Taylor Moton makes PFF's 1st quarter All Pro team

[Santee_Panther]

2 hours ago, Raleigh PF said:

If I'm not mistaken, Jordan Gross started his career as a RT before switching to the left side.

Correct, Gross played both RT and LT. Would love to hear his thoughts on process of switching between the two. He played RT 3 seasons and LT 8 seasons. 

[Peppers90 NC]

11 hours ago, KillerKat said:

I want to keep repeating that this is the guy Rivera wanted to keep on the bench until injuries forced his hand.

Uhm he was going to play LG

[AU-panther]

I didn't always agree with DG's approach to the draft but I do have to give him some credit.  Williams, Moton, Turner, and Norwell is a nice collection of offensive lineman.

Its one thing to draft 4 starters, which is impressive in itself, but its looking like all 4 are high level starters.

 

[Peppers90 NC]

39 minutes ago, stbugs said:

Honestly, that isn’t true. Another poster said the same assumption, but no one was ever the LG starter other than Amini at any point pre-injury. He was the starter in mini camp and training camp. Making the assumption that Moton has won the LG job before Williams got hurt is wrong IMHO.

What is Ron supposed to come out and publicly say he has the starting job before training camp? You dont think he wanted him to earn the spot? I wasn't assuming anything, Moton was going to earn that spot but as things have it he is playing at his best position. If I was going to criticize Ron, I would say Moton should have been competing at LT. Oh but wait, he was playing there some too.

[thefuzz]

47 minutes ago, AU-panther said:

I didn't always agree with DG's approach to the draft but I do have to give him some credit.  Williams, Moton, Turner, and Norwell is a nice collection of offensive lineman.

Its one thing to draft 4 starters, which is impressive in itself, but its looking like all 4 are high level starters.

 

Oher, Moton, Turner, Norwell, Williams.

You do have to add Kalil in there, but I have long though that JR was all over that signing, and the contract structure.

DG did us well on the O line, Ron will continue to trot out those Vets though.

[Woodie]

1 hour ago, stbugs said:

Honestly, that isn’t true. Another poster said the same assumption, but no one was ever the LG starter other than Amini at any point pre-injury. He was the starter in mini camp and training camp. Making the assumption that Moton has won the LG job before Williams got hurt is wrong IMHO.

It is true.  Amini was only placed as the starter at LG as the floor of what it would take to win the LG spot.  Nobody else had ever played LG for us, so Rivera set up the only player to have started there as the rabbit.  As Peppers90 said, you don't want to just hand out a starting spot, you prefer the guy to earn it.  So the plan was to have Moton (or if someone else stepped up) earn the spot.  But Williams' injury so early in camp threw a big monkey wrench into that plan.  

So many here have this false assumption that Rivera has some special affinity for Amini...he doesn't.  The only thing Rivera likes about Amini is the fact he can play all the positions on the OL except center and he knows the offense.  In other words, he likes his versatility.  Don't forget, Rivera has cut Amini before, and personally, I think he very well could have been cut again this year if we didn't have that rash of injuries on the OL.  

Regardless, if Ron really wanted Amini as the starting LG, he would have reinserted him as the starter once he came back from injury.  He didn't, and Van Roten wasn't so dominant that he forced his hand or anything.  Yes, Van Roten was playing well, but he wasn't amazing.  He could easily have been replaced with a better option if Ron thought we had one...but he didn't, even after Amini came back.

[BigSyke]

9 minutes ago, thefuzz said:

Oher, Moton, Turner, Norwell, Williams.

You do have to add Kalil in there, but I have long though that JR was all over that signing, and the contract structure.

DG did us well on the O line, Ron will continue to trot out those Vets though. 

He did okay except keeping Remmers out thereat RT after the sb.

[thefuzz]

10 minutes ago, BigSyke said:

He did okay except keeping Remmers out thereat RT after the sb.

Ummm, you do know that it takes time to build an offensive line?  And the NFL as a whole are in a mess trying to find said offensive linemen?

Remmers is still a starter, and on a playoff bound team to boot.  Our problem wasn't the personnel, it was the coach and the scheme.  We are playing with a MASH unit right now, and doing well....that's mostly on Norv.

To add, DG drafted Williams to likely start at RT, and hoped Oher could come back and man the left side....hence no Remmers...that didn't work out.

[Cary Kollins]

Gettleman's matt kalil experiment was a royal disaster but at least he got Moton

[Peppers90 NC]

Ron is so stupid guys, we would be much better off with a Kat or even some Bugs as a head coach. How Ron got this far is beyond what my pea-sized brain could comprehend.

[Bartin]

13 hours ago, stbugs said:

Two things:

1. Moton has looked great at LT in preseason and week 1. It was week 2+ and in preseason before Kalil got hurt that Moton's been RT, but in between he was LT and looked solid against NE's starters and Dallas' DL.

2. Williams was tried at LT in preseason. I can't remember if it was 2017 or 2016, but he looked bad at LT. Compared to Moton, it was obvious that Williams is a RT through and through.

I just don't understand why we question Moton at LT since we've basically seen him play LT at a high level in two "real" games. If Williams comes back and is healthy, Moton at LT is not an issue IMHO and Williams is RT.

Because it only has been 2 games and NE has an awful DL. Prior to those 2 games he never in his college career played on the left side and has even said he doesn’t really feel that comfortable on the left. It’s totally fair to question if he can be the long term answer at LT.

[DeAngelo Beason]

I personally believe Moton is the future at LT.  He's just cutting his teeth right now.  He's dripping with raw talent and ability.  I see him becoming a perennial pro bowler.

[Shocker]

Moton Lava baby.  How this OL is holding up is beyond me.  Glad to see these guys fighting so hard.

[Woodie]

46 minutes ago, stbugs said:

Again, Moton may have won the LG spot if there were no injuries. That is still your assumption. Who played at the end of last year when Turner got hurt? Amini. Who played all year at LT? Kalil. Why didn’t Moton take over LT? Why didn’t he step in at RG. 

You and @Peppers90 NC are making statements that Ron was going to insert Moton, but that is you guys saying that and nothing based in reality until we had injuries. I’m not saying I disagree or that it wouldn’t have happened but that you guys are wrong in just assuming it would have. Is Moton really all of a sudden that much better than he was at the end of last year? I do 100% feel that there is no way Ron would have started him over a healthy Matt Kalil. I think he could have won the LG spot but I am not going to assume anything because Amini looked like hot garbage last year in 3+ games in relief of Turner and yet no one, that you guys assume would have won the job this year, replaced him.

I know it’s semantics but I don’t believe there was any indication that Moton was going to be the week 1 starter until after injuries and then he went to RT. Same with Van Roten. I believe Amini is starting if he never got hurt.

I do think that the performance without Kalil and Amini proved it and hence Amini isn’t going back in, but that’s different than assuming without that in the books performance that Amini with no injury wouldn’t start.

Amini stepped in when Turner got hurt last year because Moton was a rookie that was picked to play tackle, and had been practicing solely at tackle.  It's not easy for a player to just switch and play a new position without practicing it first, especially on the OL...and being a rookie trying to adjust to the NFL on top of that.   Amini starting had nothing to do with any kind of preference for Amini, rather it was a practical decision based on who best knew the position and was ready to step in.  That's why Moton had been practicing at LG this offseason, they were getting him ready to compete for that spot this year.

As for assumptions, that's all any of us can do since nobody associated with the team has ever come out and straight up said what they are doing.  But, those assumptions I'm making are based on reason and logic.  They are not coming out of thin air.  I get why you think what you do, but I believe your foundation is based on misconstrued reasoning.  Like I said above, Amini only started for Turner instead of Moton because he had experience there and had been practicing the position while Moton had not been.  

I agree there wasn't any direct indication Moton was going to be the week 1 starter at LG, but logic says he would have been a serious contender...and the likely preferred one based on various comments Rivera made.  Rivera doesn't typically just hand out jobs, he wants players to earn it (heck, he even installed Cam as Clausen's backup and made him have to earn the starting spot).  And the fact that Rivera listed Amini as the starter in the spring, but said there would be a competition indicates he wasn't locked in on Amini as the starter as some seem to think.  And the fact he didn't reinstall him there when he was healthy again proves it.  Like I said, Amini was the only player we had with starting LG experience, so I don't know why anyone was surprised when he was listed as the initial starter.  

It's just like a race, you have a rabbit that sets the pace, but nobody really expects the rabbit to win.  They are just there to get things started.  That was Amini.  If nobody could beat out Amini, they didn't deserve to start.  IMO, Moton was the likely preferred starter since Rivera had openly talked about how he deserved more playing time...often in the same conversation when he was talking about the LG spot.  He never came out and said it (which would have undermined the whole idea of winning the spot by competition, if he had), but the implication was there.  

With Kalil, no, Moton likely wasn't going to take his spot, but that has as much to do with the contract as anything else.  And if we are being truthful, Kalil was not as bad as many want to pretend.  He struggled at the beginning of 2017, but once he settled in, he was ok...not great, but ok.  It's also hard to make any connection based on this offseason since Moton had been spending a lot of time practicing LG so he could compete there.  With that said, Moton said he had also been working some at LT, not as much as LG, but enough that it's not out of the realm of possibilities that if Kalil came out slow again, Rivera would have slid Moton over there if he needed to.  So, I really don't see how that proves anything.