Abraham Lucas or Jake Curhan, who has edge in Right Tackle competition?

toffee

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Lucas or Curhan, who will be our starting RT? Curhan did well in run blocking, in fact he was one of the major contributor in Penny's late season dominance. Lucas was drafted in second round, Curhan was undrafted?

 

sutz

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I should think Curhan has the initial edge, since he is a returning player. Should be an interesting battle, though. Nice to have this luxury going into camp.
 

Natethegreat

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May the best man win. Although Lucas certainly has more upside with his build and athleticism.
 

ElvisInBlue

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Lucas should be the man. If he doesn’t acclimate to the pro game quickly enough Curhan will have an opportunity to make a sophomore leap.
 

Natethegreat

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As was our previous quarterback 😉

Abraham Lucas was a steal in the third round, and barring injury, I would be stunned if he isn't the starting right tackle week 1.
I think he was great pick there. My son and I were doing high fives when we picked him. Hope he does well.
 

Maelstrom787

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Curhan has the edge. He's a gamer who played well when called upon. I expect him to win a very close battle.

Lucas is a nice prospect, but I'm not going to automatically anoint a third rounder over a guy with positive tape in real NFL game action. I'm also not going to write Lucas off should he end up losing the initial competition.

Fully expect that Lucas is the RT of the future.
 
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toffee

toffee

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I like to think that we have a nice problem, two RT prospects both with intrigue. It's a tough one for me, I was on the Curhan wagon for his excellent run blocking, but also impressed with Lucas' pass protection.
 

DanejaHawk

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Curhan has the edge. He's a gamer who played well when called upon. I expect him to win a very close battle.

Lucas is a nice prospect, but I'm not going to automatically anoint a third rounder over a guy with positive tape in real NFL game action. I'm also not going to write Lucas off should he end up losing the initial competition.

Fully expect that Lucas is the RT of the future.
Completely agree. Curhan is a dirty work guy. He's already demonstrated at the NFL level the want-to, and a proficient understanding of the technique that's necessary for run blocking the outside zone stretch concepts Andy Dickerson is rolling out. I believe that Lucas will hit the ground running and with his natural athleticism and ability will quickly assimilate these skills, but I think Curhan edges him out to start the year and I think it's overall a good thing for the offense and for Lucas as a prospect.

Top Billin' did a great video breakdown of some of Lucas' reps against Kayvon Thibodaux in the WSU v Oregon game. I think it was a perfect snapshot of why Lucas is absolutely the RT of the future yet maybe not the RT of right now. He completely shut down an elite collegiate (and possibly professional) pass rusher. He clearly has an incredible feel for pass rush geometry and tendencies. He knew exactly where Thibs was trying to go and used his good kickstep and great feet to literally always be in the way or completely escort Thibs out of the play. But he was also consistently late with and lacking suddenness in his hands.

In the run blocking reps it was clear to see his lack of adequately taught and enforced technique. One rep was some kind of trap to the left in which Thibs is left purposely unblocked and it was Lucas' job to pull to the left and seal off the free rusher so the ball carrier only has the safety to beat either by bouncing outside or cutting back inside off the G/C combo block. Lucas ends up late to his block even after firing off the ball as he inexplicably decides to break down and start chopping his feet at about the level of the QB before continuing on. Luckily Thibs almost blocked himself out of the play and it was only a one yard loss instead of 5. The next rep was some kind of veer concept in which Lucas actually wins his rep against Kayvon and the play nets positive yardage. But Lucas fails to completely flip his hips perpendicular to the LOS and wall his man off from the gap. Because he failed to do so and the run play was called to Lucas gap, Thibs was able to fight off the block and tackle the ball carrier for less yardage than he truly should've gotten.

The good news is that these issues are easily fixable and Lucas already does the hard stuff to learn really well. And having the depth of two adequate tackle prospects is a great problem for the Hawks to have.
 

nanomoz

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I'm hoping Lucas progresses quickly and wins that job, which puts Curhan at right/left guard (left, if they correctly move Lewis back to RG)--making Gabe Jackson expendable.
 

DanejaHawk

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I'm hoping Lucas progresses quickly and wins that job, which puts Curhan at right/left guard (left, if they correctly move Lewis back to RG)--making Gabe Jackson expendable.
I'm not so sure that's the way the season starts, but I sure hope this is where it ends up.
 

SNDavidson

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Will Curhan get looks at guard or is he simply not built to be a guard? Agree Curhan is good leverage blocker with a little road grater in him, excellent line depth for sure with starting talent.
 

jammerhawk

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It's far to early to know which player will win the competition for the position.

Curhan played well when he had an opportunity late last season and certainly has shown he is a keeper. Lucas is very athletic and will likely need a bit of seasoning but could just win the job. Too me this is a great problem for the team to have and the RT position is certainly well staffed going forward.

Finally there is some quality depth at the OT position and the team isn't trying to scrounge up a passable start from the castoffs.
 
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toffee

toffee

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It's far to early to know which player will win the competition for the position.

Curhan played well when he had an opportunity late last season and certainly has shown he is a keeper. Lucas is very athletic and will likely need a bit of seasoning but could just win the job. Too me this is a great problem for the team to have and the RT position is certainly well staffed going forward.

Finally there is some quality depth at the OT position and the team isn't trying to scrounge up a passable start from the castoffs.
Its a case of the heart cheering for Curhan, but the brain is for Lucas.
 

Appyhawk

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Just as Geno heads to camp with an advantage at QB and Curhan does the same at RT. He would have to really screw the pooch to lose out in OTAs. I can't see any way Lucas wins that spot before contact happens in actual TC and pre-season games. But Lucas' chance could evolve quickly after that, especially after he has a chance to prove himself at run blocking.
 

nanomoz

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Will Curhan get looks at guard or is he simply not built to be a guard? Agree Curhan is good leverage blocker with a little road grater in him, excellent line depth for sure with starting talent.
Guard is where they projected him, and where he got his first snaps last year.
 
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