Thread: Draft OL in first round!

Originally Posted by "i_bleed_purple" #1094531

I'm all for drafting OL, but not with our #1 pick, and not for a starting tackle.

I'm also all for giving Load another shot. He struggled last season, bu he played much better his rookie season. You could even go as far as to say he was our top lineman in 09. Curious, how much of that success you can attribute to a guy like Favre making the whole line look better than they really were. I wonder if Loadholt is truly this bad, or if he just had an off year.

Also, regarding the rookie OL, one thing to remember, the WCO is a complicated system. Line assignments are also very complicated to learn. Without Minicamps and OTA's, it's going to be tough to get everyone ready to go for week 1 if there is one. any rookie OT we draft would have to come from a school that has a similar system if we expect any good to come from it right away.

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/42606377/ns/sports-player_news/

The Vikings are expected to move away from the West Coast offense under new offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave, according to Tom Pelissero of ESPN 1500 Twin Cities.

Adam Caplan of Fox Sports expressed a similar sentiment in a Thursday chat. Musgrave noted at his introductory press conference that he would keep elements of the WCO intact, but he's expected to mimic Mike Mularkey's Atlanta offense, incorporating more of a deep passing game to complement a strong ground attack. Kevin Kolb won't be a good fit in Minnesota because he's more of a system QB in need of the West Coast scheme.

Originally Posted by "Purple Floyd" #1094536

Originally Posted by "i_bleed_purple" #1094531

I'm all for drafting OL, but not with our #1 pick, and not for a starting tackle.

I'm also all for giving Load another shot. He struggled last season, bu he played much better his rookie season. You could even go as far as to say he was our top lineman in 09. Curious, how much of that success you can attribute to a guy like Favre making the whole line look better than they really were. I wonder if Loadholt is truly this bad, or if he just had an off year.

Also, regarding the rookie OL, one thing to remember, the WCO is a complicated system. Line assignments are also very complicated to learn. Without Minicamps and OTA's, it's going to be tough to get everyone ready to go for week 1 if there is one. any rookie OT we draft would have to come from a school that has a similar system if we expect any good to come from it right away.

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/42606377/ns/sports-player_news/

The Vikings are expected to move away from the West Coast offense under new offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave, according to Tom Pelissero of ESPN 1500 Twin Cities.

Adam Caplan of Fox Sports expressed a similar sentiment in a Thursday chat. Musgrave noted at his introductory press conference that he would keep elements of the WCO intact, but he's expected to mimic Mike Mularkey's Atlanta offense, incorporating more of a deep passing game to complement a strong ground attack. Kevin Kolb won't be a good fit in Minnesota because he's more of a system QB in need of the West Coast scheme.

Malletts arm!

Originally Posted by "skum" #1094538

Originally Posted by "Purple Floyd" #1094536

Originally Posted by "i_bleed_purple" #1094531

I'm all for drafting OL, but not with our #1 pick, and not for a starting tackle.

I'm also all for giving Load another shot. He struggled last season, bu he played much better his rookie season. You could even go as far as to say he was our top lineman in 09. Curious, how much of that success you can attribute to a guy like Favre making the whole line look better than they really were. I wonder if Loadholt is truly this bad, or if he just had an off year.

Also, regarding the rookie OL, one thing to remember, the WCO is a complicated system. Line assignments are also very complicated to learn. Without Minicamps and OTA's, it's going to be tough to get everyone ready to go for week 1 if there is one. any rookie OT we draft would have to come from a school that has a similar system if we expect any good to come from it right away.

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/42606377/ns/sports-player_news/

The Vikings are expected to move away from the West Coast offense under new offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave, according to Tom Pelissero of ESPN 1500 Twin Cities.

Adam Caplan of Fox Sports expressed a similar sentiment in a Thursday chat. Musgrave noted at his introductory press conference that he would keep elements of the WCO intact, but he's expected to mimic Mike Mularkey's Atlanta offense, incorporating more of a deep passing game to complement a strong ground attack. Kevin Kolb won't be a good fit in Minnesota because he's more of a system QB in need of the West Coast scheme.

Malletts arm!

There's no offense used in the NFL that doesn't have "elements of the west coast offense."

Originally Posted by "singersp" #1094509

I've been advocating the need to acquire better OL men every year since 2005 & trashing Childress' offensive blocking scheme that wasn't working consistently & effectively, primarily on passing plays with ineffective pass blockers like McKinnie.

Bashing the Zone Blocking scheme, primarily on passing plays is why I respond in kind everytime you post something like this........

The ZB scheme supports the running game, when we pass protected we did a more traditional "Hat on a Hat" / "Man up" scheme.

Your beef, at least the way I take it is that you don't think we draft OLmen high enough when in fact if you look across the board, our OLmen have all been drafted pretty high and blame it on the players when in fact the ZB scheme has worked pretty well.

What I don't think has worked is the adjustments between the two schemes especially if they had a run play called coming out of the huddle and switched it to a passing play at the line.


By the way, were our lineman were drafted at.

Big Mac - 1rst
Hutch - 1rst Round
Sully - 6th Rnd
Herrera - UDFA
Load - 2n Round

By the way, glad to see a post out of you my friend. Your inputs have been missed.

Originally Posted by "kevoncox" #1094474

What games were you watching. The Vikes failure last season was QB. Point blank period. Or Qb stunk it up last season. Some of that was due to crappy WRs towards the middle of the season but.... make no mistake... it wasn't the OL, who was decent in Pass blocking last season.

I would like to add one small point......

Our OL play also sucked because of all the injuries.

There is a reason why the OLmen don't shift players like the DL, WR's, LB'rs, TE's etc. Consistency + Familiarization = success.

My guess, if all of the starters come back and play the full season, you will see line play that will support an offensive output like we saw in 2009.

By the way, even with all the crappy ass backups (Singers opinion of them) we still finished about in the middle of the pack when it came to ranking the OL.

Some might even to go as far as to say the OL play wasn't as bad as some on here seem to really think it was even though they are the first to admit they don't have a clue about OL play. :P

Originally Posted by "Mr Anderson" #1094480

I wouldn't hate picking OL in round 1. McKinnie and Hutch are getting old.

Then again, I wouldn't really hate picking most positions in round 1. We could use upgrades/future replacements at a lot of positions.

Do you think that they addressed one of those positions with the addition of DeGeare last year (atleast the G spot)?

Although alot of people are down on him but I think he and Cook did a nice job in the middle after they got a couple of starts under their belt.

Another year of coaching, watching and learning, from the bench (like he is supposed to do) will go along way in his development. If he is forced to come in, again, like last year, I think he will do fine.

Tackle, now thats another story.

Originally Posted by "Marrdro" #1094553

Originally Posted by "Mr Anderson" #1094480

I wouldn't hate picking OL in round 1. McKinnie and Hutch are getting old.

Then again, I wouldn't really hate picking most positions in round 1. We could use upgrades/future replacements at a lot of positions.

Do you think that they addressed one of those positions with the addition of DeGeare last year (atleast the G spot)?

Although alot of people are down on him but I think he and Cook did a nice job in the middle after they got a couple of starts under their belt.

Another year of coaching, watching and learning, from the bench (like he is supposed to do) will go along way in his development. If he is forced to come in, again, like last year, I think he will do fine.

Tackle, now thats another story.

DeGeare was inconsistant but was at his best when pulling. He has the speed and ability.
Some lines are good at run blocking, some at pass blocking, and some at both.

Ours is pretty good at run blocking but a little weak up the middle. Affecting that is Peterson not following his blocks.

But the lines weakness last year was pass blocking. They went from 1st rated the year before to tied for 20th in giving up sacks. Stats from NFLN.

Was it all due to the QB? No. But the QB was terrible last year and played a role.

It was plain to see the pass blocking improved when Sullivan was healthy, although Cook looked pretty good at center.

Sullivan gets pushed back into the pocket a little more than I would like to see but we were way worse with Cooper in there.

Herrera didn't look as good last year when he was playing. Maybe he was playing injured.

I think the primary problem was due to injury.

If Musgrave wants to go to a more vertical game, this unit will need to stay healthy.

I expect to see an O-lineman taken, but not until the later rounds.

Originally Posted by "jargomcfargo" #1094581

Originally Posted by "Marrdro" #1094553

Originally Posted by "Mr Anderson" #1094480

I wouldn't hate picking OL in round 1. McKinnie and Hutch are getting old.

Then again, I wouldn't really hate picking most positions in round 1. We could use upgrades/future replacements at a lot of positions.

Do you think that they addressed one of those positions with the addition of DeGeare last year (atleast the G spot)?

Although alot of people are down on him but I think he and Cook did a nice job in the middle after they got a couple of starts under their belt.

Another year of coaching, watching and learning, from the bench (like he is supposed to do) will go along way in his development. If he is forced to come in, again, like last year, I think he will do fine.

Tackle, now thats another story.

DeGeare was inconsistant but was at his best when pulling. He has the speed and ability.
Some lines are good at run blocking, some at pass blocking, and some at both.

Ours is pretty good at run blocking but a little weak up the middle. Affecting that is Peterson not following his blocks.

But the lines weakness last year was pass blocking. They went from 1st rated the year before to tied for 20th in giving up sacks. Stats from NFLN.

Was it all due to the QB? No. But the QB was terrible last year and played a role.

It was plain to see the pass blocking improved when Sullivan was healthy, although Cook looked pretty good at center.

Sullivan gets pushed back into the pocket a little more than I would like to see but we were way worse with Cooper in there.

Herrera didn't look as good last year when he was playing. Maybe he was playing injured.

I think the primary problem was due to injury.

If Musgrave wants to go to a more vertical game, this unit will need to stay healthy.

I expect to see an O-lineman taken, but not until the later rounds.

One hell of an assesment my friend. Just one question, Leslie wants to run, Musgrove wants to go vertical a bit more, who wins?

Originally Posted by "Marrdro" #1094553

Do you think that they addressed one of those positions ... last year(atleast the G spot)?

I'm sure addressing the gspot is high on our teams list...

Originally Posted by "12purplepride28" #1094587

Originally Posted by "Marrdro" #1094553

Do you think that they addressed one of those positions ... last year(atleast the G spot)?

I'm sure addressing the gspot is high on our teams list...

I was really trying to say that they did it last year with DeGeare.