Post by TheOGPhatThor77 on Sept 11, 2021 15:41:12 GMT -6
The position switches I always get confused on are the tackle to guard switches like what Ezra and Oli are both doing. The prototypical offensive tackle is taller, longer arms and generally strength wise a tad weaker than your interior (body mold usually the cause of that). So flipping a tackle with long arms into a position that a short armed, squat-ier type player is ideal as long as he has quick feet and can move (pulling, 2nd level blocking). But if you can find a tackle capable of slipping into guard and performing up to par or excelling, then you generally have a taller, quicker guard which can be to your advantage, or disadvantage based off the DT/NT/DE he'd be lined up with in the next week. Long story short, tall offensive lineman who can't anchor vs. short bull headed DT who likes to bull rush, that's a huge disadvantage. But it all depends on what the player shows he is capable of.
Switching positions can sometimes be the issue, or switching sides can definitely be the issue. When I was in college and before I started I was the back-up swing tackle having to come in and spot play at left and right tackle and say I was playing at 100% at left tackle, i was more like 80% as effective on the right side which can make or break a play/position/ect. So switching sides is like growing up right handed but having to learn to cook strictly left handed on a 700 degree open fire, or the player can transfer seamlessly and you wouldn't notice a difference....
Players seem to be more versitile these days so I don't see a big issue with moving players as long as they don't need to start at the NFL level immedietley and they can take the time to train. Almost like Ezra did, but I would have liked him to learn a little longer as well going from tackle to guard but he handled it fairly well. Very curious to see how Oli does, he seems to have the raw strength (look at his damn arms.....damn) to be able to handle the bigger DT's in the league, but hopefully he knows how to play low since he's rather tall.
If I was a GM and I felt my OLine coach was of good quality and can mold players than I would be ok with a position switch if you're going for athletic offensive lineman like Minnesota is doing. But relying on pure athletes to handle the job 100% of the time and not have some beef in there was always my concern. But adding Darrisaw/Davis in there meats up our offensive line which makes the interior stout which is going to make Kirk Cousins a very happy person.
What people fail to realize with Kirk is he handles pressure from the tackles fairly well as long as his interior OL isn't in his lap as well. If you expect him to roll out like he's on Madden and out-sprint a DE/LB/CB/S to the edge or pull of an amazing throw on the run than you're looking at the wrong guy. If you're looking for a guy who can side step pressure from his tackle and step up in the pocket and deliver a dart with quality skill positions around him, then you've found your man. The fact Minnesota has ignored the interior offensive line as long as they have (I miss the days of Hutchison) is what has always pissed me off. I would rather have a mediocre/average tackle and a STOUT LG/C/RG, I would do that all day long. People thought the tackle position was the most important because players like Aaron Donald, Kenny Clark and Akeem Hicks weren't as common but the DE's have always been freaks. Now you have freaks from both ends, LB's, 3 Tech DT's and everything. So if Oli and Ezra work out then FANTASTIC, that WILL make Bradbury a better overall center (unless he's 1v1 with an Akeem Hicks than he'll always lose that battle, he's built for speed and quickness not anchoring a 340 lb incredible hulk....scheme is key) and we'll be rolling. But I like the core of guys we have on the team for the first time in a long time, and they're really young. So let the boys grow, their will be some hickups but we'll survive.
Hope that gave you a good perspective.
... and neither is this Chris guy.
