The OL

[saX man]

The real BS is that we're keeping injured Amini and he's not on IR. Just wasting a space.  

[KillerKat]

18 minutes ago, saX man said:

He must give good backrubs or something.  

I'm done with Rivera. I'm tired of his bullshit. I'm ready to move on from him.

[Woodie]

22 minutes ago, KillerKat said:

You can tell Rivera is still playing favorites keeping him instead of cutting or IRing him, but IRing Sirles over a hamstring. Now we have zero healthy OTs besides Moton and Robinson.

A hamstring can keep you out for most of the year.  By the sound of it, it is pretty bad.  Here's a picture of Chuck Liddell's hamstring tear a few years ago.  It's definitely something that he can't play with any time soon.

 

[Mr. Scot]

I don't really question putting Sirles on IR. I remember thinking when the injury happened that it looked like it was going to be bad.

That said, I am worried that Amini will be handed his starting job back if he gets healthy.

[Woodie]

13 minutes ago, saX man said:

The real BS is that we're keeping injured Amini and he's not on IR. Just wasting a space.  

Amini's supposed to be just about ready, if he's not already.  Sirles isn't close.  At this point, we need warm bodies that have experience playing tackle, Amini has that.  Even if he's as bad as some of you think, we can give him help to mitigate his play.  The problem will be if we have another injury at tackle or Moton struggles at LT.  But at this point, despite what some want, Ron's hands are tied.

[Mr. Scot]

1 minute ago, Woodie said:

Amini's supposed to be just about ready, if he's not already.  Sirles isn't close.  At this point, we need warm bodies that have experience playing tackle, Amini has that.  Even if he's as bad as some of you think, we can give him help to mitigate his play.  The problem will be if we have another injury at tackle or Moton struggles at LT.  But at this point, despite what some want, Ron's hands are tied.

I don't doubt that Moton is going to struggle some at left tackle. Other than the very elite, the vast majority of guys do when they're first starting.

I think he'll be good at it given enough time, but everybody has to be prepared to be patient with him early on.

But hey, he's a really smart guy. Who knows? He might surprise us all.

[KB_fan]

3 minutes ago, Woodie said:

Amini's supposed to be just about ready, if he's not already.  Sirles isn't close.  At this point, we need warm bodies that have experience playing tackle, Amini has that.  Even if he's as bad as some of you think, we can give him help to mitigate his play.  The problem will be if we have another injury at tackle or Moton struggles at LT.  But at this point, despite what some want, Ron's hands are tied.

Yeah at this point barring any other moves, our week 1 lineup is likely

Moton / Van Roten / Ryan / Turner / Robinson.

Larsen: backup C/G

Mahon backup G

Amini backup T

Here's hoping that the need to have Amini as backup T AND the fact that he's coming back from injury keeps him from starting at LG.

 

 

[Mr. Scot]

Just now, KB_fan said:

Yeah at this point barring any other moves, our week 1 lineup is likely

Moton / Van Roten / Ryan / Turner / Robinson.

Larsen: backup C/G

Mahon backup G

Amini backup T

Here's hoping that the need to have Amini as backup T AND the fact that he's coming back from injury keeps him from starting at LG.

Hard to say.

We know Rivera views Silatolu as capable of starting. Gotta hope Van Roten convinces him otherwise.

[Mr. Scot]

Side Note: Odd contrast. Moton's known to be highly intelligent, while one of the big knocks on Amini is that he's a little slow to pick things up.

[Woodie]

3 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

I don't really question putting Sirles on IR. I remember thinking when the injury happened that it looked like it was going to be bad.

That said, I am worried that Amini will be handed his starting job back if he gets healthy.

Barring injury, I don't think he was ever going to start.  I don't believe Ron wanted him starting out there, I actually think he prefers Amini as a backup utility lineman.  What people fail to realize is that he was only listed as the starter to be the floor the other linemen had to beat to become the starter.  Ron's cut him before, so I don't know where people get the idea that he is favored or anything (and for those that have forgotten, Ron didn't start Amini over Norwell because he favored him, but because Norwell was raw coming out of college and was inconsistent in camp, so wasn't quite ready). 

Unfortunately, the Williams injury threw a monkey wrench into the plans when Moton (who I think was penciled in to start at LG) was forced to move to RT.  Then Amini got injured before the first preseason game, so nobody actually "won" the job from him, which has led to the fear that Ron will just insert him back in as starter. 

Now, RT is another story.  Not because of his ability, but I could see Ron starting Amini there (and giving him a lot of help) because he's at least played tackle before.  But that would only be a temporary band-aid until a better option comes along.

[Woodie]

12 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

I don't doubt that Moton is going to struggle some at left tackle. Other than the very elite, the vast majority of guys do when they're first starting.

I think he'll be good at it given enough time, but everybody has to be prepared to be patient with him early on.

But hey, he's a really smart guy. Who knows? He might surprise us all.

Yeah, I expect some growing pains, but I also think Moton has all the tools to be a good LT this year, and very good in the future.  I just hope people have some patience and understand that he'll get beat on occasion, and sometimes badly.  But, like you said, he's smart, so I'm sure he'll learn from every experience.

[Mr. Scot]

4 minutes ago, Woodie said:

Barring injury, I don't think he was ever going to start.  I don't believe Ron wanted him starting out there, I actually think he prefers Amini as a backup utility lineman.  What people fail to realize is that he was only listed as the starter to be the floor the other linemen had to beat to become the starter.  Ron's cut him before, so I don't know where people get the idea that he is favored or anything (and for those that have forgotten, Ron didn't start Amini over Norwell because he favored him, but because Norwell was raw coming out of college and was inconsistent in camp, so wasn't quite ready). 

Unfortunately, the Williams injury threw a monkey wrench into the plans when Moton (who I think was penciled in to start at LG) was forced to move to RT.  Then Amini got injured before the first preseason game, so nobody actually "won" the job from him, which has led to the fear that Ron will just insert him back in as starter. 

Now, RT is another story.  Not because of his ability, but I could see Ron starting Amini there (and giving him a lot of help) because he's at least played tackle before.  But that would only be a temporary band-aid until a better option comes along.

I don't really buy that. I know people kept saying "no way he starts Amini" but he never left the starting lineup. If you don't want him starting, why put him there? And if you really want other guys to beat him out, why would you not give them starter reps?

[Woodie]

6 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

Side Note: Odd contrast. Moton's known to be highly intelligent, while one of the big knocks on Amini is that he's a little slow to pick things up.

I'll be honest, I think that's the problem with Amini.  He's got the physical skills, but he seems to process things slowly, so he's always a bit behind.  

[Woodie]

3 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

I don't really buy that. I know people kept saying "no way he starts Amini" but he never left the starting lineup. If you don't want him starting, why put him there? And if you really want other guys to beat him out, why would you not give them starter reps?

Simple, to set the bar.  At that time, nobody had earned the right to be listed as starter, but Amini had at least been a starting LG in the league.  So, he set the base for what was needed to start.  If nobody else could better his level of play, then they didn't deserve to start, and we'd likely have been scouring other team's rosters to find a better option.  

However, I do think they felt pretty good about Moton's ability to take the starting spot.  And if Williams had not gotten injured so early, I believe he would have likely taken over Amini's spot in short order (Ron doesn't like to just give guys positions, he likes them to earn it, so he also wanted to make Moton earn the starting spot).  But when Williams got injured, they had to take a step back and re-evaluate.  Other than pre-existing hate for Amini, nobody else had done anything in their careers that would indicate they deserved to jump him, whether it was a game or practice reps .  

Fortunately, Van Roten stepped up and earned the spot, and Mahon has shown good potential to possibly be the future.  Now Ron can keep Silatolu where he likes him best...utility lineman.