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Ziggy
11-29-2011, 01:43 PM
Here are the Oline grades for our starters for the 2011 season:

Run Blocking-
Clady- 82.9%
Beadles- 78.0%
Walton- 78.0%
Kuper- 81.7%
Franklin- 82.2%

Pass Blocking-
Clady- 92.1%
Beadles- 86.4%
Walton- 92.2%
Kuper- 91.8%
Franklin- 85.5%

One note- Franklin's is learning on the fly, being a rook. He's shown massive improvement in pass blocking. Over his last 3 games he's graded out at 95.3%

These numbers are per profootballspotlight.com
http://profootballspotlight.com/broncos-stats

It looks as though Beadles is still the weak link on this line. Walton, while weak in run blocking, has been doing a great job in pass pro. Clady is still our best lineman, with Kuper not far behind. This line has surpassed my expectations this season. I've been as vocal as anyone about moving Franklin over to Beadles spot at guard, but the kid is beginning to look like a darn good right tackle.

All in all our Oline isn't perfect, but they have gone from horrible last season to very respectable this year. Our new line coach deserves some credit. These guys have improved every game. I'm loving this entire coaching staff. The last time I can remember the Broncos getting better throughout the season in every phase of the game was Shanny's early days.

Cugel
11-29-2011, 03:18 PM
Young OL normally struggle with pass-blocking. Stink said on 104.3 The Fan that his college experience, coming from a IA school that threw the ball early and often led to his being ready to pass block when he entered the league.

But, that's not normal for college OL. Most colleges use a variety of pro-style offenses that run a lot. The top schools like Georgia, Florida, Alabama, LSU run more than they pass.

The inability of the OL to pass-block for Orton early in the year has been forgotten. Tebow helps them out because he's so mobile, but they are not very good at pass-blocking just yet.

That's not particularly surprising. What is surprising is the degree to which they've mastered run blocking. They're doing a great job at that and that is encouraging.

Because the speculation was that Denver would need to replace both Beadles and Walton and possibly everybody but Kuper and Clady on the OL next season.

I'm glad to say that clearly won't be necessary. If they can stay healthy and stay together for the next few seasons, they have a chance to be quite good in the future.

rcsodak
11-29-2011, 03:45 PM
Young OL normally struggle with pass-blocking. Stink said on 104.3 The Fan that his college experience, coming from a IA school that threw the ball early and often led to his being ready to pass block when he entered the league.

But, that's not normal for college OL. Most colleges use a variety of pro-style offenses that run a lot. The top schools like Georgia, Florida, Alabama, LSU run more than they pass.

The inability of the OL to pass-block for Orton early in the year has been forgotten. Tebow helps them out because he's so mobile, but they are not very good at pass-blocking just yet.

That's not particularly surprising. What is surprising is the degree to which they've mastered run blocking. They're doing a great job at that and that is encouraging.

Because the speculation was that Denver would need to replace both Beadles and Walton and possibly everybody but Kuper and Clady on the OL next season.

I'm glad to say that clearly won't be necessary. If they can stay healthy and stay together for the next few seasons, they have a chance to be quite good in the future.
Cug, who exactly, was doing this 'speculating?

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Thnikkaman
11-29-2011, 03:48 PM
Young OL normally struggle with pass-blocking. Stink said on 104.3 The Fan that his college experience, coming from a IA school that threw the ball early and often led to his being ready to pass block when he entered the league.



Should that be an ID school? And who are you talking about?

Ziggy
11-29-2011, 04:07 PM
Cug, who exactly, was doing this 'speculating?

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Count me as one of those who thought Beadles and Walton needed to be replaced after this season. I'm still not sold on Beadles, but Walton has made a ton of improvement.

Cugel
11-29-2011, 04:15 PM
Cug, who exactly, was doing this 'speculating?

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Alfred, D-Mack and Stink on 103.4 The Fan radio were saying bluntly (early in the season) that the Broncos would need to upgrade their OL next season. Stink was pointing out that you can find quality OGs in FA (unlike trying to find a starting LT which is virtually impossible -- teams simply draft them in the first round and never let them go until they are too old/injured or ineffective to keep). He said that the Broncos needed to commit to getting some new starting G's and Center.

I doubt he feels that way right now. They might look to strengthen the OL rotation for next season, but they have gotten decent play out of the starters so far this year. And they are all young players with a long-time hopefully ahead of them.

Cugel
11-29-2011, 04:19 PM
Should that be an ID school? And who are you talking about?

Mark Schlereth: a/k/a "Stink"? And he went to Idaho which is a I-AA school. He wasn't drafted until the 10th round and in today's draft would have been an undrafted FA. But, he managed to play for 12 seasons because he was trained to pass-block so much in school, that when he got to the NFL it wasn't a new experience for him (he said this on the radio recently).

He was pointing out that many college OL aren't prepared for pass-blocking at the NFL level when they get to the pros. Thus, it's normal for young OL to have to learn NFL Pass blocking techniques and to struggle a bit at first blocking the pass rush.

Clady was great at it from day one, but he was also one of the highest drafted LTs in the first round too. Not many come into the league with his skills.

Joel
11-29-2011, 05:23 PM
I still wouldn't mind replacing Beadles and Walton. They grade out (much) better than I expected, but you can't be a successful "three yards and a cloud of dust" team with C run blockers at guard. Guards are as critical to the running game as tackles are to the passing game. If they don't get better soon we need to find someone who is.

I also wonder how well Clady could handle RT against the best blitzers now that we have a lefty QB. He'd be pivoting on the other leg, but his dominant hand would be on the outside of the rush. Whether or not that's an option, we'll have to do something if Franklin doesn't get better at pass blocking fast or he's going to get Tebow killed.

Locnar
11-29-2011, 09:36 PM
Mark Schlereth: a/k/a "Stink"? And he went to Idaho which is a I-AA school.

He thought you meant a school from Iowa, because you said IA which are the initials for this crappy state.

Superchop 7
11-29-2011, 11:10 PM
I still wouldn't mind replacing Beadles and Walton. They grade out (much) better than I expected, but you can't be a successful "three yards and a cloud of dust" team with C run blockers at guard. Guards are as critical to the running game as tackles are to the passing game. If they don't get better soon we need to find someone who is.

I also wonder how well Clady could handle RT against the best blitzers now that we have a lefty QB. He'd be pivoting on the other leg, but his dominant hand would be on the outside of the rush. Whether or not that's an option, we'll have to do something if Franklin doesn't get better at pass blocking fast or he's going to get Tebow killed.
__________________________________________________ _____________________________________

Hammer hits nail.

Our line play is better, but not great........I may be in the minority here....but with Tebow as QB.....we need "great."

Dominant play in the A and B gap is critical, especially in short yardage situations.

TXBRONC
11-29-2011, 11:23 PM
Young OL normally struggle with pass-blocking. Stink said on 104.3 The Fan that his college experience, coming from a IA school that threw the ball early and often led to his being ready to pass block when he entered the league.

But, that's not normal for college OL. Most colleges use a variety of pro-style offenses that run a lot. The top schools like Georgia, Florida, Alabama, LSU run more than they pass.

The inability of the OL to pass-block for Orton early in the year has been forgotten. Tebow helps them out because he's so mobile, but they are not very good at pass-blocking just yet.

That's not particularly surprising. What is surprising is the degree to which they've mastered run blocking. They're doing a great job at that and that is encouraging.

Because the speculation was that Denver would need to replace both Beadles and Walton and possibly everybody but Kuper and Clady on the OL next season.

I'm glad to say that clearly won't be necessary. If they can stay healthy and stay together for the next few seasons, they have a chance to be quite good in the future.

I doubt they would have kicked Franklin to curb after just one season. Franklin's run blocking good even early on. His weakness is pass blocking Fox knew that going into this season.

TXBRONC
11-29-2011, 11:32 PM
I still wouldn't mind replacing Beadles and Walton. They grade out (much) better than I expected, but you can't be a successful "three yards and a cloud of dust" team with C run blockers at guard. Guards are as critical to the running game as tackles are to the passing game. If they don't get better soon we need to find someone who is.

I also wonder how well Clady could handle RT against the best blitzers now that we have a lefty QB. He'd be pivoting on the other leg, but his dominant hand would be on the outside of the rush. Whether or not that's an option, we'll have to do something if Franklin doesn't get better at pass blocking fast or he's going to get Tebow killed.

Clady still faces our opponents best pass rusher regularly because more times than not they are the defenses right side and teams don't flip flop them just because you have a left handed quarterback.

Joel
11-30-2011, 12:19 AM
Clady still faces our opponents best pass rusher regularly because more times than not they are the defenses right side and teams don't flip flop them just because you have a left handed quarterback.
Fine by me if they want to let our QB see their best pass rusher coming, while the guy on his blind side is usually there because he's a great run stopper who's not nearly as good a blitzer. I heard some of the talking heads mentioning it a while back and had already been thinking about it then, but if it's a non-concern that suits me fine; it'll give Franklin a chance to step up his pass protection. We still need some bruising guards who understand "pull" and "hold" aren't synonyms.

Dominant play in the A and B gap is critical, especially in short yardage situations.
That's it, and not a problem any tackle can solve, unfortunately.