CriminalMind Posted May 17, 2020 Share Posted May 17, 2020 If your in a competing\contending window, i think a GM would be just as inclined to draft the 23 as the 21 year old, since there is a general sentiment that the 23 year body might be more ready and they may have more experience in offenses\defenses 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krauser Posted May 17, 2020 Share Posted May 17, 2020 (edited) Made some edits of Ezra Cleveland film from 2017: He looks big and strong enough to play in the NFL even at 19. The Colorado State game is especially impressive for a teenager. And yet 3 years later, the conventional wisdom is that he needs a redshirt rookie year in the NFL to gain play strength. The more I watch him, I think he could play guard. He definitely moves people off the line when he’s run blocking. If you’ve watched one of both of those videos, here’s Brian O’Neill in his draft year to compare and contrast: O’Neill is much lighter on his feet, both for good (getting downfield on the screen, getting wide to pass block) and bad (unable to anchor a couple of times, pushed back in the run game. Still can’t believe anyone sees Cleveland as being especially similar to O’Neill. Edited May 17, 2020 by Krauser Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelKing728 Posted November 1, 2020 Share Posted November 1, 2020 Elflein or that other bum don't make that play. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelKing728 Posted November 10, 2020 Share Posted November 10, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy Posted November 10, 2020 Share Posted November 10, 2020 Ezra Cleveland played great against the Lions, the blocks he made down field were amazing and his athletic ability at the guard position is pretty difficult for teams to handle. Been playing lights out along with the entire OL, Reiff has been great and they are really worked well as a unit and not getting over powered or pushed around either. Cleveland has been awesome though and has really impressed as a rookie. Doubt Samia will ever take that OG spot back or Elflein for that matter. Dozier has been solid as well at the other OG and Bradbury is much improved from last season. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VikeManDan Posted November 10, 2020 Share Posted November 10, 2020 13 hours ago, Ozzy said: Ezra Cleveland played great against the Lions, the blocks he made down field were amazing and his athletic ability at the guard position is pretty difficult for teams to handle. Been playing lights out along with the entire OL, Reiff has been great and they are really worked well as a unit and not getting over powered or pushed around either. Cleveland has been awesome though and has really impressed as a rookie. Doubt Samia will ever take that OG spot back or Elflein for that matter. Dozier has been solid as well at the other OG and Bradbury is much improved from last season. Agreed on all counts. Competent OG play, along with Bradbury's progression have helped move the iOL in the right direction. At this point I'm tempted to just plug Cleveland in as long term RG and turn our focus to upgrading Dozier at LG. I'm coming around to @SemperFeist's idea of extending Reiff. Reiff-???-Bradbury-Cleveland-O'Neill 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy Posted November 10, 2020 Share Posted November 10, 2020 5 hours ago, VikeManDan said: Agreed on all counts. Competent OG play, along with Bradbury's progression have helped move the iOL in the right direction. At this point I'm tempted to just plug Cleveland in as long term RG and turn our focus to upgrading Dozier at LG. I'm coming around to @SemperFeist's idea of extending Reiff. Reiff-???-Bradbury-Cleveland-O'Neill Yeah I agree, Cleveland should be long term RG potentially. Dozier I would be fine with at OG but sure maybe upgrade possibly, most likely then Cleveland would more to LG and a new one at RG but who knows. Reiff I am fine playing out the next two seasons then see where he is. Then again they could save a good amount of money getting rid of him I assume, and say plug and play Alex Leatherwood or Jackson Carman in his spot instantly. Doubt Reiff can keep up this level of play but will see. Would love to get Udoh some run and see where he is but doubt that will happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perrynoid Posted November 11, 2020 Share Posted November 11, 2020 3 hours ago, Ozzy said: Yeah I agree, Cleveland should be long term RG potentially. Dozier I would be fine with at OG but sure maybe upgrade possibly, most likely then Cleveland would more to LG and a new one at RG but who knows. Reiff I am fine playing out the next two seasons then see where he is. Then again they could save a good amount of money getting rid of him I assume, and say plug and play Alex Leatherwood or Jackson Carman in his spot instantly. Doubt Reiff can keep up this level of play but will see. Would love to get Udoh some run and see where he is but doubt that will happen. So, do you think it would be better to flip O'Neill over to LT and insert Udoh at RT? Leave EC at RG? It sure would be nice to have a dominant OL for a long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy Posted November 11, 2020 Share Posted November 11, 2020 38 minutes ago, perrynoid said: So, do you think it would be better to flip O'Neill over to LT and insert Udoh at RT? Leave EC at RG? It sure would be nice to have a dominant OL for a long time. I am sure that is a possibility, but with Reiff playing well he is not going anywhere next year either potentially. I am saying it would be nice to know if Udoh is worth playing at RT or not but might not work this year unless someone gets hurt. O'Neill sure could play LT but has been decent at RT so why move him, and last year not sure he was all that great at LT when he played. Cleveland I am fine with leaving at guard. Why mess with it when they are playing so great on the offensive line and a massive part is Cleveland at guard over Samia and or Elflein. Then again maybe Cook is making them all look better than they are because he is just that good and is just playing that great. If the Vikings could not run the ball and needed to throw the ball 30-45 times in a game, not sure they could hold up in pass pro. But running the ball right now they are really doing a good job, real test will be against Chicago who killed them last year defensively I thought, made them look quite bad. Last two games for Minnesota, Kirk threw the ball 14 times and 20 times in two solid wins. They ran the ball 34 times for 5 + per carry and then again 34 times for 8+ yards per carry. There is a reason they look good on the OL, lack of pass pro is important, less chance to get beat but also do not put the ball in Kirk's hands more than it needs to be. Sure he keeps the team honest and has passed the ball well when needed, but also is not the center of the offense and cannot mess things up the less he touches it. With how they play on the offensive line in this system, I think a lot of teams have a hard time with Bradbury and Cleveland, both are so athletic on the inside, and Bradbury does not get pushed around which he really did last season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SemperFeist Posted November 29, 2021 Share Posted November 29, 2021 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikingsrule Posted November 29, 2021 Share Posted November 29, 2021 58 minutes ago, SemperFeist said: Just need to fix the two spots to the right of him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SemperFeist Posted November 29, 2021 Share Posted November 29, 2021 1 hour ago, vikingsrule said: Just need to fix the two spots to the right of him. I’ll be curious to see how it goes if Cole remains the starter for the rest of the season. Over the past 4 weeks, Cole has been PFF’s 6th highest graded center. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikingsrule Posted November 29, 2021 Share Posted November 29, 2021 47 minutes ago, SemperFeist said: I’ll be curious to see how it goes if Cole remains the starter for the rest of the season. Over the past 4 weeks, Cole has been PFF’s 6th highest graded center. So what’s the issue with the 49ers game? Seems everyone is being graded highly but the results aren’t there. Especially running the ball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wcblack34 Posted November 29, 2021 Share Posted November 29, 2021 17 minutes ago, vikingsrule said: So what’s the issue with the 49ers game? Seems everyone is being graded highly but the results aren’t there. Especially running the ball. The issue is that PFF grades don't seem to be results based. Numbers geeks generating arbitraty evaluauations as clickbait for subscriptions. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SemperFeist Posted November 29, 2021 Share Posted November 29, 2021 18 minutes ago, vikingsrule said: So what’s the issue with the 49ers game? Seems everyone is being graded highly but the results aren’t there. Especially running the ball. Play design. I’ve said it before, coaching matters. And that doesn’t just mean teaching footwork. Rick Dennison was the architect of the run game in 2019 and 2020, and it was a very successful scheme. Gary Kubiak was a master at playcalling finding the right play at the right time based on what the defense was showing. Now, instead of having two coaches with a combined ~50 years of experience running the offense, we’ve got two coaches who are both in their first year of their respective position. And it shows. Just now, wcblack34 said: The issue is that PFF grades don't seem to be results based. Numbers geeks generating arbitraty evaluauations as clickbait for subscriptions. Not exactly. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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