The Often Overbearing, But Otherwise Ordinary Offensive Line

[Cearbhall]

1 hour ago, rrgm said:

Stop hating on our new toy .. jeez

How long should we let the honeymoon phase last? Personally, I expect us by the end of the year to be saying that we can't properly evaluate Cousins because the offensive line hasn't been giving him a chance.

The T-Jack apologists used that excuse for him until the bitter end. Strangely, I don't remember Ponder getting the benefit of that doubt. I suppose there wasn't any doubt with him.

Edited August 29, 2018 by Cearbhall

[SemperFeist]

1 minute ago, Cearbhall said:

How long should we let the honeymoon phase last?

Can he at least play a game?

[marshpit23]

11 minutes ago, SemperFeist said:

Can he at least play a game?

? 

[swede700]

12 hours ago, Cearbhall said:

How long should we let the honeymoon phase last? Personally, I expect us by the end of the year to be saying that we can't properly evaluate Cousins because the offensive line hasn't been giving him a chance.

The T-Jack apologists used that excuse for him until the bitter end. Strangely, I don't remember Ponder getting the benefit of that doubt. I suppose there wasn't any doubt with him.

I can't imagine how anyone could apologize for T-Jack after overthrowing a RB on an out pass 2 yards from him by 5 yards. Everyone knew with Ponder that it was about his heart not being in it, not necessarily the ability.  He never improved because he didn't care enough about the game to do so.   

Either way, people need not worry about VV.  He has more experience watching Cousins than most of us do.  I've never been all that impressed with Cousins either, even dating back to Michigan State, but I'm going to let it play out.  Plus, there's going to be higher expectations from him than compared to T-Jack or Ponder because he actually has experience prior to coming here.  There are no excuses that can be used about the offensive line not giving him a chance.  Bradford made it work.  So should Cousins.    

[Cearbhall]

53 minutes ago, swede700 said:

I can't imagine how anyone could apologize for T-Jack after overthrowing a RB on an out pass 2 yards from him by 5 yards.

I know, right?

When the apologists weren't blaming the offensive line they were blaming the offensive coordinator.

54 minutes ago, swede700 said:

Everyone knew with Ponder that it was about his heart not being in it, not necessarily the ability.

I didn't know that his heart wasn't in it. I just thought he wasn't any good. The velocity of his passes were Wynn-like. Spergon wasn't a first round draft pick though. Drafting Ponder in the first round was a huge mistake because he lacked the talent. If he also lacked the heart it was even worse. I tried to cling to hope that I was wrong about Ponder after the pick was made but it quickly became evident that he was not going to overcome his lack of talent. His heart not being it it might have been the reason. I just thought so little of his talent that I didn't have to dig deep enough to realize.

58 minutes ago, swede700 said:

Either way, people need not worry about VV.  He has more experience watching Cousins than most of us do.  I've never been all that impressed with Cousins either, even dating back to Michigan State, but I'm going to let it play out.  Plus, there's going to be higher expectations from him than compared to T-Jack or Ponder because he actually has experience prior to coming here.  There are no excuses that can be used about the offensive line not giving him a chance.  Bradford made it work.  So should Cousins.

I hope my reference of Jackson or Ponder doesn't lead any to believe that I expect Cousins to be anything like that. While I am not sold on Cousins I am still hoping for the best with him. I am just concerned that if it doesn't work out people will make excuses; they did in far worse cases. I wouldn't exactly say that Bradford made it work but Case Keenum did make it work. In spite of this, I still foresee the offensive line becoming an excuse if Cousins has a statistically average season. I wish the Vikings would have done more to avoid that excuse. It is not without merit. At least the team was willing to dump $3M into it now.

[RpMc]

Just listening to KFAN this morning, and Paul Allen mentioned that Danny Isidora has been playing center with the second team; love that they are trying things there.

[marshpit23]

Edison or Jones with the 1st’s?

[Krauser]

17 minutes ago, RpMc said:

Just listening to KFAN this morning, and Paul Allen mentioned that Danny Isidora has been playing center with the second team; love that they are trying things there.

They need a backup C or C/G who can dress for games until Elflein's healthy, or else they have to keep Edison not only on the team but on the game day roster. 

If Elflein goes to PUP, they can keep 9 OL including Edison (assuming Jones is starting at C in week one), but then Edison needs to dress so he's available as a backup, and they probably need to dress 2 more backup OL who can cover the other positions, which is one more than the usual 7 active on game days. 

Situation's even worse if Elflein stays off PUP: they need to keep 10 OL assuming they're not releasing anyone surprising, and they still have the problem of Edison active on game days just for emergencies (assuming again that Jones is starting). 

If one of the other backup OL can learn to play C (I would've liked to see Collins in that role), they can release Edison, keep 9 OL including Elflein or 8 with Elflein on PUP (or 9 with Elflein on PUP and Gossett on the roster as a redshirt), and get by with the 5 starters (Reiff-Compton-Jones-Remmers-Hill) and 2 backups (Isidora and Collins). 

[RpMc]

I mentioned Collins as well as a potential center candidate.  I just like that they are trying Isidora there.  In my opinion, with the current state of our line, he's too good to be kept on the bench, but, if he's going to be kept on the bench, I like that he will be learning potential ways to see the field.

[RpMc]

14 minutes ago, marshpit23 said:

Edison or Jones with the 1st’s?

Still Edison as far as I'm aware.

[marshpit23]

3 minutes ago, RpMc said:

Still Edison as far as I'm aware.

Ugh. Thanks for the 411

[Guest]

16 hours ago, rrgm said:

Stop hating on our new toy .. jeez

Thanks for your observation.  I don't "hate" Cousins.  He's talented enough to be a starting QB in the NFL.  However, I refuse to make myself blind to the deficiencies in his game.  One of those being, he doesn't handle pressure in his face very well. But, as I said...thanks for the feedback.

[NorthCountryEvo]

On 8/29/2018 at 4:22 AM, Cearbhall said:

I hope my reference of Jackson or Ponder doesn't lead any to believe that I expect Cousins to be anything like that. While I am not sold on Cousins I am still hoping for the best with him. I am just concerned that if it doesn't work out people will make excuses; they did in far worse cases. I wouldn't exactly say that Bradford made it work but Case Keenum did make it work. In spite of this, I still foresee the offensive line becoming an excuse if Cousins has a statistically average season. I wish the Vikings would have done more to avoid that excuse. It is not without merit. At least the team was willing to dump $3M into it now.

Do you mean a “NFL average season” statistically, or an “Cousins average statistical season”? I ask because I wouldn’t be happy if Cousins only produced statistically average when compared to the rest of the NFL, but if put up stats that are his average, then I wouldn’t be upset. Maybe disappointed, but not upset. No matter what, if Cousins doesn’t put up top 5-10 QB numbers this year, the line will be blamed regardless, and rightfully so. It is the weakest point on the team, and can directly correlate to QB play, but even though Cousin’s doesn’t play fantastic under pressure (like Keenum did last year), he did put up very good stats under an arguably worse line. I think we have a better squad overall on offense than Kirk has had previously, so O-line or not, I would hope that he has a career year, but if he is nothing other than his normal average statistically, i’ll feel that we overpaid, but that we still got an upgrade which can put us over the hump.

[Cearbhall]

1 hour ago, NorthCountryEvo said:

Do you mean a “NFL average season” statistically, or an “Cousins average statistical season”?

I meant an NFL average season but I agree that the offensive line will also be an excuse used if Cousins has a better than average season that is not very nice.

Edited August 30, 2018 by Cearbhall

[Klomp]