I love our current Offensive Line

[Ozzy]

I hope they hit two homeruns in the draft. They almost have to.

 

[olyfan63]

...
Your also discounting the fact that Lewis, Gilliam, & Britt all gained valuable experience .... All the 3 were basically rookies at their posistions. would you not expect all 3 to improve from that? IMO. ...

Don't forget Glowinski, Sweezy's replacement. He gained experience and it showed in his one start. Glo could wind up as the poster child for the (future) success of the 2015 redshirt class. I have high hopes for him and Sokoli.

LOL, we're going to need that "flexibility" since we'll need to find a new qb because we're going to get him killed next year.

I fail to see how our line will really be any different next year that it has Wilson's entire tenure.

Totally. If anything, the OL should be better than most of Russell's tenure here. Michael Bowie, Alvin Bailey, and Paul McQuistan played a lot of games for Seattle in the Super Bowl victory regular season of 2013. Paul McQuistan started 8 games at LT that season, my sources say.

 

[Blitzer88]

Yeah I definitely don't feel the same way.

 

[Ozzy]

I do have some hope for Glowinski. He looked solid when he got a chance. It's just weird to me he didn't play more with how bad the guys in front of him were.

 

[olyfan63]

I continue to believe that Tom Cable and the Seattle Seahawks are very attractive to linemen starting out and second chance veterans who suffered setbacks. The reason is opportunity and their commitment to player development. However, that isn't the case for those who succeed at establishing themselves and are looking to cash in.

Several other teams feature quarterbacks that maintain discipline at launching passes from rehearsed launch points and getting the ball off and on it's way quickly. I suspect such a working environment facilitates the appearance of better consistency and produces better grades by outside observers. What's not to like about moving on to a more accommodating opportunity for that next contract? :229031_shrug: The entertainers that run around extending plays also extend the demand for sustained blocks. They also create more challenging and unexpected blocking angles for linemen.

At the moment, I guess I don't see (outside of that super bowl ring) the attraction for a linemen finishing his career in Seattle. But of course playing conditions have the potential to change as Seattle's quarterback and the offense evolving around him matures. When that happens, a second contract and the posibility of finishing a career in Seattle could become more attractive.

Until then ................. Let the roster churn!

What a great point. You are the only poster I recall making this point here. How easy to fixate on individual player pros and cons, and miss Pete's bigger picture of "Always ComPete" and attracting hungry players with something to prove.

Most of us know how Seattle goes ALL-OUTto appeal to UDFAs after the draft. It's gotten us some great pickups. We typically win UDFA because Carroll and Schneider can show to UDFAs how it's in their best interest to come to Seattle, EVEN IF THEY DON'T MAKE THE ROSTER.

It's becoming clear that Carroll, Cable, and Scheider are working hard to create the same thing for *young* OL journeymen with upside, guys like Sowell and Webb. It's actually a hella great marketing pitch.
"Come to Seattle, get great coaching, be a part of a winning team, and if you excel here, you've got an excellent shot for a big payday a couple years down the road, even if it's not from us."

Poster child: J.R. Sweezy, 7th round converted D-Lineman to OL to Super Bowl ring to NFL big contract.
Poster child: Breno Giacomini, GB practice squad to Super Bowl ring to big contract.
Poster child: James Carpenter, draft bust to Super Bowl ring to multi-million dollar contract.
Even Michael Bowie has a Super Bowl ring and a job in the NFL.

Losing J.R. Sweezy and having him get a big contract was actually a beautiful thing.
J.R. had a solid senior season and signed a big NFL contract. Carroll's program is expecting big things this coming year from Sweezy's replacement, Sophomore Mark Glowinski. Yes, Carroll is essentially running a college program.

If I'm a hungry young OL who believes in himself and has something to prove, Seattle is the place I want to sign.

 

[MysterMatt]

Like I said in another thread. Sokoli and Glowinski were basically redshirted just for the departures that were inevitable.

Also, Gilliam just completed his first year on the line.

Couple that with an EXTREMELY deep OL class and Seattles picks and we can essentially have a fine OL. Although it may start gelling too late...or not?

Hence the veteran signings, which I see as competition at G and a utility OL rather than RT or LT. I really don't think the OL is too far off at this point. LT is still worrisome, though. Maybe a Penn signing?

 

[Cyrus12]

Penn already signed with the Raiders.. not sure who is left that wont be camp fodder or mediocre at best. guess its ol for most of the draft.

 

[Cyrus12]

Penn already signed with the Raiders.. not sure who is left that wont be camp fodder or mediocre at best. guess its ol for most of the draft.

 

[Tical21]

It's weird, during Pete and John's time, we've put together a pretty good O-Line. Okung, Carpenter, Unger, Sweezy, Breno. All five are gone now. I don't know that you can really get better by losing your best linemen basically every year. Justin Britt, entering his third year, is our longest tenured lineman in the system.

If I had to bet right now, I'd say we probably will have one of the worst lines in the NFL next season. On paper, it is perhaps one of the worst lines in the history of the NFL.

That said, we've all seen too many crazy things in this league to rule anything out. Maybe Gilliam is an up-and-coming stud tackle. Maybe Glowinski is on his way to a decorated career. Maybe a bunch more stuff clicks for Britt. Maybe one of our reclamation projects strikes gold. Then, all of a sudden, we have one of the best young lines in the league. I'm not terribly optimistic, but I'm not going to start freaking out until we see them in action.

 

[DavidSeven]

It's weird, during Pete and John's time, we've put together a pretty good O-Line. Okung, Carpenter, Unger, Sweezy, Breno. All five are gone now. I don't know that you can really get better by losing your best linemen basically every year. Justin Britt, entering his third year, is our longest tenured lineman in the system.

Funny thing I read from Softy, not only are our five starters from SB 48 gone, our ENTIRE OL group from that team is gone. Starters, bench players, all gone. All 9-10 guys, whatever it was. Two years after winning the 'ship.

Not sure what that says about anything, but that just strikes me as incredible.

 

[MysterMatt]

Penn already signed with the Raiders.. not sure who is left that wont be camp fodder or mediocre at best. guess its ol for most of the draft.

Oh. Poop.

 

[peppersjap]

LOL, we're going to need that "flexibility" since we'll need to find a new qb because we're going to get him killed next year.

I fail to see how our line will really be any different next year that it has Wilson's entire tenure.

I agree. There were times Alvin Bailey was able to step in for Okung and play almost as well. I was an Okung guy until I could no longer be one, I think he was a pretty big disappointment in his career here. I think we are very close to where we were last year and we still have the draft ahead of us plus more possible free agents.

 

[RichNhansom]

I still believe our biggest losses for pass protection have been Zach Miller and Michael Robinson. The good news is that is easier to find and aquire than a stud LT.

Remember that O-line even with 2 first round picks and a probowl caliber center was still a constant disaster because Okung, Carp and Unger could never stay on the field. Yet somehow we managed even with all the line changes. That credit belongs to Miller and MRob.

One thing is for sure. Wilson will need to get very good at getting the ball out fast. That in itself will dramatically improve O-line play and health.

I'm not sure who the FO is targeting but a stud blocking 3rd down back who can still be a threat out of the backfield would do wonders for us.

I really can't get myself to freak out about the losses along the line though. Yes it would have been nice to retain Gaukamini (sp) and maybe Sweezy but really the others who have left did as much damage to continuity as they benefitted with talent.

The competition being created now will help single out the best players but the ones who are currently penciled in as the starters also know they will have to work their asses off or be beat out so we could see significant growth from those guys also.

I'm very curious about Cottom. Prototypical size for an H-back who could potentially play a big role in suplementing the line. Either he really isn't that good or we purposely shelved him last preseason so we could get him on the practice squad without being stolen. I'm hoping it's the latter but if he is not the guy then I hope we find that stud blocking TE who is versatile and consistent.

Would love to see an upgrade from Tukuafu but not sure who and hopefully Willson takes the next step in becoming that all around Gronk type of TE.

Improve the support. Decrease the time getting the ball out and maintain some health and continuity along the line and I think we have a chance at being consistantly decent and that would be more than good enough to be an upgrade over any line Wilson has played behind so far.

 

[Mtjhoyas]

Couple thoughts...

1. Universal truths: Death, taxes, and everybody hates their home teams' Offensive Line.

2. Consistent calling to blow up the OL and start over...here we are and people seem to hate the fact we are starting over.

3. Overpaying average OL FAs might make you feel good now, and hate everything about it when your cap space is tied up and your older OL is mediocre.

4. Interior OL is paramount IMO. We can actually trade down a bit and still get bonafide talent at LG and C. This is a great draft for that. Call me crazy, but I'd be more than fine rolling with this OL....

LT - Gilliam (Elite athlete. Better suited for LT)
LG - Germain Ifedi (Kelechi Osemele is the common comp)
C - Ryan Kelly (Alex Mack is the common comp)
RG - Glow (Looked really good in spot time last year)
RT - Webb (Admittedly meh)

IMO, this gives you 4 bonafide, young talents who can grow for the next few years before you have to pay $$$ for them. And when you think about it, if Gilliam pans out, he'd be the first to get paid and deservedly so for manning the LT spot.

 

[gowazzu02]

LOL, we're going to need that "flexibility" since we'll need to find a new qb because we're going to get him killed next year.

I fail to see how our line will really be any different next year that it has Wilson's entire tenure.

Um last years line was a tale of two lines. First half, where it was putrid and we stunk, second half it was average and the offense was amazing. We just lost our two best lineman from that line that was putrid and then average. Whats worse then putrid? cause we're about to witness it.

Your also discounting the fact that Lewis, Gilliam, & Britt all gained valuable experience .... All the 3 were basically rookies at their posistions. would you not expect all 3 to improve from that? IMO. IMO the line is an unknown, but that doesn't mean it will be a complete disaster.

Fair point and I guess Lewis, Gilliam and Britt could all improve, but we lost the two most talented, most experienced guys. As it sits today I guess Gilliam is the new LT? So he'll be a rookie at that position again. Are we forced to move Britt back to RT where he will again be green/graded out as the worst RT in the league his rookie year.

Lewis is good though. I like him, although the team did try unsuccessfully to replace him with a DT last year....soooo maybe they dont like him.

Any who. Hopefully the draft has some prizes for us. I just am concerned that we've never really seen a rookie (sans okung) step right in, during this regime.

Carp- bust at tackle, needed to move inside
Moffitt- bust
Britt- bust at tackle needed to move inside
Sweezy- actually he's probably the biggest win, although he did get beat badly alot his rook yhear
Glowinsky- played only sparingly, behind a pretty bad line
The other guys they drafted last year who's names I forget since they didn't do anything.

 

[HawKnPeppa]

If the team drafts a quality C in round one or two and he plays well, the line will be better than last year IMO.

Well Mike, for some ridiculous reason the coaches put Nowiki at center for the first part of the year and we sucked ass. After Lewis went in, we got better in spite of the extreme bullfighting moves of Sweezy and Britt.

Lewis barely tread water against bad DL's and gets destroyed against good interior guys. Short and Donald were clowing him up with ease...so was Minn DL.

 

[Willyeye]

I do have some hope for Glowinski. He looked solid when he got a chance. It's just weird to me he didn't play more with how bad the guys in front of him were.

Back in February, I started a thread here in which I said that they'd let Irvin, Okung, Sweezy and Mebane walk this offseason. They were not part of the plan, otherwise they'd have been extended a year early like the rest of their core players...they were simply no longer a good value. But the main reason was to get 4 Compensatory Picks for 2017. Those picks are gold and they'll also be tradeable beginning in 2017. If you look at 2010-2012 drafts, a SB winner was built in the drafts those years, not by keeping guys like Okung who is injury-prone and hasn't had a good season in 3 years. He was below-average at best the last couple of years. I for one won't miss him or Sweezy.

I was right...Irvin, Okung, Sweezy and Mebane are gone. Part of getting the highest Comp Picks is having your FA's get the biggest deals possible. Unfortunately, Okung screwed the pooch when he let Elway rake him over the coals...$5 million for 1 year is not going to net us a very good Comp Pick. So if your goal is to get high Comp Picks, what do you do? You let the guy play all year to his full potential, and try to make him look as good as you can. I guess they could have let Glow replace Britt, but that wasn't the plan. The plan was to say goodbye to Sweezy and have Glow replace him this year...and barring a major setback by Glow, that is exactly what will happen.

I have a feeling that JS will mirror the drafts of 2010 and 2011, at least for the O-Line. In 2010, Okung was the 1st round pick...in 2011, the first two picks were both O-Line (Carp and Moffitt). For picks #26 and #56, I foresee an LT and a C...they could even trade down, because I don't think they like dealing financially with 1st round picks. For pick # 126, I foresee a Guard. These will all be Glowinski-type picks...guys that actually played the position in college...no projects...no 6th rounders in the 2nd round (Britt). This will leave picks #90 and #97 for DL and OLB. Later picks will be RB, DE, DB, WR (they might skip WR and get a QB). They will of course find a few UDFA gems to compete.

I am excited for the new O-Line. I think the new line will be far better than last year's version. I'm thinking Gilliam/FA/1st round pick, 4th round pick/Sowell/Sokoli, 2nd round pick/Lewis, Glow/Nowak/FA, Webb/FA. Britt/Poole/Schwenke will be Bailey this year. Most importantly, I think they will be much more careful this year...they will choose the starting O-Line before the preseason games, and by the time the regular season starts, they'll have some continuity.

 

[AgentDib]

I'm not a fan of hand-wringing, but I'm also not a fan of bad logic. You cannot argue this group, which was awful last year, got any better. As previously said, on paper, this is arguably the worst OL unit in the history of the NFL.

I'll give you extreme pessimism but I'm not sold on the logic. This is a view anchored by lack of confidence in development and picks when the future is much more uncertain than that.

Expecting our youngsters to improve doesn't require much optimism. You should expect our 3 redshirt OL last year to contribute more in their second NFL season than their first. It's also reasonable to expect improvement out of Gilliam and Britt as both have had limited experience in their current roles and now get the full off-season plus whatever experience they picked up last year. Those are not unrealistic expectations.

Our nine draft selections do in fact matter as well. Every year there are 10-20 OL who contribute immediately and we have not hesitated to start rookie linemen prior to last season. Yes it is highly uncertain, but that's one of the worst reasons to completely discount something.

 

[Largent80]

Hahaha....It's IMPOSSIBLE for a line to be worse than last year's version.

 

[Largent80]

If the team drafts a quality C in round one or two and he plays well, the line will be better than last year IMO.

Well Mike, for some ridiculous reason the coaches put Nowiki at center for the first part of the year and we sucked ass. After Lewis went in, we got better in spite of the extreme bullfighting moves of Sweezy and Britt.

Lewis barely tread water against bad DL's and gets destroyed against good interior guys. Short and Donald were clowing him up with ease...so was Minn DL.

All true, which is why we should draft a center as well, and there are a few decent options available.