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The Often Overbearing, But Otherwise Ordinary Offensive Line


SemperFeist

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5 hours ago, Klomp said:

If I'm reading it correctly, I don't think you're understanding how waivers work. This isn't like a draft, where the highest-priority gets to pick someone followed by the second, third, etc. Any team can put a claim on any player. If multiple teams put in a claim, then the team who gets him is the one with the highest waiver priority.

No, I understand how they work.  For each OL The Vikes put in a claim, there could be potentially 12 or 13 teams that claimed him and have priority over The Vikes.  So, however many they claimed (if any), there was a team with priority ahead of them, who also claimed them (or him).  So, they got no backup help.  It's just bad luck for them that they are weak in a position that is weak leaguewide.

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11 hours ago, vikingsrule said:

Alternatively, we will be relying on a rookie for those same protection calls. Might be some growing pains. 

Interesting that last year's two starting Centers are now starting Guards. 

There likely will be...but historically, the organization has gotten by with young centers calling protections before (see Jeff Christy, Matt Birk, John Sullivan)...and having a veteran QB will help immensely. 

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One of Berger's biggest weaknesses was recognizing and calling protections. We saw a considerable drop off after Sullivan got hurt and we turned to Berger. 

So I don't expect to see much of a drop off in that area between Berger and Elflein. 

Edited by SemperFeist
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24 minutes ago, SemperFeist said:

One of Berger's biggest weaknesses was recognizing and calling protections. We saw a considerable drop off after Sullivan got hurt and we turned to Berger. 

So I don't expect to see much of a drop off in that area between Berger and Elflein. 

I agree.  I thought there was a tremendous drop-off in protection calls from Sullivan to Berger.  As decent as Berger was in blocking as a center, he wasn't anywhere near the class of Sully in calling protections...and the offensive line suffered as a whole.  If anything, I think Elflein may be a step up from Berger, because of his significant experience starting on the offensive line.  While Berger had significant NFL experience, he was never really a starter, which is evidenced by the fact that nearly half of his NFL starts have come in the last 2 years as the starting C for the Vikings.  I think, at worst, we'll get the same out of Elflein as we did out of Berger at C, with the likelihood that it'll be better eventually.    

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2 minutes ago, PrplChilPill said:

Good luck to anyone that has to play behind this line. Maybe high draft picks will finally be spent there, if they are bad again. 

I'm generally excited about Elflein and Easton. Reiff is probably serviceable but should be a RT. I see two long term voids at LT and RG, which may arguably be the two most important positions along the OL.

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4 hours ago, PrplChilPill said:

Good luck to anyone that has to play behind this line. Maybe high draft picks will finally be spent there, if they are bad again. 

Good to hear from you again! I do wish that there would have been a tackle worth drafting this year, but the board didn't fall that way. again. They did invest in the line though. A third rounder that they moved up for, and significant coin spent on both tackle spots. Combine that with cutting their losses on a free agent that didn't pan out in Boone, and I think we are witnessing the shift in philosophy that you have been calling for for as long as I can remember.

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17 hours ago, vikingsrule said:

I'm generally excited about Elflein and Easton. Reiff is probably serviceable but should be a RT. I see two long term voids at LT and RG, which may arguably be the two most important positions along the OL.

I'll be even more generally excited in 2018, when they're likely to have an interior O-Line of Easton, Elflein, and Isidora.  While it's not likely to be the equivalent of McDaniel, Christy, and Dixon, if they pan out, it could be the best interior O-Line since then.  If they can manage to resolve the tackle positions in some manner, it can be a good offensive line.  

Edited by disaacs
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3 hours ago, disaacs said:

I'll be even more generally excited in 2018, when they're likely to have an interior O-Line of Easton, Elflein, and Isidora.  While it's not likely to be the equivalent of McDaniel, Christy, and Dixon, if they pan out, it could be the best interior O-Line since then.  If they can manage to resolve the tackle positions in some manner, it can be a good offensive line.  

Hutchinson, Birk, and Herrera might have something to say about that.

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1 hour ago, disaacs said:

They weren't better.  They were certainly pretty good, but they didn't dominate the way the trio I mentioned did.  

Even being the most optimistic you can, I doubt Easton, Elflein, and Isidora will be better than Hutchinson, Birk, and Herrera. 

Edited by SemperFeist
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54 minutes ago, SemperFeist said:

Even being the most optimistic you can, I doubt Easton, Elflein, and Isidora will be better than Hutchinson, Birk, and Herrera. 

I agree. It is doubtful. It is far more likely that trio will form a terrible interior than be better than Hutchinson, Birk, and Herrera. All three are unproven. Given the Vikings recent track record of drafting and developing offensive linemen it is hard to expect more than one of them to pan out and become an average NFL offensive lineman.

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5 minutes ago, Cearbhall said:

I agree. It is doubtful. It is far more likely that trio will form a terrible interior than be better than Hutchinson, Birk, and Herrera. All three are unproven. Given the Vikings recent track record of drafting and developing offensive linemen it is hard to expect more than one of them to pan out and become an average NFL offensive lineman.

This is the most optimistic I have been in regards to the interior portion of the offensive line since the 2009 group.  While it may not mean much, I did see that group of interior linemen look pretty competent against the Seahawks' first team defense. 

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