All Oher has to do is just be bad by NFL standards and he will be an upgrade.

[TheRed]

Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Green Bay, Philly, etc. dropping 38+ points on us wasn't all Byron Bells fault. And it certainly won't be Oher's fault if teams do it next year.

Well I certainly wasn't implying it was all Bell's fault that we were blown out that many times.

But our inability in those games to score points was directly related to our OL's inability to block for our backs and our quarterback.

No one knows which player we will be getting in Oher yet. Obviously I'm hoping he has a career year here.

[TheRed]

Yeah rewatch them and see Bell was severely injured in the middle stretch. He could barely walk vs. Seattle and they played him because they had no one else.

He played 84 snaps vs the Bengals, got hurt vs. Green Bay, played hurt vs. Seattle, missed New Orleans, missed Philly, led the team in snaps vs. Atlanta, bye week, then played out the season.

When he's healthy, he's average. But I don't deduct points from him because our GM and Coach had no backup plan. People were actually praising him after that Bengals game. Cam had a nice clean pocket that day. I don't think it's a coincidence the team hit rock bottom when he was out and improved when he got back. We were 7-4-1 in games where Byron was at a reasonable level of health.

I agree with your point about the playoffs, to a certain extent. He was clearly outmatched in Seattle. But to my point, if we can get legit right tackle play, we can send help to the left.

When healthy he was below average/mediocre at best.

It wasn't health that caused him to regularly stand around watching his quarterback get sacked while he just stood there looking lost attempting to block a ghost.

I like him as a person, but he was clearly terrible as a starting tackle, and we should have upgraded the position much sooner.

[DaveThePanther2008]

I cannot help but believe we jumped all over Oher because Matzko wanted him.  

I think he believes he can get him back to his former self.  

 

Is Oher going to be a Pro Bowler? probably not, but in the same sentence I don't think he'll be bottom of the barrel either.

 

We need someone who will be solid.  That IMO is exactly what we are going to get from Michael Oher.

 

IMO enough to help us win and get to the playoffs.

[iamhubby1]

I cannot help but believe we jumped all over Oher because Matzko wanted him.  

I think he believes he can get him back to his former self.  

 

Is Oher going to be a Pro Bowler? probably not, but in the same sentence I don't think he'll be bottom of the barrel either.

 

We need someone who will be solid.  That IMO is exactly what we are going to get from Michael Oher.

 

IMO enough to help us win and get to the playoffs.

I believe you are going in the right direction, you just haven't gone far enough.

Here's how I see this all playing out. Oher is healthy. He is happy, and has embraced the Panther family and culture. He is being reunited with Masko, and from all accounts practically living at the Facilities. To sum it up, he is comfortable, and has something to prove.

IMHO, everything is lining up for Oher to not only succeed, but play as well as he is capable.

Best case. He plays very well, and there was great rejoicing.

[AceBoogie]

I can tell it's been a long offseason so far because it seems like those 6 blowout losses last year have been all but completely forgotten.

Go ahead and watch all those losses back to back to refresh your memory, then come back and try to downplay the importance of the LT position.

I've been preaching that all offseason, nobody wants to acknowledge how bad we were last year.

[DaveThePanther2008]

I believe you are going in the right direction, you just haven't gone far enough.

Here's how I see this all playing out. Oher is healthy. He is happy, and has embraced the Panther family and culture. He is being reunited with Masko, and from all accounts practically living at the Facilities. To sum it up, he is comfortable, and has something to prove.

IMHO, everything is lining up for Oher to not only succeed, but play as well as he is capable.

Best case. He plays very well, and there was great rejoicing.

 You go too far and everyone screams rose tinted glasses. 

 

I am right there with you.  

 

I think the odds are in his favor to succeed.

[Lloyd Christmas]

[KendrickPanther]

I've been preaching that all offseason, nobody wants to acknowledge how bad we were last year.

 

Honestly right around that 1st Atlanta game the team looked like it had given up. 1st play of the day Nate Chandler blew his assignment and Cam got flattened by a 325lb man. I wanted to turn off my TV 5 seconds into the game. 

[DeeJay]

Offseason threads are getting bad again!

[pantherclaw]

I won't be surprised to see him anchor down, and help make our left side above average.

[Roebling]

I don't think Bell or Oher are as bad as everyone thinks. Forget performance, the most pressing concern with Oher is availability. Can he stay healthy? Even then our 2nd string offensive tackle is probably Jonathan Martin which is a massive upgrade from David Foucalt.

And TheRed I don't consider the Left Tackle "Make or Break". Last year when things were going bad pressure was getting home from every angle. An unnamed player on the Baltimore Ravens said Bell was the best lineman on tape when they studied us. Our biggest problem last year, even at the end of the season was we were vulnerable at both Tackle positions. We had a Tight End and Running Back helping Remmers and Bell was on an island. We need to get to the point where we only have one weakness that needs help.

Bell is pretty fuging bad. That's where I stopped reading.

[KendrickPanther]

Bell is pretty fuging bad. That's where I stopped reading.

 

You don't read much do you?

[Moorgan]

I'm willing to bet, and me and riot were about the only ones who bet at the draft party, that we take LT 1st round next year. My dollar is in. Who's got me?

[MedellinHeel]

I'm willing to bet, and me and riot were about the only ones who bet at the draft party, that we take LT 1st round next year. My dollar is in. Who's got me?

 

prob is most of the best LT's are gone by the late 1st round.