So What Are We Doing About the Offensive Line During This Offseason?

[Hoenheim]

How do you think we fix the O-line? 

I have no idea what to think about Ikem Ekwonu. He had a good rookie year but had an attrocious season 2.  Do you swap him and Christensen? Get a LT in free agency and move Ikey to LG?? Its truly baffling at this point. 

Its not realistic to think we could replace everyone but Moton this offseason. 

At the very least we are going to need some very serious depth at the interior positions. Corbett and Christensen have gotten injured two season in a row. Having the two starting OGs missing for most of the season and having scrubs play there probably didn't help, but we also so Bradley Boseman have a really bad year as well. I'm willing to say that the only person on the line that had a decent year was Taylor Moton. 

This was  really REALLY bad year to not have a 1st rounder.  I'm thinking we might be best off trading down from the first pick in R2 and picking up another 2nd  or 3rd to get more ammo. 

Summary of contract situations for O lineman: 

** Not implying that anyone will be cut, just getting the info on the page: 

- (LT) Ikem Ekwonu (23) :   7.5 million in 2024 against the cap.  Has 2024 and 2025 left on his contract, cutting him  would be a hit of - 8.7 million against the cap
- (LG)  Brady Christensen (27) :  1.6 million in 2024 against the cap. will be on the last year of his contract in 2024, and could be cut for a cap savings of 1.3 million 
- (C) Bradly Boseman (29): 4.0 million  in 2024 against the cap. His contract goes through 2025, and could be cut for a cap savings of 360,000 in 2024.
- (RG) Austin Corbett (28 10.0 million in 2024 against the cap. Contract goes through  2026, but 2025 and 2026 seem to be voided years. -1.5 million against the cap if cut in 2024

- (RT) Taylor Moton (29): 30 million in 2024 against the cap. Contract goes through 2025. Could be cut for a cap savings of 5 million in 2024. 
 

Personally, I'd get spend a ton of time scouting o line and get two solid ones in the draft, hopefully at least one of them ends up being damn good and has some position flexibility. Not sure what the FA Oline looks like this season, Im not sure we have the cap space to pay Brown, Burns, Luvu, some others, and get a big name OL. 

[OldhamA]

I think step 1 should be putting an NFL QB behind it.

[Mr. Scot]

10 minutes ago, Hoenheim said:

How do you think we fix the O-line? 

Use an offensive scheme that matches their skill set 

[rayzor]

[countryboi]

you need to work on the middle thats how Brees exceled, getting Brady and Corbett back should help

[Hoenheim]

20 minutes ago, countryboi said:

you need to work on the middle thats how Brees exceled, getting Brady and Corbett back should help

dont think that will be enough given their recent injury history. Gotta get at least one really good Guard or two actual solid ones for depth that arent garbage tier like most of the ones we tried trotting out this season.

[LinvilleGorge]

I'm looking to add talent in the draft and I'm having a camp competition between Icky and Christensen at LT with the loser playing LG.

[Rocky Davis]

Depends on what kind of offense the new staff is going to run. 

I almost believe that Ekwonu needs to play LG and not sure Christensen is the answer at LT, he may be better than Ike but he certainly isn't proven.  Getting Corbett back like countryboi said will help at RG and Moton will be fine at RT.  The personnel we have right now has to be an establish the run first type unit because we don't have the best pass protectors and making our O-line have to be back on their heels as a first choice makes us even worse  Maybe we see:

LT Christensen (or upgrade in FA??)
LG Ekwonu
C   Bozeman (hope he can bounce back)
RG Corbett
RT Moton

The whole offense needs to have coaches that understand you can't force a scheme that just doesn't fit.  The offense isn't very talented, the talent they think they have is inexperienced, and our vets are average at best.  I like Hubbard's heart and tenacity, but he isn't a game changer at RB and Sanders literally sucked last year.  We don't have a TE that can be called on to be a threat in the passing game. 

The Panthers need a full tear down and overhaul, enough trying to patch this team up into what would be at best a first round wild card loss.  No easy answers.....

[Rocky Davis]

9 minutes ago, Hoenheim said:

dont think that will be enough given their recent injury history. Gotta get at least one really good Guard or two actual solid ones for depth that arent garbage tier like most of the ones we tried trotting out this season.

Yep, totally agree on the yard sale O-Linemen we have signed over the last 3 years.  Our actual starters staying healthy would be great, but you have to have at least 2-3 backups that aren't PS or off the street fodder.

Edited January 21, 2024 by Rocky Davis

[csx]

1 hour ago, Mr. Scot said:

Use an offensive scheme that matches their skill set 

Hopefully we don't tie our offensive future to the personelof the past.

You want to land a new offensive mind then have him  play Fox ball?

Edited January 21, 2024 by csx

[kungfoodude]

I mean I would personally probably hire a GM and head coach. Seems like a good start.

[BIGH2001]

Ekwonu was Byron Bell level bad last year. He’s going into camp in a full on competition for his job. I’m looking for guard depth in the 3rd and 4th round which can actually be found if your name isn’t Scott Fitterer. And for the love of god Chandler Zavala should never see the field again. 

[MHS831]

It would be easy to overreact, but injury, scheme, and lagging development devastated this OL--do they need to be replaced?  Moved?  Maybe, but an overreaction is as bad as doing nothing. 

OT:  I think Moton needs to be restructured if possible.  I can see him playing another 5 years and he is our best OL.  If we can trade Moton, that would probably be the play, and I think BC could play RT in 2024. 

Ekwonu needs to be coached up.  I may consider putting him at G, but his problems are mechanical.  I would give him another season at LT.  Am I happy about his development?  Nope.  The lack of development from the young players on this line speaks volumes about Campen.  He may have been great in his day, but these kids today are a different breed.  Maybe his ability to connect with them has faded.  Personally, I think Brady Christensen could be the LT in 2024 if he is not moved to RT in the event of a Moton trade or cut (which would be stupid) and Ekwonu could be a G.  People need to remember that BC has significant athleticism and he might be better at T than G--stay tuned.

If we go with Moton and Ekwonu on the outside, and I think that is likely (depending on Ekwonu's development in the area of mechanics), BC is an average LG who was making progress.  As an OL, he is entering his prime.

Bozeman is difficult to analyze because he looked terrible at times.  I think part of that was the backup guards beside him.  I still expect to see him as center in 2024.

Corbett is a good RG when healthy.  Tough to say how he has recovered.  His age is not a factor yet--most good OL peak between 28 and 32.

We need depth at every position. 

With Moton, Ekwonu, and BC's ability to play T, I feel OK about Tackle and do not see it as an urgent need. Of course, Moton at $30m?  Dang.

I think I would bring in a free agent G who can play C.  Not much more than that.  As for drafting 2 solid OL, when?  Rounds 4 and 5? I think I would develop the roster.  I am not sure Zavala, Jensen, and Mays were coached up very well.  I think there is some hope.  I was excited about Campen when we signed him, but after watching the players demonstrate repeated mechanical and mental mistakes on the OL, I realize that he did nothing with the talent he was given.  They all regressed, if you ask me.

HOW DO YOU MAKE THE OL LOOK BETTER? 

1. Get healthy.  Our biggest problem was IR.  The OL was pretty good in 2022, but when you lose your top 3 guards and have a 5-10 QB, defenses feasted on A gap.  Our scheme kept Bryce in the pocket.

2. Get a YAK guy.  A RB / WR who can catch screens and get yards after the catch.  Our screen game was not good.

3.  Get WRs who get open.  Adam Theilen at this stage of his career should not be your team's top WR.  He should be a Proehl, not a Smitty.  I was pleased with Smith-Marsette and he has potential.  Mingo has the makings of a #2 WR, with a quiet 400 yards on about 45 catches--not bad for a a rookie.  We need 2 more, and I suggest that we draft a WR (good, deep draft at WR this year) and sign one not named Chark. We need a fast, quick, speedster who can get open--most of our WRs are on the big side.  When Tua got Waddle and Hill, he got better quickly.

4,  We need a TE that defenses have to respect.  I am impressed with Tremble's potential --he will be 24.  Hurst? He sucked, but we will probably keep him on the roster in 2024.  I wonder about his heart after the concussion and his comments to the media.  The other TEs?  We do not need them.

5.  Discipline.  The OL's biggest weakness, aside from forgetting to block people, was stupid pre-snap mistakes.  That is a sign that they are not prepared.  Campen did us no favors, folks.

6. Clock management by the QB.  How many times did we take the play clock to 1 second before snapping the ball?  Tough on the OL to stay in stances that long, and it suggests that they are not prepared at the LOS.  We are reacting to the defense instead of the defense reacting to us. 

7.  Communication.  When the G waves his hand to let the C know the QB is ready, then the C snaps the ball to said QB, it is like signalling to the defense, "OK, we are getting ready to snap the ball."  When this becomes routine, you can time the snap.  The OL advantage of knowing when the ball is going to be snapped with the G waving his arm and the play clock at 00 is removed.  When you remove the snap advantage, the better athlete (defensive linemen) wins.  Duh.

Just my rant.

 

 

[Khyber53]

6 hours ago, LinvilleGorge said:

I'm looking to add talent in the draft and I'm having a camp competition between Icky and Christensen at LT with the loser playing LG.

Here's the winner. And draft some linemen with our few picks. We need depth and we need the possibility of grabbing a diamond in the rough to push these other prize hog mollies. 

And scheme appropriately. Sheesh.