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The Often Overbearing, But Otherwise Ordinary Offensive Line


SemperFeist

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I almost want an early declaration of Cleveland being the LT, Reiff kicking down to LG and then a competition for the RG with Elflein (who played C/RG in college and is a more natural position for a right handed center) and Samia

Not likely to happen, but given the investment already made in Elflein, I'd want to give him every chance to succeed.

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I expect Cleveland will be good enough to start as a rookie.

I think Reiff will be an upgrade at guard from Elflein. Even if Cleveland is ready to start, they’re going to want to keep him in the lineup as the only vet, and the clear leader of that group.

Elflein is a good run blocker but bad in pass protection, not sure a position change can save him as a starter.

I don’t know if Samia is really starter material, so I hope he does get some competition from Elflein (and hopefully Udoh, who I think would make a good guard).

Bradbury had a few terrible games. At his best, he looked like a good starter. He’s got the tools to improve. I expect he’ll creep back to average this year, and will be very disappointed if he doesn’t.

O’Neill is already solid. Hopefully he can take another step and be a blue chip starter.

Projected depth chart:

LT: Cleveland
LG: Reiff
C: Bradbury
RG: Samia
RT: O’Neill

Hill and Udoh backup tackles, Elflein and Dozier backup IOL, plus either Brett Jones or one of the rookies if they show too well to get to the practice squad. 

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8 minutes ago, PrplChilPill said:

I still find it odd how much everyone here (and in viking land, maybe) is counting on Samia when he didn't play last year, and wasn't even dressed some/many games. 

It's largely based on comments from Paul Allen throughout this off-season, the fact that they were comfortable letting Josh Klein go, and they didn't really attempt to bring anyone else in for that spot.

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7 minutes ago, SteelKing728 said:

Didn't he start week 17 vs Chicago against their 1s?

Edit: Kline started at RG and Collins at RT but Samia and Udoh soon took over. Here’s the tape:

I thought Udoh was very good in this game. Took a holding call when he didn’t let go of Mack as the runner cut by him, but he wasn’t beaten on the play. Also took an unsportsmanlike penalty for jumping on a pile. Played with high energy and aggression. Would’ve graded above average if it weren’t for the penalties  

Samia also looked like he was having fun out there, but his game was up and down. Didn’t get much going in the run game and had a couple of bad moments pass blocking. Samia also wasn’t great in preseason, so I’m not confident he can pick up where Kline left off as a decent starting guard.

But apparently the coaches have been happy with him, and his draft position and prospect grade suggests he should be able to develop into a starter this year, so I understand why they’re giving him the position. 

Edited by Krauser
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Just now, RpMc said:

It's largely based on comments from Paul Allen throughout this off-season, the fact that they were comfortable letting Josh Klein go, and they didn't really attempt to bring anyone else in for that spot.

I get that part, I don't get the part where anyone thinks this is a good idea......but, then, I've pretty much not agreed with Spielman's approach to the OL ever, so no surprise. I hope to be very wrong.

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2 minutes ago, PrplChilPill said:

Only active 2 games, and people think he's going to be a good starter this year........

If you have a rookie you expect to become a starter but with no actual game experience yet, and a solid vet depth backup (Dozier) who has played in a couple dozen games at different positions, which one would you dress on game day?

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Just now, PrplChilPill said:

I get that part, I don't get the part where anyone thinks this is a good idea......but, then, I've pretty much not agreed with Spielman's approach to the OL ever, so no surprise. I hope to be very wrong.

Agreed; definitely not saying that it's the right way to go about things, but the moves speak to a confidence in Samia that we aren't likely to recognize from the outside.

To be honest, I was a huge fan of Samia coming out of college and had him ranked as a second round player, so when we got him in the 4th I was pretty ecstatic.  He's got the goods to be a good starter in the league, but I can understand the apprehension.

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Just now, Krauser said:

If you have a rookie you expect to become a starter but with no actual game experience yet, and a solid vet depth backup (Dozier) who has played in a couple dozen games at different positions, which one would you dress on game day?

And when Dozier was starting owing to injury Samia was still not active.

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Just now, Krauser said:

If you have a rookie you expect to become a starter but with no actual game experience yet, and a solid vet depth backup (Dozier) who has played in a couple dozen games at different positions, which one would you dress on game day?

I'm not sure what you are arguing. Are you talking last year, or this coming year?

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It'd definitely not Apple to Apples, but John Sullivan didn't play very much in 2008 as a 6th round pick but filled in for a Pro Bowl Matt Birk just fine in 2009. They see these players a lot more than we do throughout the week. More often than not, teams are only dressing 7 maybe 8 lineman each week and most of the time last year that was Dozier and Hill. Hill was the swing tackle and Dozier was pretty much the back up everywhere else. 

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