd team yesterday. He and Jeanpierre have been alternating a lot between the first and second teams. Knowing how much he has struggled with a lack of physicality, I'm not ready to call Bailey the heir apparent.

 

[theincrediblesok]

Patrick Lewis at the end of last year was presumed to be the starter or at least compete for the spot with Lem, and then Nowak comes out of nowhere and forced the hands of the FO to take a deeper look, now that's how competition is suppose to work and we will get the best out of the three and with great depth at the center position. Interesting battle for sure, i'm loving it.

 

[nanomoz]

I didn't realize Nowak came into the league in 2012. (However, he's still only 25.)

It'd be a splinter in the thumb of the Jaguars is Nowak wins the job and plays well, they originally signed him as an UDFA. It would be just another testament to how the Seahawks are at the top when it comes to developing players and translating specific skill sets and innate abilities into on-field excellence.

 

[hawknation2015]

Keavon Milton has run with the first team at LG the last three days.