FWIW, Dan Neil on local radio yesterday said he saw things during the scrimmage that indicated definite improvement in o-line play. Mostly from a technique view. Said it's hard to judge when there are only 8 linemen playing both ways during the scrimmage and we were missing some key players who will be on the field in the fall. Feels like Hand has definitely made a positive impact on the line.
Meh. What the hell does some radio jock named Dan Neil know about playing O line? I'd much rather rely on info from anonymous posters who saw the scrimmage on TV and then again on replay.
Is Dan Neil known for being objective about his alma mater? Could he be vying for a gig? If anyone thought the oline played well they’re blind.
No one said they played well and no he is not vying for a gig. He was on the radio talking about the Austin chapter of the NFL Alumni organization that is a children's charitable organization who raises more money than any other NFL alumi chapter for kids charities. They then asked him who he thought John Elway would draft following that up asking his opinion on the scrimmage. Anyone who thinks the scrimmage was a great indication of actual play in the fall is not thinking clearly. They were put in a position that I believe Herman now regrets putting them in. We were missing three of the biggest line pieces who will be here or healthy in a couple months. Maybe those guys won't make a difference, but I'm betting they will. On a side note, I found out that more retired NFL players live in Austin than any other city. That surprised me a little.....no a lot.
This line needs a whole lot more than just Hand. They need foot, arms and legs too. But seriously I don't understand why everyone is so defensive about the OL, and why TH was all pissy during the PC. I haven't read anywhere on any LH media websites or even here of anyone claiming the line isn't improving and showing better technique. The question is how much they have improved? Like Dion alluded, even a 300% improvement may still not be playing well. And only by playing well will we be able to compete for a B12 title. The fact is the line really didn't do well at all even during the 1st possession before any subs came in, before there were position changes and before they got tired. I'll reserve real judgement until we play the real defenses of USC and the frogs B2B. Playing the turtles and aslut isn't going to tell us much about the OL.
I’ll admit I didn’t use the correct terminology regarding not playing well versus improving. It’s just that when our first team (I realize Anderson is coming and maybe Hudson becomes a stud but everyone on that unit will play this year to some degree and therefore they need to be able to play) was bulldozed on the first few possessions who gives a rat’s *** about a negligible amount of improvement? These guys do not need to be patted on the back for doing marginally better than the just awfulness of last year. Just my opinion of course and I’m being as objective as I can.
No kidding. I mean the guy actually RETIRED from the NFL... as in couldn't keep a job for more than a decade? What does that guy know about offensive line play? (In all seriousness he actually MIGHT have played longer than 10 years, not sure how long he was in the league.) Neil was probably one of the most negative/skeptical guys on the LHN set when I've seen him.
If that’s the case then honestly I think Neil said something positive because the oline play was so terrible that he would’ve felt jumping on the pile was unnecessary and personally unflattering. He showed a little heart. It’s like when a basketball player goes 0 for 20 in a big game; you wouldn’t tell him he sucks, you’d say his shot was looking better, especially on the last few shots that just barely missed. Here’s one way to tell. If he didn’t qualify who’d improved then he was definitely being nice because he knows too much about football to make a blanket statement about a revolving door oline unit all together having improved.
We can probably agree that whatever hype we wanted to believe in the weeks prior to the Spring Game, reality set in last Saturday. I can’t imagine that we won’t field a better offense starting 9/1 on FedEx Field but then again, I didn’t expect what we saw out of the offense last year either.
Not enough to rate QB development? *********! What a ******* cop out 1) A QB that can't read a defense and consistently under throws the deep ball. 2) A QB that can't read the defense and holds the ball too long. 3) A QB that tucks and runs too quickly, but will likely be much better if he redshirts 4) A QB that made multiple reads but is only three months out of HS
As to numbers 1 & 2, it's not like they haven't seen that defense in every spring scrimmage and therefore should have a damn good idea what to expect!
