Shortly after selecting OT Ryan Clady with the 12th pick in the 2008 draft, Mike Shanahan wasted no time in naming him the starting LT for the upcoming season. Now it's surprising enough that any Bronco rookie offensive lineman would be given the starting position going into training camp. To name a rookie LT as the starter is even more of a testament of Shanahan's belief in the skills of this young man. As I thought about it more and more, I began to ask myself, "What should we expect from Ryan Clady this season?"
I think it would be silly not to expect the usual growing pains from a rookie in any position. Lt however, is arguably the 2nd hardest position to play on the offensive side of the ball. These players are normally playing the other teams best pass rusher along with seeing a variety of blitz packages and disguised defensive schemes and alignments.
What kind of season would be a successful one for the 6'7" 320 pound mammoth tackle? This is where opinions will vary. Many on this forum have stated that any improvement over the play of Matt Lepsis from last season would qualify. Others expect him to struggle mightily over the first half of the season and begin to excel in the second half. Another faction will be quick to write him off as a bust because he wasn't the premiere running back that "should have been taken" with the 12th pick. I think it's our job as a part of Bronco Nation to give him a fair shake. How do we do that?
I thought about averaging the stats of the top tackles from the 2007 season, but those can be extremely misleading. First of all, they only reflect pass blocking for the most part. Secondly, they can be skewed due to the fact the some tackles have either a TE or RB helping them with a pass rusher, while others are left on an island to handle thier blocking assignment on thier own. For these reasons, I don't think it's fair to assign a set of statistics for his season that would qualify it as a successful one.
Unfortunately, I think that calling his season a success is going to be completely subjective. I'd like some input from my fellow Broncomaniacs on this, but I have come up with some ideas to kick around:
1. Cutler doesn't get injured being blindsided by the man that Clady SHOULD have blocked.
2. He doesn't have to have Graham babysitting his side of the line on every passing down, especially later in the season.
3. He plays with enough power to enable the Broncos to consistently run the ball to his side when called upon to do so.
4. He improves in all areas throughout the season.
5. He puts Shawne Merriman on his arse at least once during the season. (OK, that's not really a requirement to having a good season, but it sure would make my month.)
Let me know what you think, and feel free to add any thoughts or ideas that you might have on a fair way to judge the rook.