offensive line rankings (1 Viewer)

[Biabreakable]

I wonder if you should be giving a grade for depth. The Vikings, for example, have good line but IMO their depth is wanting. I am not sure if any of their backups can play.

This was a very good observation that we saw play itself out in preseason.

I really enjoyed listening to Matt on the audible recently and I hope they have him on again soon.

 

[Drop]

How much Coaches Film did you grind to write the article?

 

[Ministry of Pain]

PFF has the best OL coverage IMO

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

Does anyone know if there is such a thing as fullback rankings?

Is this put out by anyone?

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

For those so inclined to follow such things, the Saints announced today that they will be starting rookie draft freak Terron Armstead at LT.

Sean Payton has basically eviscerated the Saints' lineup by cutting the kicker, cutting a DB, and benching the former 2nd round draft pick LT Charles Brown, now. Hell to pay all around after the Rams loss.

Needless to say between the kicker situation and the LT issue, and the road disasters, and all that coming to a head as they go into surging Carolina, Saints fans are a tad wee bit nervous.

In general the Saints LT & RT situations have been bad for 2 years now (Strief grades out well with PFF I think, but you wouldn't know it from local opinion of his limitations largely due to past injuries...), only they have been getting worse. I think people feel very good about the middle though.

 

[Neofight]

For those so inclined to follow such things, the Saints announced today that they will be starting rookie draft freak Terron Armstead at LT.

Sean Payton has basically eviscerated the Saints' lineup by cutting the kicker, cutting a DB, and benching the former 2nd round draft pick LT Charles Brown, now. Hell to pay all around after the Rams loss.

Needless to say between the kicker situation and the LT issue, and the road disasters, and all that coming to a head as they go into surging Carolina, Saints fans are a tad wee bit nervous.

In general the Saints LT & RT situations have been bad for 2 years now (Strief grades out well with PFF I think, but you wouldn't know it from local opinion of his limitations largely due to past injuries...), only they have been getting worse. I think people feel very good about the middle though.

I'm interested in hearing more about how you feel this will affect the cohesiveness of the line and their performance against what is likely the best front 7 in the league at the moment.

I ask as someone who has to decide between a Seattle D at home against a shaky and banged up QB with a group of banged up WR's, or a Carolina D at home who is going against one of the best QB's in the league, albeit one who has struggled on the road. To top it off, my opponent starts Brees and Graham in this particular match-up. My head says start Seattle but my gut is telling me maybe the Panthers make a statement this weekend.

Thoughts about your team's chances in Charlotte...

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

For those so inclined to follow such things, the Saints announced today that they will be starting rookie draft freak Terron Armstead at LT.

Sean Payton has basically eviscerated the Saints' lineup by cutting the kicker, cutting a DB, and benching the former 2nd round draft pick LT Charles Brown, now. Hell to pay all around after the Rams loss.

Needless to say between the kicker situation and the LT issue, and the road disasters, and all that coming to a head as they go into surging Carolina, Saints fans are a tad wee bit nervous.

In general the Saints LT & RT situations have been bad for 2 years now (Strief grades out well with PFF I think, but you wouldn't know it from local opinion of his limitations largely due to past injuries...), only they have been getting worse. I think people feel very good about the middle though.

I'm interested in hearing more about how you feel this will affect the cohesiveness of the line and their performance against what is likely the best front 7 in the league at the moment.

I ask as someone who has to decide between a Seattle D at home against a shaky and banged up QB with a group of banged up WR's, or a Carolina D at home who is going against one of the best QB's in the league, albeit one who has struggled on the road. To top it off, my opponent starts Brees and Graham in this particular match-up. My head says start Seattle but my gut is telling me maybe the Panthers make a statement this weekend.

Thoughts about your team's chances in Charlotte...

First of all I don't know what defense anyone would or could start over the Hawks at home vs the Cards with a dinged up Palmer sitting or going. There are no guarantees, so who knows any time about anything, but the Seahawks DST as home seem to be as close as it gets.

About Armstead - he played with the first team in OTAs, he was there at training camp spending time with the ones, he moved up during preseason, and some thought he might be the starter at the beginning of the year but, no, really Payton supports and rewards guy who work hard over time like Brown has done. Brown was awful last week, he was benched, period. Armstead is fast, and that just matters in downfield play. I've hardly seen him during the regular season but in the preseason when you saw him on the field, you'd say 'oh I get it, that looks like a future starting NFL left tackle.' He just looks the part. Now what gets me is that good d-linemen have more than size and speed at their disposal, they have great technique, great moves, and that's what concerns me. But I still think I'd take him over Brown, enough of that.

The Saints have had a tumultuous week locally, they benched the LT, cut the kicker, and cut a backup CB. Payton has been breathing fire in public and behind closed doors. We've already been through this, the Saints came off the Seattle loss and blew out the Panteras in the Dome.

The Rams game sounds bad, and I guess it was, but the reality is that if Hartley makes the first short kick, it's a 27-20 ballgame and the Saints are inside the Rams' 10 at the end of the game. The Saints easily could have won that game as badly as they played. As badly as they played, Brees still had almost 60 passes, 400 yards, and 2 TDs with a real shot at third.

The Saints were within 5 seconds of beating the Pats at home (and lost among other reasons because of a bad call) - the Pats are better than the Hawks at home statistically.

The Saints lost to the Jets at home, where they are 5-2.

They lost at Seattle in ugly fashion... uh yeah everybody does.

And the Panthers are 6-1 at home, another turf team with a great d-line and run centered offense. Seems bad. But Payton has a great record about not losing two in a row, I forget what it is but it's been a long time since the Saints lost two in a row under Payton. I think the Saints get their discipline down and put 20+ up on the Panthers. I don't see a lot of sacks or turnovers, this is a going to be a playoff caliber appearance by both teams.

Other teams like the Pats (3-4), the Bengals (3-5) and even the Panthers (4-3) are not as good on the road but people don't discount them into a must start FF matchup because of that. Despite the division history, the Cards (3-4 on the road btw) game could get ugly, so that seems like the matchup to go for.

 

[Neofight]

@SID2006

I haven't wavered and put the Carolina D in my lineup, but something tells me they have a game tomorrow that puts a hurting on the Saints; this team is physical, likes to get after the QB and has a bad taste in its mouth from the game in the dome a few weeks back. What I am really curious about though is Brees splits on the road. What are locals saying about this pattern? I haven't watched enough Saints games this year to see it for myself, and I haven't been watching the all 22 at all this year due to time constraints.

In your opinion is this a Brees issue, play calling, O-line, combination...? And how do they fix it?

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

@SID2006

I haven't wavered and put the Carolina D in my lineup, but something tells me they have a game tomorrow that puts a hurting on the Saints; this team is physical, likes to get after the QB and has a bad taste in its mouth from the game in the dome a few weeks back. What I am really curious about though is Brees splits on the road. What are locals saying about this pattern? I haven't watched enough Saints games this year to see it for myself, and I haven't been watching the all 22 at all this year due to time constraints.

In your opinion is this a Brees issue, play calling, O-line, combination...? And how do they fix it?

Would not surprise me if what you say does happen. I think it will either be very good or very bad for the Saints. There's something wrong with their confidence.

Locals are worried. Lots of talk yesterday all around town, maybe 1 in 4 Saints fans are optimistic, the rest are predicting bad things.

There have been some big play calling questions marks frankly. There has been some preseason gameplanning that has gone awry - this is the first season I can recall that Payton did not bring out some new offensive wrinkle, or if he did (Hill maybe) it has failed. Instead the Saints seem super dependent on Graham, they haven't brought in Sproles much at all and the WRs just seem overmatched. The poor talent evaluation has come into play at WR, 3rd string TE (Hill) and LT especially. It seems they have been bargain hunting for so long they have forgotten to get some primo talent in the early rounds along the way. Hopefully they respond tomorrow but it is based on optimism and maybe on the idea that Payton is whipping them into gear. I know the Cats are hungry, this team's been so focused on the Falcs so long perhaps they did not calculate this situation being into their plans, I'm sure they thought they would be coasting to a division crown and the No. 2 seed, with a home playoff win and a possible shot a NFCC game by now. On the road they have just run into a succession of great d-lines that are killing our right and left tackles, throw in some bonehead picks/TOs by Brees (Jets, Hawks, Rams) and there you go. Obviously the tackle problem can't be fixed right now (unless Armstead is just that good), but I think better playcalling could help the situation, but Payton's pretty damned arrogant in his approach.

 

[Neofight]

Thanks and good luck manana.