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The Often Overbearing, But Otherwise Ordinary Offensive Line


SemperFeist

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I really wanted Osemele in 2016. Letting Kalil play for his 5th year extension and bowing out of the Osemele bidding war was probably my least favorite of Spielman’s moves, both at the time and now looking back.

With Kalil all too predictably failing to improve, the Vikings got locked in to paying a UFA premium at LT by signing Reiff. Reiff is pretty good but he’s not even close to All Pro level like Osemele. 

With Reiff on his big contract, there’s no way the Vikings could’ve been in the market for Norwell this year, unless they were going to make do with budget QBs for the next few years instead.

...

Upgrading Easton shouldn’t be too hard. Elflein was at least as good as a rookie last year, and should be quite a bit better this year — he was an early 3rd round pick. Drafting Ragnow (for example) at the end of the 2nd round would do the trick.

Upgrading Hill in the draft is also manageable though rookie tackles are usually inconsistent and they tend to go quickly in the draft so they might need to use the 1st rounder to get their guy.

Another option would be to draft 2 guards (Hernandez or Wynn with the first pick and Ragnow or Price sometime on day 2), keep Remmers at RT and have Easton compete with the 2 rookies for the guard spots. I’m just not wild about having the entire IOL be so young at the same time, plus Remmers would be a weakness against top end edge rushers at RT when it matters most, as happened to the Panthers when they ran into Von Miller in the Super Bowl.

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I’d feel more comfortable with Remmers at tackle if we can solidify the two guard spots. Given a pocket to step up into, the QB can just move up and away from the speed edge rush; particularly when it’s a right handed quarterback and he can see the rush coming from the right side. 

 

Interior disruption is the bigger issue I have with a QB like Cousins - and it’s the bigger disruption overall in my mind. 

Edited by rpmwr19
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1 hour ago, rpmwr19 said:

Interior disruption is the bigger issue I have with a QB like Cousins - and it’s the bigger disruption overall in my mind. 

Except, when you watch Cousins, he does a good job moving and avoiding rushers coming at him from the middle. It’s sensing pressure and evading the guys coming off the edge that give him trouble 

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11 minutes ago, SemperFeist said:

Except, when you watch Cousins, he does a good job moving and avoiding rushers coming at him from the middle. It’s sensing pressure and evading the guys coming off the edge that give him trouble 

Backside edge from what I’ve seen, and we’ve got as good as we are going to get at that spot, and, from what I’ve seen, most of those plays happen when Cousins is forced to hold onto the ball and out of his normal pattern due to receivers not getting open or being forced to dodge interior pressure. 

Edited by rpmwr19
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Smart guy, engineering degree from Michigan Tech - I'm sure he will find something to do with his post-football life. Very solid, sometime underrated, performer that filled in well for us in multiple offensive line spots.

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14 minutes ago, rpmwr19 said:

Smart guy, engineering degree from Michigan Tech - I'm sure he will find something to do with his post-football life. Very solid, sometime underrated, performer that filled in well for us in multiple offensive line spots.

Agreed. His versatility through the years will be especially missed.

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Sirles started 10 games for the Vikings in 2016 and four last season. The Vikings elected not to offer him a $1.907 million tender as a restricted free agent. Sirles said that move “came as a little bit of a surprise’’ but that the Vikings still wanted to sign him as an unrestricted free agent.

Sirles:  “They never once said they didn’t want to sign me, they wanted to try to get me back. But it’s a really good opportunity for me in Carolina. There’s a chance for me to come in and compete for a starting spot and Norv Turner’s here.”

https://www.twincities.com/2018/03/23/vikings-free-agent-tom-johnson-signs-with-seattle-jeremiah-sirles-to-carolina/

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  • 1 month later...

After the first round in the draft and seeing the team only sign Tom Compton while losing Berger I am again/still (still) very concerned about the state of the Vikings offensive line. I fear that the offensive line will once again hold the team back. There is little depth on this offensive line. Worse, there aren't five starting quality players on the line. The Vikings best linemen is just average.

IMO, the team needs at least three more NFL quality linemen two of which should be starting caliber. Not only that but one of those should be someone that is a top five type while the other should be clearly above average. The third can be a solid backup.

In order to meet these needs the team needs to invest serious resources in the offensive line. Through the first round of the draft what they have done for the offensive line is a serious disappointment.

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1 hour ago, Cearbhall said:

After the first round in the draft and seeing the team only sign Tom Compton while losing Berger I am again/still (still) very concerned about the state of the Vikings offensive line. I fear that the offensive line will once again hold the team back. There is little depth on this offensive line. Worse, there aren't five starting quality players on the line. The Vikings best linemen is just average.

IMO, the team needs at least three more NFL quality linemen two of which should be starting caliber. Not only that but one of those should be someone that is a top five type while the other should be clearly above average. The third can be a solid backup.

In order to meet these needs the team needs to invest serious resources in the offensive line. Through the first round of the draft what they have done for the offensive line is a serious disappointment.

There is more than 1 round in the draft. We're not in a bad situation just yet. 

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1 hour ago, Cearbhall said:

After the first round in the draft and seeing the team only sign Tom Compton while losing Berger I am again/still (still) very concerned about the state of the Vikings offensive line.

People haven't talked about it much, but remember we did sign Josh Andrews from off the Philadelphia practice squad.

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