Thread: Emery explains stance on Bushrod stats

I think both of the above posts and Emery and Kromer's obvious endorsement of Bushrod has swayed me back in his direction again. Whether or not he's the best made little difference. The only facts the matter are that he was the best we could get and that he's a better option than Webb who now may become a very good RT given his run blocking ability and as it stands he's far ahead of Carimi as a pass blocker right now.

We got pressure from all over last year with the possible exception of Louis. Louis seemed to handle his pass blocking assignments much better than his run blocking assignments but how much of that was due to Tice's system I can't say. Lot's of ifs here but if Webb manages to win out at RT I'm gonna assume our outside pass protection just took a giant leap forward and if Louis is re-signed and healthy some competition between him and Carimi for RG isn't a bad thing.

I guess I still don't see him as the proper type for OG but he may well end up as that utility lineman for now and with his competitive nature it's only gonna make him fight harder to get a starting job somewhere on that line. I don't see anything bad coming as a result of these moves.

Originally Posted by MPBears68

I was skeptical of JB like Soul was beforehand too. But, not that my comfort level means a hill of beans, I feel much much better about the signing after reading some very good points people here have made in rebuttal to the PFF numbers and due to the above. We hired AK to help Trestman invigorate the offense and specifically the OL and his say-so is good by me since no other coach knows Bushrod like he does.

I know it's a bit off topic for this thread, but we gotta bolster the interior too. Can't stop here. Emery is methodical and doesn't want to overpay, but I hope his stuff about "no FA OG" is nothing more than negotiating leverage and expectations management. We need one. Badly. Especially if LL isn't coming back. We have been repeatedly linked to Moore as the "main suitor" and "inside track" team and that makes sense. He'd be an economical 2 year vet rental who's still playing at a high level and is injury free. He's also a local guy and Illinois grad. Sign him please. We can't go into the draft needing 2-3 more OLmen and there's no guarantee Cooper or Warmack will be there either.

One of the handicaps we all have prior to FA MP is that the only stuff being published are things like those PFF rankings and while they're helpful to a point we all know they aren't the final element in anyone's decision process. But other than that we have little to go on unless we have access to and can watch hours of game videos. If we had the time for that we'd be NFL scouts.

Teams won't talk about there plans beyond expressing an interest in their own because they don't want to tip their hand. So we base our opinions on what facts we have but like I've been saying stats can deceive unless they're properly analyzed and correctly applied and most of us know this is true. I think the best that could be said is that for the money were we getting a guy who's all that much better than Webb. That's kind of where I was at a few weeks ago.

Now, looking at the big picture it makes less difference as far as that's concerned and a lot more difference about how the overall dynamics of the the line has changed. We now no longer need a LT or a RT or the need to bring Scott back and it's also very liberating as far as the early rounds of the draft go. OTs of any kind are now off the need list early on. With the signings of Bushrod and Bennett now we can focus on the two remaining most obvious needs and that's OG and LB.

Phil didn't actually say no FA OG he simply said he couldn't pay a starters rate for one whatever that means quantitatively. If I had to guess it means I don't have cap space to give you $5 mil per year but if we can talk in the $2.0-$3.0 mil range maybe we can do business. I think he'd like to have Louis back for one year and no more than a vet minimum which for him is $715k and a vet like Moore if he can get him for his price, maybe in the range of $2.5 mil. If he can pull that off then I bow even lower to him. he keeps a good young OG with upside but protects himself for 2013 and maybe a year more with Moore.

If he can pull that off then LB can definitely move higher on the draft list and possibly pick up an OG/OC in round two who could challenge Garza and EWill.

For openers a guy like Moore was probably looking for more money but so far he hasn't gone in that first round of signings and once the second phase begins the prices are much lower so it not over yet. I sure think Phil would like to have him but only at a price he can afford. He's pretty well strapped unless he restructures some deals, we all know that and so do player agents.

So I don't know if happens sooner or later or at all but Phil has no choice but to move more slowly now and make every dollar count. He doesn't have many to use up. He got Scott last year for a vet minimum by waiting him out. Who knows what he was looking for to begin with but whatever it was he didn't get it. Moore is certainly a much better prospect than Scott was and I don't believe Emery expects to get him for a vet minimum but he won't pay $5 mil either.