More Kalil on Matsko (via Observer's Rodrigue)

[tiger7_88]

8 hours ago, top dawg said:

Or you sign an older stalwart vet, and draft a young stud, or simply wait for a better deal. 

So which OT should we have reached for in the 2017 draft?  #20 overall Garrett Boles (who is already 25 as a rookie)?  #32 overall Ryan Ramczyk (backup LT for New Orleans)?  2nd rounder Cam Robinson?  2016 #31 overall German Ifedi (who is playing RT for the Seahawks)? 2nd rounder Jason Spriggs (backup LT for GB)? 2015 2nd rounder Donovan Smith?  Or Jake Fisher (RT) or Rob Havenstein (now playing RG)?

Which of these "young studs" would be better than Kalil *right now*?

[csx]

 

8 minutes ago, tiger7_88 said:

So which OT should we have reached for in the 2017 draft?  #20 overall Garrett Boles (who is already 25 as a rookie)?  #32 overall Ryan Ramczyk (backup LT for New Orleans)?  2nd rounder Cam Robinson?  2016 #31 overall German Ifedi (who is playing RT for the Seahawks)? 2nd rounder Jason Spriggs (backup LT for GB)? 2015 2nd rounder Donovan Smith?  Or Jake Fisher (RT) or Rob Havenstein (now playing RG)?

Which of these "young studs" would be better than Kalil *right now*?

Good question. The entire issue with this draft was there were no stud OT. It was the topic of nearly the entire pre-draft offseason.

[pantherclaw]

Kalil was the best answer to the LT position, and if it plays out like it's expected, we have our franchise LT throughout the prime of Cam's career.  

No stop gap, with having to play the annual, "lets find a serviceable LT to protolect Cam in his prime."

fug that game.

[MechaZain]

I'm glad the team gambled with their money instead of Cam's health for once. Every available LT had similar question marks and only Kalil had potential to be great. I'd rather overpay someone who could be more than a stopgap then settle for a cheap turnstile. 

[top dawg]

1 hour ago, tiger7_88 said:

So which OT should we have reached for in the 2017 draft?  #20 overall Garrett Boles (who is already 25 as a rookie)?  #32 overall Ryan Ramczyk (backup LT for New Orleans)?  2nd rounder Cam Robinson?  2016 #31 overall German Ifedi (who is playing RT for the Seahawks)? 2nd rounder Jason Spriggs (backup LT for GB)? 2015 2nd rounder Donovan Smith?  Or Jake Fisher (RT) or Rob Havenstein (now playing RG)?

Which of these "young studs" would be better than Kalil *right now*?

Who knows at this point? The thing is I didn't refer to any of this year's draft options as young studs. It was a pretty weak class as anyone who was paying attention already knows. But it's probably not a stretch to say that maybe one to three of them are likely to eventually put up better numbers than Kalil put up during his first contract. Just because someone is a backup today---which is completely normal and expected---doesn't mean they'll be a backup tomorrow. It takes a little time for most to develop. Who cares if Bolles is 25?  Anyway, that's all beside the point because they were just options, not necessarily what we should have done.

As for me personally, I've said a few times the past few years that acquiring an established veteran who is proven is probably the better way to go as it pertains to LT. That way you take guessing out of the equation. That's why I would have made a run at Jared Veldheer when he became available. Even still, there have been other vets (e.g. Thomas, Penn, Okung, etc.) that we could have made a run at over the years had we had the will to do so, basically all of whom were markedly better than Kalil. At this point some of them are in their early thirties. But the thing is, sometimes a stop-gap is the best move, regardless of whether your QB is "in his prime" or not. That's just the nature of the game. Ample protection for your signal caller is the key, no matter who is providing it. But, like I said, get Veldheer, and you probably don't have to play musical chairs.

The guys at PFF weren't the only ones that raised eyebrows when we paid Kalil handsomely. Many NFL types' jaws dropped when they heard the numbers.

For me, the point of the thread was about Matsko and why he may help Kalil get back to his rookie form, and is a distinguished O-line coach. But you honed in on that? Well, there's your answer. No need to keep belaboring the point.

 

[Hogmolliesmaht]

I keep thinking back to this RR presser during OTA's....http://www.panthers.com/media-vault/videos/Rivera_We_have_more_of_a_veteran_team_this_year/3210475e-90af-4951-9159-9c1b9f5b88ad

About midway through, he talks about how Matsko is focussing on cleaning up Kalil's footwork and hand placement. When I heard that, I was just amazed that he had to come here to get that level of attention to fundamentals. It made me wonder what the hell they were doing with him in Minnesota. That just seems like such a basic common sense thing to do doing that one would assume that all NFL O-line coaches are doing it.

[top dawg]

5 minutes ago, Hogmolliesmaht said:

I keep thinking back to this RR presser during OTA's....http://www.panthers.com/media-vault/videos/Rivera_We_have_more_of_a_veteran_team_this_year/3210475e-90af-4951-9159-9c1b9f5b88ad

About midway through, he talks about how Matsko is focussing on cleaning up Kalil's footwork and hand placement. When I heard that, I was just amazed that he had to come here to get that level of attention to fundamentals. It made me wonder what the hell they were doing with him in Minnesota. That just seems like such a basic common sense thing to do doing that one would assume that all NFL O-line coaches are doing it.

That's why I love it when players come from the cuff before they have a time to think about what they're saying, because sometimes that's the only way you get the unadulterated truth. 

It could be that maybe his past O-line coaches just weren't/aren't good, or perhaps Matsko is just that good. 

[pantherclaw]

Lots of hyperbole.