SBBlue

link:Christian McCaffrey Arrives at Training Camp; Talks Upcoming Season - YouTube How excited are you to be healthy and just back out on the field? Yeah I’m really excited, really excited it's been a long long off season I know this is an odd question but was there any silver lining with you being injured last year? Nah I mean there's never anything good about being hurt but actually yeah man I think there is. It teaches you a lot for sure. You learn a lot about yourself….You kind of are forced when you go through adversity to either fold or or keep going and I think it was tough at first but man I learned so much and have such a big appreciation for this game and what it's giving me will never take that for granted. What did we not see last year from Joe Brady's offense? I don't know we'll see we'll find out but I’m definitely excited about it I know coach Brady is such an amazing play caller and a great coach. Did you do anything different after the injuries last year this offseason did you do anything different in your preparation I mean you're always adjusting for me I’m always adjusting little things here and there based on how I feel and it's really an on the move kind of adjustments. If I feel something in the morning maybe we'll adjust a certain part of the run or a certain part of the lift but it's really just staying true to who I am.... I’ve had success I felt good in the past playing and training the way I train and so it's also not overreacting injuries happen in football. I’m so past that now that I’m just focusing this year.... I’m just so fired up to play football again. ... It's weird that I’m in year five and we have such a young team so I guess I am a veteran on this team but it definitely feels good I think I’ve learned so much from the guys that have come before me and now I have an opportunity to pass on a lot of that knowledge to them that's exciting I love Wofford I mean you hate it but you love it. Would you choose yourself first again (in a fantasy football) I mean yeah sure I think I think everyone would answer that the same way and that's yeah On Camp Camp's the best time of the year when you really think about it. I think every time I talk to somebody that's retired they miss this. They miss just being able to focus on football and hang out with the guys…. I think the biggest thing is just to enjoy this. I think when you look at training camp as a burden it's not going to be fun. Like I said this is the stuff that you miss about football. It's the stuff that when you look back to college this is the stuff you miss. There's not another time in your life where you get to get together with your friends and play football and go to meetings and go through these dog days. So really enjoy the moment and not get too hyped for it either just be in the present and that's really it… When the backs are able to get with the o-line and spend some time together it creates a different level of bond where I know who this person is. I know his story gives you just another reason to continue to push. It's not about you. So I think that's the best part of getting to know a team and kind of continuing to grow that brotherhood.

The guy is a consummate professional. I'm glad he's on our side. Regardless of which side of the line he's on.

link:Taylor Moton Talks Starting Training Camp, New Contract and More - YouTube On LT/RT I’m ready for wherever the coach puts me just like my rookie year you know coming in I don't know where they might put me or really want me but I’ll be as ready as I possibly can be During those six weeks between mini camp and today did you, assuming you did some workouts did you kind of work steps on the left side at all? I just I went back to like my first couple years when I didn't know where I was playing and I just told myself I want to be as prepared as I possibly can be on either side of the line. Shoot Matt calls out I'll be ready to snap the ball I need to. Laughs. That opportunity might present itself more now at left because in the past years whatever happened it kept me right but it's just like I said it's just feeling more and more comfortable just repping it out day in and day out. Until you know you just feel like you got it down and you can only do so much on air it's going to come down to when you got you know like a real NFL pass rush in front of you. On the contract It's truly a blessing I'm very happy that I'm sticking around the Carolinas I love it here and you know I think we have a bright future ahead of us …. We got that deal done maybe 10 to 15 minutes before the deadline What makes you think this is one of the best teams in the nfl after you went five and eleven the last two seasons? I think we have something special because the tremendous plays we have the chemistry we're building the coaching staff the culture that we're building here so i think it's something truly special On CMC I'm gonna do everything I can to keep him as healthy as he can be so yeah but I’m fired up to have him back. On Vax I got my vaccine done so that obviously makes things a little smoother a little bit closer to back to normal …It was going to be a lot smoother going through the season I was going to be able to do more I’m not holding the team back in any way and also from like a family aspect I feel like it's another layer keeping my family safe you know especially older the older people

4MR posted that CMC said fine, I'll block for my damn self I'll be my own damn line.

I wouldn't say "only". But yeah.

Yeah. You're right. We are repeating and dissecting this because we are all worried about the line. In the "move in" conference he mentioned Moton will take some more reps at LT with pads on. I think they're dipping their toe in the water of Moton at this LT thing. He gave no timeline when we'll know what the line up will be. I think we are going to experiment with different lines in the joint practices and won't know until late.

I agree with all that, especially the blindside part. Arm length aside. The OT position requires a quick power repetitive body motion that puts a ton of stress on joints, muscle, bone and tendons which can lead to injuries (hips etc). Switching sides changes the effected body parts to a degree and may help prevent injuries. Just thinking out loud. Maybe the long term plan is Moton LT and BC RT and we plan to ease there to protect their joints, and our best O lineman is protecting the blind side.

One press conference I know of 8:49:

That'll change this year when he gets double digit sacks.

The big "if" is, can they both switch sides? Moving to the pros is hard enough, then on top of it to switch sides. Moton has handled LT before. But he'll be uncomfortable too. Why not just ease BC in behind Erving? I just don't understand that RT can have shorter arms. I've never heard that. We've discussed it here before...but I'm unconvinced. It just makes no sense to me. The one study I could find showed that shorter arms had no correlation with effectiveness, instead the study showed the opposite. I couldn't find anything on RT vs LT arm length. I guess they know something the rest of us don't.

No. Just no. Besides, we're stocked at guard. They have even mentioned BC as a 2nd round guard. On the PNP podcast Coltrain said "the whole damn line is guards" to which Rashad responded "it guardians of the gd galaxy".

I know right. Its clear Christensen was the target all along. Rhule in Panthers Confidential said: "they say hey we're gonna do the trade with you and all three guys on the board we take Christensen take the best receiver. If they're not sure take our highest-ranked guy Terrace." They couldn't lock it in and we took Marshal. Only one OT was taken between Terrace and BC, that was Mayfield....and we panicked. I guess because he was our backup if BC got taken. When our plan B disappeared, we traded up to get BC. What I don't understand is, they are looking at BC for RT when he played left tackle and we needed a left tackle. They knew his wingspan was short when they drafted him. They either 1)Think Erving, Scott, and Daley, will do fine at LT...and there's limited data to support that. 2)Think Moton may actually move left eventually with BC right. 3)Weren't communicating with someone like Pat Meyer who came back and said, "hey, he can't play left tackle, his arms are too short." My guess is it's a combination of 1&2. In any event, as a rookie, we need to ease him in, and playing behind our best OT should be good for his development.

Derrick Brown gonna get his Brady sack.

Especially if we go man on money downs.

We are going to smash thru top 10.

Reed is playing on a 1 yr, 1.1M contract with 137K guaranteed at the Colts. Looks like Elflein played well at center his rookie year. Not so much year 2.

We really don't talk enough about good Yetur is.

I agree that our focus was on fit and flexibility. I agree with that pff is hit and miss, but the other stats weren't great either. I do agree that they appear to be trying to scheme around the talent.

I guess we're hoping his experience with zone blocking, his high run blocking grades, and improvement in performance over the course of 2019 at LG could lead to better production than what we have had or he has ever done.

The sacks, penalties, and pff don't support the idea that Elflein is an upgrade though. Reed looked better on paper.

I hear you. I'm a little surprised that we let Reed go, as he signed a less expensive 1 yr contract with the colts and was not bad last year. I actually understand the Erving move better than this one.

I was curious on why Fit snatched Erving and Elflein in FA. I already did a post on how Erving had fewer penalties and sacks per snap than Okung last year with only 8 pressures in five games. So now it's Elflein's turn. With the Vikes, Elflein started at center in 2017-18. He switched to left guard in 2019 and moved again to right guard in 2020. Elflein played in the opener and was hurt in practice the following week. He was then waived and picked up by the Jets where he started 6 games at LG. What if Pat Elflein Turns it Around This Season? | Zone Coverage " Even in a down year (2019), Elflein ranked in the middle of the pack, 42nd out of 83 qualifying guards in overall PFF grade, and an impressive 18th in run blocking where his mobility is a natural fit for Gary Kubiak‘s beloved zone blocking system. Elflein’s pass-blocking grade, higher than just 10 other qualifying guards, was the anchor to his overall score. But consider that 2019 was Elflein’s first as an NFL guard after two seasons at center. As the season progressed, improvement was apparent in his PFF grades, as four of his top five pass-protecting grades came in the Vikings’ final eight games (including playoffs). It wouldn’t be out of line to expect a continued uptick in his performance. " He had a real bad 2018 at center as well with 7 penalties and 4 sacs on 863 snaps for 41.9 PFF. For the Panthers in 2020, Denis Daley was going to start at LG until injury before the first game. Schofield then started at LG for the first 2 games. Game 3, Chris Reed took over and did well for a backup. Elflein had 1 penalty and 2 sacks on 419 snaps with a pff of 48.0. Schofield had 3 penalties and 4 sacks on 270 snaps with a pff of 50.3. Reed had 3 penalties and 1 sack on 892 snaps with a pff of 63.0. Daley had 1 penalty and 0 sacks on 135 snaps with a pff of 64.7. His up and down pffs makes him look like a below average, inconsistent olineman who can also play center. If he can win the starting spot and repeat his 2019 season production, LG would be on par with last years performance. His drop-off last year could be related to his injury, switching teams mid season, and well, the jets. With plenty of competition at guard (Dennis Daley, David Moore, Deonte Brown) , Elflein will need to work hard at camp.