Bad offensive lines in the NFL (good read)

He makes some excellent points here. Constant change with your oline is a recipe for failure IMHO. In fact, I believe too much unnecessary change in your offense is a recipe for failure too. Constant change in key personnel, coaches, scheme and Offensive Coordinators = failure.

Continuity and familiarity can help an offense be its best. Of course, you do need a decent level of quality with your personnel to BE great. Too much change is poison.

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LINK to the article

Q: There has been a lot of bad offensive line play this season. We have seen many aspects of the game evolve over time, yet the offensive line seems mostly unchanged. Is this aspect of the game due to evolve?
Mark in Greensboro, N.C.
A: Often, the best lines are the ones that are together for 40 to 50 games. The Seahawks of the mid-2000s and the Giants in the late 2000s were the best examples of that. But it's hard to keep that type of continuity. If the line stays together too long, it gets too old and too hard to replace.

The Chicago Bears, Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins were examples of lines that got too old. Those teams are still trying to fix their blocking problems.

First, there aren't enough good left tackles to fill 32 teams.

Right tackle might be the second-toughest position to fill successfully.

Teams want a little more athleticism at left guard and that's a hard fit. It's surprising to see the Green Bay Packers struggle on the line because they do such a great job of drafting. You're right, though, there have been a lot of problems with the lines.

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which coincides with my belief that one ol drafted the first day would help keep talent//so buy a semi pro team and develop offensive line men or a team in Canada

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First, there aren't enough good left tackles to fill 32 teams.

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This is interesting if true.

First, there aren't enough good left tackles to fill 32 teams.

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Originally Posted by JustAnotherBearsFan99

This is interesting if true.

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I believe it's 100% true 99. A player like Webb wouldn't even be starting if there were. At best he'd be playing swing tackle for two or three years learning the game instead of starting ever since he was a rookie first at RT and now at LT.

I think what the Bears see in him is the perfect physical specimen for a LT whose a little light of a full load as far as his football intelligence goes so they hope that eventually with enough repetition that he'll turn out OK. Not a bad theory if you have the time to wait it out and the ability to survive until then.

Personally I think we've passed the period of time where we can wait and it's time to go buy a LT off someones else's roster next spring if we can. If we can't then we'll continue to have less than the best manning that spot.

The rest of the article is also 100% true. Unlike defenses like ours that rely on smart players with great tools racing to the ball and playing in the most opportunistic and most physical way they're able offenses are all about timing.

That line play is like synchronized swimming or a trapeze act. Everybody needs to be in the exact spot they need to be when they need to be for a running play to work. In pass blocking it's all about recognition of stunts and blitzes and knowing whose gonna take who when the rush comes. We get beat more by other teams cleverness than we get physically out manned.

I think Carimi and Louis can only get better as a pair. Both have the potential to be Pro Bowlers in another year or two. Now if Rachal can only live up to the promise he showed in college and we can solve that LT spot on way of another by this time next year we may actually have one of the better lines in the NFL rather than one of the poorest.

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Originally Posted by soulman

First, there aren't enough good left tackles to fill 32 teams.



I believe it's 100% true 99. A player like Webb wouldn't even be starting if there were. At best he'd be playing swing tackle for two or three years learning the game instead of starting ever since he was a rookie first at RT and now at LT.

I think what the Bears see in him is the perfect physical specimen for a LT whose a little light of a full load as far as his football intelligence goes so they hope that eventually with enough repetition that he'll turn out OK. Not a bad theory if you have the time to wait it out and the ability to survive until then.

Personally I think we've passed the period of time where we can wait and it's time to go buy a LT off someones else's roster next spring if we can. If we can't then we'll continue to have less than the best manning that spot.

The rest of the article is also 100% true. Unlike defenses like ours that rely on smart players with great tools racing to the ball and playing in the most opportunistic and most physical way they're able offenses are all about timing.

That line play is like synchronized swimming or a trapeze act. Everybody needs to be in the exact spot they need to be when they need to be for a running play to work. In pass blocking it's all about recognition of stunts and blitzes and knowing whose gonna take who when the rush comes. We get beat more by other teams cleverness than we get physically out manned.

I think Carimi and Louis can only get better as a pair. Both have the potential to be Pro Bowlers in another year or two. Now if Rachal can only live up to the promise he showed in college and we can solve that LT spot on way of another by this time next year we may actually have one of the better lines in the NFL rather than one of the poorest.

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I see that too Soul. Sometimes it's physical, but often not.

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Originally Posted by JustAnotherBearsFan99

This is interesting if true.

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I'm surprised you would even doubt it at all. The reason good ones earn so much and rarely hit the open market is precisely because they're so scarce. The position requires a rare blend of size and athleticism that few possess. Looking across theNFL there are perhaps 5 elite LTs, another 5-10 good ones, and the rest are pretty much serviceable to mediocre. Several are truly awful. All we have been hoping for is for Webb to get from the awful to serviceable category.

If the best lines are the one's that are together 40-50 games then it's not going to happen for this line next season. Most likely one of the 3-Webb, Chilo, and/or Garza will be gone by then. And as the #32 ranked pass blocking team I'd say 2 will be gone. Consistency is important, but for this line it's far overrated when compared to needing actual talent.

O line play has not been terrible. I wish they could open up Emmit Smith type holes in the running game, but they have been worse.

We need to draft MORE O-line, not just put all our eggs in one basket by drafting a 1st rounder and nothing else.

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Originally Posted by MPBears68

I'm surprised you would even doubt it at all. The reason good ones earn so much and rarely hit the open market is precisely because they're so scarce. The position requires a rare blend of size and athleticism that few possess. Looking across the NFL there are perhaps 5 elite LTs, another 5-10 good ones, and the rest are pretty much serviceable to mediocre. Several are truly awful. All we have been hoping for is for Webb to get from the awful to serviceable category.

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I guess I knew it wasn't easy to get a great LT, but it was a "reality check" for me to think that most teams don't have solid LT's. It must be similar to getting (and keeping) a great franchise QB - everyone wants one, but they're tough to find.

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Originally Posted by JustAnotherBearsFan99

I guess I knew it wasn't easy to get a great LT, but it was a "reality check" for me to think that most teams don't have solid LT's. It must be similar to getting (and keeping) a great franchise QB - everyone wants one, but they're tough to find.

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A large number of teams are really struggling with OL woes this year. It isn't just us by a long shot. You could probably name fewer teams this year off the top of your head that have really solid OLs than you could teams who's OLs clearly sucked in past years.

And let's be honest, our TEs and OC hasn't exactly helped out much. The blocking by TEs has been pretty bad and Tice hasn't exactly called pass-pro-friendly games, has he?