Titans complete OT switcheroo with Panthers, sign Byron Bell

[0115]

hahaha. this is great

[TheNewStandard]

Anyone who thinks Bell is better than Oher...(insert comment insinuating something to the tune of desperation leading to induced delirium...followed by mild chuckling here.)

[gettlemanjack]

Anyone who thinks Bell is better than Oher...(insert comment insinuating something to the tune of desperation leading to induced delirium...followed by mild chuckling here.)

blind to reality

[gettlemanjack]

I don't think Bell is better than Oher.

blind to reality.

[gettlemanjack]

Oh crap, gettlemenjack has gotten spun up again.

you're the "I-always-scream-maniacallly-and-go-completely-nuts-if-anybody-says-anything-about-Cam-not-being-the-best-ever" Auburn fan that had absolutely no idea that Cam had one of the best OLs in the country his year at Auburn:

Senior, Consensus All-American LT Lee Ziemba (7th R pick), Jacobs Blocking Trophy winner (best blocker in SEC as voted by coaches), Auburn record consecutive starts, 4th-year starter

Senior All-SEC C Ryan Pugh, 3rd-year starter

Junior All-SEC RT Brandon Mosley (4th R pick), 1st-year starter at time, JUCO transfer

plus:

5th-year senior LG Mike Berry - 3rd-year starter

5th-year senior RG Byron Isom - 3rd-year starter

you obviously don't pay attention to OL and why it is important for a QB to do great

[bigdog10]

God speed, Byron.

To be fair that is the best blocking form he's ever shown.

[Chaos]

Having a QB with escapability has helped mask Bell's weaknesses...somewhat.  If he would have been protecting the blindside of a pocket statue, that guy would already be dead.

[run1stdownrun2nddown]

Bell was much less terrible at RT than Oher was at RT. Titans upgraded their RT spot with Bell over Oher. We moved RT Bell to LT and it was a disaster. Moving even-worse RT Oher to LT will likely be a bigger disaster. But at least most of our fans have never watched Oher before, and nobody pays attention to the OL anyway (every one is too busy following the ball), so downgrading from Bell to Oher will buy Gettleman some time before our fans catch on. Also, we had no other OT options we could afford in FA, hopefully we have some options in the Draft

Plus, Oher's problem, like Ereck Flowers, is that his technique sucks and never got better. As Oher lost a step and got older he got worse and worse every year because he doesn't take well to coaching. Maybe a new coach will help (but our OL coach coached him before and it didn't do anything for him)

Gettleman signed Oher to 'keep fans from catching on'??

Maybe I am missing something but how does that make any sense?

[Mr. Scot]

Gettleman signed Oher to 'keep fans from catching on'??

Maybe I am missing something but how does that make any sense?

It doesn't.

[Ricky Spanish]

GettlemanJack, I have to disagree with you.

 

While I don't think Oher is a world beater by any means, he is an upgrade over Bell. 

 

Bell looked that horrible with a mobile QB that bailed him out of potential sacks. Oher protected statues at the QB position in Joe Flacco and whoever was healthy on the Titans last year. Not to mention Bell's run blocking was terrible as well. 

 

There's reason to be optimistic in the Oher signing on the panther's end. He gets Matsko back as a coach and a blocking scheme he's better familiar with. Matsko helped him achieve all rookie status in 09. Oher has been dealing with a nagging toe injury the past few years as well which has finally healed. 

 

Do I think he's the long term solution? No. Do I think he'll be better than Bell? Well it's pretty much impossible to be worse. 

[MechaZain]

At worst it's a wash and having Oher's former coach at least lets us dream about upside

[Mr. Scot]

GettlemanJack, I have to disagree with you.

While I don't think Oher is a world beater by any means, he is an upgrade over Bell.

Bell looked that horrible with a mobile QB that bailed him out of potential sacks. Oher protected statues at the QB position in Joe Flacco and whoever was healthy on the Titans last year. Not to mention Bell's run blocking was terrible as well.

There's reason to be optimistic in the Oher signing on the panther's end. He gets Matsko back as a coach and a blocking scheme he's better familiar with. Matsko helped him achieve all rookie status in 09. Oher has been dealing with a nagging toe injury the past few years as well which has finally healed.

Do I think he's the long term solution? No. Do I think he'll be better than Bell? Well it's pretty much impossible to be worse.

I'd say the fact that the Panthers only gave him two years means that at least at this point, they don't see him as a long term solution either.

I think with solid play he could conceivably earn a longer contract, but right now I think he's viewed as a stopgap.

[aussiePanther]

While we're comparing the two deals and which GM did better or worse and which team suffers more out of this I read that Bell was signed for $1.5m, or there abouts. Well done to Bell and his manager.

[davos]

My question is what the hell is up with Barksdale?