Well, you are right of course. I was hoping that given the circumstances, that Slick Rick would make an exception, similar to the Newman situation. They really need some OL help.
Of course, there is the possibility that the Vikes approached Mathis with a 1 year deal, and he refused because he wants a minimum of 2 or 3 years.
Oh well, hopefully Clemmings can perform well. But its very scary with a 2nd year QB having Kalil as a LT and Clemmings as a RT. Ouch. Teddy might be having nightmares.
No thanks. Now is the time to find out if there is someone on the roster to fill the position. Loadholt has been falling apart since his contract year. Injuries, age. We need to get a core of young talent we can keep in place. See if Clemmings can do the job. I don't think anyone was high on Sullivan or Fusco early on in their careers. I sure wasn't. If the team was in win now, super bowl here we come mode, I could see Mathis. But not where the team is now.
Demi wrote:No thanks. Now is the time to find out if there is someone on the roster to fill the position. Loadholt has been falling apart since his contract year. Injuries, age. We need to get a core of young talent we can keep in place. See if Clemmings can do the job. I don't think anyone was high on Sullivan or Fusco early on in their careers. I sure wasn't. If the team was in win now, super bowl here we come mode, I could see Mathis. But not where the team is now.
Good point and I definitely see the logic. I am a bit torn on it but to me the development of Teddy should be this team's top priority. This OL has the chance of completely imploding, of being a total debacle which would really hamper Teddy's development IMO. Adding a solid vet as insurance and to bring some stability to the OL should be a priority just for this reason if nothing else.
Luckily I think teddy is going to help the line quite a bit on passing plays. He seems very good against the blitz and don't think the line will have to deal with very many as a result.
I think T.J. Clemmings will take his lumps, but, I think he will turn out alright. I want this team to have a right tackle that is athletic that fits a zone scheme better. As much as I love Loadholt, I think this team needs to start transitioning away from him.
A Randy Moss fan for life. A Kevin Williams fan for life.
Husker Vike wrote:I wasn't able to watch the Raiders game, how did Clemmings and Harris work together?
Harris seems to be doing quite well, Teddy was able to step up into the pocket several times due to good blocking by the guards. Clemmings seemed to miss a blocking assignment (hard to say but typically the tackle has the outside responsibility first and the rusher hit TB unabated) but otherwise did an okay job. It seems as though Clemmings is good when he can get his hands on the defender early, I've watched him a lot and he doesn't get bull rushed or beaten on the inside often. The problem lies when he tries to set the edge, when he doesn't get the initial punch or step, guys seem to be able to get around him. I think quick first step DE's that are able to bend will give him issues.
It's really tough to say right now because no one is really running anything complex but that's my initial take.
Clemmings is going to take his lumps, he is both a rookie and a low round pick. That means he is not as polished of a player as someone who goes early. Even then, the polished guys can have challenges in their first season.
It isn't that shocking that Clemmings did better in the pass than against the Run. Loadholt has always been a monster in the running game. That is where I thought we'd see the biggest hit.
Winning is not a sometime thing it is an all of the time thing - Vince Lombardi
Clemmings is going to take his lumps, he is both a rookie and a low round pick. That means he is not as polished of a player as someone who goes early. Even then, the polished guys can have challenges in their first season.
It isn't that shocking that Clemmings did better in the pass than against the Run. Loadholt has always been a monster in the running game. That is where I thought we'd see the biggest hit.
Oakland has Basically DT that play on DE and they Kalil Mack as well. There better in running game than in Pass.
I saw Clemmings miss at least one assignment, to the outside, He has good push, I think he is already better then Loadholt
in pass protection. Loadholt is a mauler against the run, without a doubt. I'm guessing as time goes on, we will develop a
goal line set, with another tackle or TE to push the edge.
jackal wrote:I saw Clemmings miss at least one assignment, to the outside, He has good push, I think he is already better then Loadholt
in pass protection. Loadholt is a mauler against the run, without a doubt. I'm guessing as time goes on, we will develop a
goal line set, with another tackle or TE to push the edge.
I very, VERY strongly disagree with you. I think a lot of people neglect the last two years of Loadholt's career and instead remember his first three years. He really started turning a corner in 2012 and hasn't looked back.
Even if we ignore the reports out of camp that Phil was our best lineman and was rarely losing any battles, Phil has been getting praise for a while now. In 2014 PFF made him the only RT on the Top 100 list and even went as far as to say that he is the prototype. He's had 6 penalties in the last two years which is a fantastic clip. He's been a rock for our team and this conversation that we don't lose much when our best lineman goes down is pure applesauce.
DK Sweets wrote:I very, VERY strongly disagree with you. I think a lot of people neglect the last two years of Loadholt's career and instead remember his first three years. He really started turning a corner in 2012 and hasn't looked back.
Even if we ignore the reports out of camp that Phil was our best lineman and was rarely losing any battles, Phil has been getting praise for a while now. In 2014 PFF made him the only RT on the Top 100 list and even went as far as to say that he is the prototype. He's had 6 penalties in the last two years which is a fantastic clip. He's been a rock for our team and this conversation that we don't lose much when our best lineman goes down is pure applesauce.
I was about to say something very, very similar. As I have pointed out before to Jackal, how in any way can you sit there and say Clemmings is already a better pass blocker than Loadholt when you've only seen him play in 3 preseason games, 1 being against Pitt's backups?? That is about as far-fetched as I've seen on here. I agree Dakota, it's like nobody has forgotten his first few years here and his extremely slow feet. He has been our best overall lineman the past few years IMO. Right up there with Sully. But now a rookie that's played in 3 preseason games is already a better pass blocker??
The saddest thing in life is wasted talent and the choices you make will shape your life forever.
-Chazz Palminteri
I very, VERY strongly disagree with you. I think a lot of people neglect the last two years of Loadholt's career and instead remember his first three years. He really started turning a corner in 2012 and hasn't looked back.
Even if we ignore the reports out of camp that Phil was our best lineman and was rarely losing any battles, Phil has been getting praise for a while now. In 2014 PFF made him the only RT on the Top 100 list and even went as far as to say that he is the prototype. He's had 6 penalties in the last two years which is a fantastic clip. He's been a rock for our team and this conversation that we don't lose much when our best lineman goes down is pure applesauce.
My reasoning our OL has been terrible, for years...
IMO one of the worst in the NFL in last few years.
Loadholt was gone most of last year, and going to miss this whole year. Not his fault but no matter how good you are or not
if your not healthy, your no good to team.
I wouldn't keep Kalil either moving forward. I was thrilled we finally got rid of Johnson LG. He was terrible missing blocks
stumbling around.
