08-05-2018, 08:33 AM
Good points all, but I don't see Westerman and Redmond as guys that lucked in to 2-3 big plays and won starting jobs because of it. I see them as guys that came in with zero game experience, handled a shift in blocking schemes, and worked next to a dud in Bodine yet get the Bengals two different 100 yard rushers (something I don't think they had done all season except against the Browns).
Westerman will be an upgrade over what we got from Hopkins. Too bad about his illness. He still has time to get the weight back on and should be able to win the job by the end of the preseason.
Redmond is my favorite guy in terms of "on paper RT". Big, Long, Nasty, stronger than hell....
Will that translate to the field? I am betting it does. I isolated him on his play last year and he drove some guys out of the line of scrimmage with ease. A skeptic would say "He wasn't beat up from 16 games of action" and an optimist would say "He was doing this in his first NFL action". Which ever side of the fence you reside, I think he is, at the very least, a very serviceable backup guard or he might even be our starting RT.
If you go "Last year vs. This year" on the line, and specifically watched the problem areas from last year, you would see several key deficiencies:
LT: Most evident on passing downs, the LT would get set up with outside moves only to get smoked inside on third down and Dalton would have no time to wait for a receiver to break open. Defenses knew this and really only had to defend about 15 yards of the field. No time to get deep. No time to step in to throws. And I don't care if your name is Sir Tom Brady, if you take enough blind shots, it affects all of your game.
RT: No push in the rushing attack, very short protection in passing downs. It wasn't as bad as the LT spot, but it wasn't even average.
Center: By far, the worst of the bad. Constantly shoved in to Dalton's lap. On rushing downs, often whiffed on his guy and had the RB making cuts three yards deep in the backfield. Really limited their ability to pull Boling, because Boling would have to run around Bodine as he was pushed backwards. I understand Price is a rookie, but if he is even able to duplicate what Elflien did for the Vikes, he will have a huge impact on this team. I see this as the single greatest improvement on our team.
Pollack- Aggressive demeanor and drive blocking instead of always sliding and catching should get more out of the guys we have.
Westerman will be an upgrade over what we got from Hopkins. Too bad about his illness. He still has time to get the weight back on and should be able to win the job by the end of the preseason.
Redmond is my favorite guy in terms of "on paper RT". Big, Long, Nasty, stronger than hell....
Will that translate to the field? I am betting it does. I isolated him on his play last year and he drove some guys out of the line of scrimmage with ease. A skeptic would say "He wasn't beat up from 16 games of action" and an optimist would say "He was doing this in his first NFL action". Which ever side of the fence you reside, I think he is, at the very least, a very serviceable backup guard or he might even be our starting RT.
If you go "Last year vs. This year" on the line, and specifically watched the problem areas from last year, you would see several key deficiencies:
LT: Most evident on passing downs, the LT would get set up with outside moves only to get smoked inside on third down and Dalton would have no time to wait for a receiver to break open. Defenses knew this and really only had to defend about 15 yards of the field. No time to get deep. No time to step in to throws. And I don't care if your name is Sir Tom Brady, if you take enough blind shots, it affects all of your game.
RT: No push in the rushing attack, very short protection in passing downs. It wasn't as bad as the LT spot, but it wasn't even average.
Center: By far, the worst of the bad. Constantly shoved in to Dalton's lap. On rushing downs, often whiffed on his guy and had the RB making cuts three yards deep in the backfield. Really limited their ability to pull Boling, because Boling would have to run around Bodine as he was pushed backwards. I understand Price is a rookie, but if he is even able to duplicate what Elflien did for the Vikes, he will have a huge impact on this team. I see this as the single greatest improvement on our team.
Pollack- Aggressive demeanor and drive blocking instead of always sliding and catching should get more out of the guys we have.
![[Image: 4CV0TeR.png]](https://i.imgur.com/4CV0TeR.png)
