Fredtoast take on the O-line issue

[Benton]

(03-06-2017, 10:41 AM)bengals67 Wrote: Great post Fred

My only slight disagreement, if any, is the stupidity of keeping Bodine at center.

Bodine at center had been close to og at RT  but we have endured Bodine for how many years.

Center should have been a priority for the last two years. We are not going to beat any upper level team in a playoff game with Bodine at center.

We've done horrible at developing centers for a while now, but that's not just us. Center is an underrated position. The focus is usually on your tackles, and for some teams the center position seems to just be plugging in a smart lineman. For three drafts I've spent the first two rounds chanting "DT/C, DT/C, DT/C." So I've been a little disappointed with OL and corners.

But as to the thread, I don't get the knocks on Alexander. He's helped several linemen progress. At the end of the day, all a coach can do is provide insight and what they've learned. The rest is on how bad the player wants it. Guys like Whitworth don't just happen because they've got a good coach, they become one of the best linemen in the league with a long career because they want to be the best and they take their job seriously. Guys like Andre bust out for the other end of that — all the talent in the world doesn't help you if you're lazy. And coaching those guys only goes so far. You motivate a guy like Andre some in the lockerroom and some in contract negotiations.