Offensive Tackle: What to do?

[pantherclaw]

Moton is a rock. He's not going anywhere.  I can see them trying something different at LT, although the options are slim to none at this point.   Certainly not drafting a stud LT this season,  and teams don't let students LT go. 

 I'm confident Icky can play better with the right blocking scheme.  Our new HC seems enjoy trying guys at different positions to see if they thrive better. 

 

[45catfan]

1 minute ago, MHS831 said:

As a former coach on a much smaller level, I can say that I have seen growth and the light come on when the players finally "buy in" to what you are doing. I imagine these young guys looked to Campen and others for answers and they were not served.

Much of our cap resources are going to be needed to retain or sign guys on the defensive side of the ball.  That and a stud WR.  Reason being why we need to stay away from OL in FA.  If a guy is there in the 4th or 5th round that's a steal, especially an interior player, then go for it.

[jamos14]

2 minutes ago, 45catfan said:

Much of our cap resources are going to be needed to retain or sign guys on the defensive side of the ball.  That and a stud WR.  Reason being why we need to stay away from OL in FA.  If a guy is there in the 4th or 5th round that's a steal, especially an interior player, then go for it.

Agree.  We have to do everything we can to sign a proven #1 WR (1. Higgins 2.Pittman 3.Evans) or at worst a guy with significant potential like Ridley.  That's FA $$$ priority one.    Then you sign Derek Brown and Luvu.  I'd honestly trade Burns for a 1st if they can get it.  Be done with him.     

[t96]

I'm not giving up on Ickey at LT, need to scheme around his deficiencies while he develops though.

[frankw]

Do what other successful teams are doing. Keep drafting OL instead of treating it like an afterthought or thinking you can sign bums off the street to hold down starting gigs.

[theinstrumental]

Moton is our best offensive player and should stay where he is.

We know the best five is Ekwonu - Christensen - Bozeman - Corbett - Moton. We've seen it be good when it wasn't complicated by injury. If you want to make an improvement, it's probably only done by drafting for immediate depth/competition and sliding those guys around as needed. You can do that at LT, kicking Ekwonu inside, or G, and in either case allowing BC to be a jack-of-all-trades reserve. Another option is to draft a C who can immediately play G, moving BC to the bench and eventually promoting him again when it's time for the C to replace Bozeman.

Point is, the line is not as good as we thought it was going into last year, but it's not as bad as it looked, either. As always, smart investments to the depth of the line are useful. There will be injuries, and we must be prepared, but OL isn't the only place on the roster that needs help.

[theinstrumental]

2 minutes ago, frankw said:

Do what other successful teams are doing. Keep drafting OL instead of treating it like an afterthought or thinking you can sign bums off the street to hold down starting gigs.

They have not done that at all. Ekwonu, Moton, and BC were 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round picks, respectively. Corbett was a premium FA. Bozeman's the only relatively low-cost signing of the starting five, and we've grabbed Mays and Zavala in back-to-back day 3's.

[WUnderhill]

I think we need to sign the best OL we can in free agency. Whether it be guard, center, or tackle. Preferably two. And we need to keep drafting OL on top of that.

[chknwing]

we need to add blocking TE's to help the Oline or atleast chip shot an edge/lb

[45catfan]

1 minute ago, WUnderhill said:

I think we need to sign the best OL we can in free agency. Whether it be guard, center, or tackle. Preferably two. And we need to keep drafting OL on top of that.

There's too much to do on the defensive side of the ball in free agency for expensive competition along the OL.  We need a starting WR as well and those guys are not cheap.

[frankw]

18 minutes ago, theinstrumental said:

They have not done that at all. Ekwonu, Moton, and BC were 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round picks, respectively. Corbett was a premium FA. Bozeman's the only relatively low-cost signing of the starting five, and we've grabbed Mays and Zavala in back-to-back day 3's.

You're forgetting that wasted time and salary signing awful FA's like Elflein and Erving when we could and should have been developing younger linemen. We weren't winning. Of course that's in part why Scott Fitterer is no longer here. Every season it was "let's plug so and so here so we can compete and I can look smarter than everyone else" instead of actually rebuilding.

Edited January 29, 2024 by frankw

[jayboogieman]

Keep Ickey and Moton at tackle this season. Build the interior of the line by drafting two guards and a center with the first three picks in whatever order the highest rated guy is. A solid interior line will benefit whoever is QB. Maybe bring in a couple of aging vets as well if they're not too expensive.

[JawnyBlaze]

Icky was good last year. This was his only bad year. Definitely deserves another look under the new staff to see if he can stick at LT before talking about moving in to G. 

[Buckets]

I think we NEED to get a legit LG next to him, and give him one more year with a new OL coach and LG

I wouldn't hesitate to move him to LG directly if it's obvious he is not going to work at LT.  Just move him there ASAP and move on.  One of the reasons Ickey was drafted was so high was the thought that if he didn't work out at LT, he'd be an elite LG.