Andre Smith liking it at Guard

[BURROWorBUST]

(06-25-2017, 05:17 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: He did struggle with holding penalties, in pass protection.  Fast edge rushers would beat him to the corner, get him off balance, and he was forced to grab.  However, in run blocking, when he could initiate the contact, he is very tough.  At Guard, there is no room for a DT to run the edge, so every play is in the proverbial "phone booth", giving Smith an advantage.

With Guards and DTs lined up a little closer to each other than Ends and Tackles, there is less shock impact on the shoulders, so his repaired shoulder has a better chance of holding up, as well.

(06-25-2017, 11:20 PM)Go Cards Wrote: Think he would be a better guard than tackle anyway.

But as others have pointed out it is his health and durability that is concerning.

I've got high hopes for Andre. It also can't be ignored that he came back to us wanting to be a team captain. That's a new Andre. Maybe he said those things recognizing that we've lost THE team leader in Whit. Andre's a vet, and he knows what Marvin expects from him. Props for that.

That said, the injury issue makes me glad that we have Westerman and Redmund in the wings as young backups. Andre might not even end up starting, although for the money we're paying him, you'd have to expect that he'd have to seriously suck for Mike (Marvin) to start one of the young guys in  front of him.