The Offensive Line...moving forward

massraider

massraider

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How is this going to be fixed? And I don't mean for this year, I mean for 2007. With this roster, I'm not putting any restrictions on my expectations for next year, providing the line is at least decent next year.

But I wonder what would be in place, and who would stay. It's difficult to evaluate players on an individual basis, when breakdowns occur at this rate, and drives are so short.

Anyone have a list of potential FA's?

What do we do with Gallery? Sims?

Is Grove going to be a player?

Is McQuistan going to find a spot?

Who are we replacing Walker with?
 
Boothe looks OK. Go figure, the guy I feel the best about on our O-line is a rookie drafted in the 7th round. What a mess.
 
Boothe and Gallery looked okay today, from the few times I keyed in on the line...

Langston gave up 3 sacks on the right side with Crockett and Anderson . Sims had a penalty and 1 sack. Grove had 2 penalties (Tripping? Hide that shit Jake!) and a sack.

We need to bring in a FA right now, IMO.

Enough waiting for 'development' lets keep our QB's out of the hospital. Heck I bet Walter and Brooks would chip in on the guys salary...
 
I agree with not drafting anymore lineman. That's obviously not working. Bring in some proven veterans. At least then we'll know what we're getting.
 
raiderfreak7 said:
I agree with not drafting anymore lineman. That's obviously not working. Bring in some proven veterans. At least then we'll know what we're getting.
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Priority number 1. This spring, all I want to hear about, is FA tackles flying to Oakland.
 
And an OC...
 
you want to replace walter after one big disappointment? get real the kid has few yrs of learning.it is not kids fault that walsh sucks balls. give walter better center,get rid of deadweight sims and give himblocking so he have enough time findopen spot for porter and curry and use crockett and fargas alotmore aswell andwalter willbe good. the kid needs to play rest of season to learn and get comfortable.
 
Plunkett16 said:
you want to replace walter after one big disappointment? get real the kid has few yrs of learning.it is not kids fault that walsh sucks balls. give walter better center,get rid of deadweight sims and give himblocking so he have enough time findopen spot for porter and curry and use crockett and fargas alotmore aswell andwalter willbe good. the kid needs to play rest of season to learn and get comfortable.
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He didn't say "Walter." He said "Walker..." as in "Langston." I think the thread title mighta clued ya' in. ;)
 
I just can't feel any confidence in any of these guys right now.

Walker is a goner for sure, or at least he better be.
Gallery? You gotta be worried.
Boothe? Haven't seen enough. But I'd like to see him at RG forever.
McQuistan? Is he a LG next year?
Sims? I was never as down on Sims as others, but he really, really, has looked bad at LG.
Grove? I've seen him get manhandled from time to time, but don't really have a feeling one way or the other.
 
I expected to struggle initially, but not to the level we have... I think the struggles are due to both talent and offensive scheme... I felt that both Sims and Langston were merely quality depth coming into the season and nothing's changed there for me.... Though in fairness to Sims, I think he can still be an adequate-above adequate lineman in a West Coast Offense... Outside of that, I think we're asking our O-line to do things that are difficult for even top tier lines in this day and age... We're asking them to pass pro long developing plays and not mixing things up to keep defenses off balance... All one needs to do is contrast how a vertical O team like Cincy goes about it to what we've been doing...

I'm still of the mindframe that Gallery and Grove will be okay with some technique/scheme adjustments... Boothe has looked great thus far... If McQuistan can find a home at RT it would make things alot easier on us... Finding a replacement for Sims at LG would be a lot simpler than hunting down a starting quality RT in free agency... On the unlikely chance there's a Willie Roaf type aquisition to made made this year either by trade or FA, we better be on that from the jump and not 'waiting for the market to settle'...

Not to sound like a broken record harping on the Offensive scheme, but I hope some parallels will be eventually drawn between the 2006-2007 Raiders and the 2003-2004 Chargers...

In 2002 and 2003, the Chargers O-line looked just terrible... Alot of arguments were made to draft Robert Gallery #1 and hit the FA market hard.... Between the 2003 and 2004 seasons, a highly critisized Cam Cameron adjusts his scheme away from the predictable run LT-run LT-pass playcalls and makes it a priority vary his playcalls and to get the ball out of the QB's hands a lot quicker... What happens? The previously inept, mistake prone Drew Brees, highly critisized for holding the ball too long and forcing deep throws, morphs into a legit franchise QB... Their O-line goes from allowing a crapload of sacks, to one that gives up 16 or 17 for the year...

San Diego did it with a 3rd RD rookie starting at center, a 7th RD rookie at RT, a journeyman LT off of Tampa's struggling O-line, a low profile veteran FA at RG, and an undrafted FA that they developed at LG...


I think Grove and Nick Hardwick are comparable in talent, though I'd like to see Grove hit the weight room and put on 10-15 pounds of muscle like Hardwick did....

I don't think it unreasonable to expect a Roman Oben level performance from Gallery...

McQuistan is a similar player to Shane Olivea...

Boothe actually looks better than Kris Deilman did...

Maybe if we get ourselves a Mike Goff type FA signing?...

Of course, having a LT helps alot and getting the short-midrange passing game in gear with Antonio Gates made a difference, but LT was doing his thing prior...

I'm disappointed by their play this year, but I'm still very optimistic that this O-line is not as far as it seems to becoming fairly good with a tweak in scheme and a FA signing (or two)... I don't know if Art and Walsh will be here next year, but if they make a Cam Cameron type nod to what's NOT working, that would be a great start towards improving our O-line play IMO...
 
I guess Gallery is safe for now, with hopes that he'll et into a groove and play lik he did at Iowa

Boothe is a monster. his blitz pick-up on Walter's INT was great. He is safe.

Grove should be moved or benched(he just dosnt have the strength to play center it seems), and put in Hulsey who looked good in preseason. maybe put him at LG?

Walker and Sims are not good.

So, we need a LG(inless Grove could be the guy), C and RT

we can target Leanord Davis in FA to play RT.
 
dot: If Grove can't cut it at center, where you don't have to be that strong, what makes you think he could cut it at guard, where you're routinely asked to move DT's? Grove doesn't have the size or strength to be a guard in our scheme.
 
I think we need to add a quality FA to the line to help add some stability. I am not against adding more talent via the draft as not all players take as long to settle in as some of our picks have. We should have an established scheme in place so hopefully anybody we do pick will not have to go through a couple of years of scheme and position changes which is going to make the adjustment a little easier.
 
I'd be intrested in knowing how many times the Raiders offense has been blitzed this year

10 bones says you create a few plays to burn ass when they blitz and you'd see the blitzes reduced by 1/2
 
Its time for either Sims or Walker (or both)to get a mystery injury and be put on the bench.

McQuinstan has been playing some RT in practice, lets see if he can handle the job. Or plug him in at LG and see if the Raiders managed to get two starting guards in 1 draft.

Replace Sims with Huesly, Sims is lost at LG, by the time he picks it up this season will be over and he will be looking for a new team. Might as well see if Cory can cut it next year.

Boothe, Grove and Gallery all seem to be picking it up. I was worried about replacing 3 olineman after week 2, now it looks like the Raiders have 3 spots settled for next year. Its time to see if anyone on the roster wants to step it up for those other 2.

If not get a FA and draft another 3-4 rounder, you can find RT/G's in the late 2nd - mid 4th round every year.

Then all that will be left is fix the scheme. The blocking still hasn't been adjusted for the overload. Part of it is Walker is taking too long to check inside, before kicking out. Part is there is nobody running out to chip. And part of it seems to be a lack of recognition by the QB. No hitting a hot route (may not be in the playbook), no calling of either blocking or play audibles to pick up the blitz.
 
OL
Max Starks RFA Pittsburgh Steelers
Leonard Davis UFA Arizona Cardinals
Mike Gandy, UFA, Buffalo Bills
Jordan Black, UFA, Kansas City Chiefs
Derrick Dockery, UFA, Washington Redskins
Nat Dorsey, RFA, Cleveland Browns
Chris Gray, UFA, Seattle Seahawks
Norm Katnik, RFA, New York Jets
Ryan Lilja, RFA, Indianapolis Colts
Sean Locklear, RFA, Seattle Seahawks
Vincent Manuwai, UFA, Jacksonville Jaguars
Roman Oben, UFA, San Diego Chargers
Brian Rimpf, RFA, Baltimore Ravens
Eric Steinbach, UFA, Cincinnati Bengals
Todd Steussie, UFA, St. Louis Rams
Floyd Womack, UFA, Seattle Seahawks

I'm sure this is an incomplete list, anyone know where i cna find a better one?
 
brick said:
Its time for either Sims or Walker (or both)to get a mystery injury and be put on the bench.
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Shell's media conference mentioned that Sims had an abdominal injury and if he was not going to be able to go that McQuistan and Hulsey were possibilities.
 
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