03-10-2024, 02:11 PM
Quote: @"MaroonBells" said:
In fairness “we” figured it out after like 2 games. The team figured it out about 2 months later.@"purplefaithful" said:
Oliver continued to grade very well as a run blocker in Minnesota. I think the biggest problem was Mattison honestly. Runs hard, but he just doesn't have great vision, and he has zero speed. And while I agree that KOC has to do a better job of sticking with it, by the time we figured out Chandler was the guy, Cousins was out and defenses could pretty much ignore the passing game.@"Knucklehead" said:
The issue isn't that they signed Oliver & arguably the issue isn't the value of the contract that they signed him to. Afterall, Oliver is one of the top blocking TEs in the league which is a valuable skill. The issue is that even when in the line up, the team neglected to utilize him as a blocker. They chose instead to run between the OTs.
I liked the signing & thought that it was legit. The team knew that they were moving on from Dalvin. They made Mattison RB1. Improving the run blocking was a sound strategy.
So, what happened? Even the most ardent Kwesi hater has to admit that he doesn't operate in a vacuum. Like every other GM he consults with his HC to identify the personnel that the HC wants & then tries to procure those players. There's no doubt in my mind that it was KOC who wanted Oliver. The puzzler is why he failed to use him as intended. I dont know if Oliver is still one of the best run blockers or not? How he played here vs Baltimore? It sure didnt look like it. It would be fair to put some of that on Mattison too.
To your point, I think they had every intent to get better at running. It made sense to pair Oliver with two pretty exemplary OT's.
Instead they abandoned the run or ran in ways that made even a novice fan like me shake their head.
A big area of growth needed here for KOC.
I’m not a big fan of Mundt but whatever. He comes cheap.