The offensive line, no longer offensive

[Guest]

I would settle for an "average" OL this year.  That would be a massive improvement over last year.

[Guest]

I watched Remmers play some over the weekend on some replay and he tends to hold some and can get beat on the outside.
I think we will be right around average with the line and that is far better than what we fielded last year.

[Guest]

@Canthony said:
I watched Remmers play some over the weekend on some replay and he tends to hold some and can get beat on the outside.
I think we will be right around average with the line and that is far better than what we fielded last year.

I think this is as realistic as it gets. Average will be a big improvement. This line isn't talented. They won't be great. Remmers isn't athletic. Reiff isn't a LT, he's a RT in the NFL. But the line was so bad and injured last year, not sure how they won't be improved this year, so there's that at least.

[Guest]

@Norse said:
We brought Clancy Barone in to take over as the team’s tight ends coach, but he was the offensive line coach for the Bronco's. 

considering it was the broncos OL that had limited their success in recent years... I dont know if this is a good thing.  they were pretty banged up and limited during Mannings tenure there and rarely helped out the other young QBs they were charged with protecting.

[Guest]

@StickyBun said:

@Canthony said:
I watched Remmers play some over the weekend on some replay and he tends to hold some and can get beat on the outside.
I think we will be right around average with the line and that is far better than what we fielded last year.

I think this is as realistic as it gets. Average will be a big improvement. This line isn't talented. They won't be great. Remmers isn't athletic. Reiff isn't a LT, he's a RT in the NFL. But the line was so bad and injured last year, not sure how they won't be improved this year, so there's that at least.

We need to work on this line for sure. Get a legit LT and move Reiff to RT. I think Remmers, correct me I am wrong, contract is set up as more of a one year deal. I suppose I could go look

[Guest]

@Canthony said:

@StickyBun said:

@Canthony said:
I watched Remmers play some over the weekend on some replay and he tends to hold some and can get beat on the outside.
I think we will be right around average with the line and that is far better than what we fielded last year.

I think this is as realistic as it gets. Average will be a big improvement. This line isn't talented. They won't be great. Remmers isn't athletic. Reiff isn't a LT, he's a RT in the NFL. But the line was so bad and injured last year, not sure how they won't be improved this year, so there's that at least.

We need to work on this line for sure. Get a legit LT and move Reiff to RT. I think Remmers, correct me I am wrong, contract is set up as more of a one year deal. I suppose I could go look

More like a two year deal after 2018 he would be 1.8 dead money and have paid him 11.5 for two years.

Reiff is 6.6 dead money after 2018 so 2 year 26 million.  

So about 6 mill per for a RT and 13 mill per for a LT.   

[Guest]

@minny65 said:

@Canthony said:

@StickyBun said:

@Canthony said:
I watched Remmers play some over the weekend on some replay and he tends to hold some and can get beat on the outside.
I think we will be right around average with the line and that is far better than what we fielded last year.

I think this is as realistic as it gets. Average will be a big improvement. This line isn't talented. They won't be great. Remmers isn't athletic. Reiff isn't a LT, he's a RT in the NFL. But the line was so bad and injured last year, not sure how they won't be improved this year, so there's that at least.

We need to work on this line for sure. Get a legit LT and move Reiff to RT. I think Remmers, correct me I am wrong, contract is set up as more of a one year deal. I suppose I could go look

More like a two year deal after 2018 he would be 1.8 dead money and have paid him 11.5 for two years.

Reiff is 6.6 dead money after 2018 so 2 year 26 million.  

So about 6 mill per for a RT and 13 mill per for a LT.   

Well that isn't bad for a stop gap RT until we can figure it out. I still really like Hill at LT. I hope he continues to improve.

[Guest]

We shall see about this line...  I've heard some form of this for the last... oh, I don't know,,, 10 years maybe more.  Need to see it on the field, sustained.   

[Guest]

[Guest]

@minny65 said:
Agree about next year's draft.  We must not have been in love with most of this year's top OL .  

Here's the problem with that theory ("2017 was a bad year to pick OL so the Vikings didn't want to reach"): since 2011, the Vikings have apparently felt that EVERY year was a bad one to pick offensive linemen. I'm not going to pull the numbers again, but I and others here have done so before, and Spielman has used fewer draft picks on OL than on any other position. Other than Kalil, no high picks until Elflein (and 70th overall isn't very high either). I've heard all the excuses, including that he thought he had players like Sullivan and Fusco and Loadholt in place and so didn't need to draft anyone, but assuming every veteran lineman will stay healthy for multiple years is a silly approach. Good lines are built by consistently finding and adding talent every year, not from waiting for the perfect year to draft OL.

I'm truly hopeful Remmers and especially Rieff can improve our line, but they are desperate additions in hope of a quick fix for a long-neglected unit. Like many others I have heard the annual promise that our line will improve for so many years that I won't believe until they prove it.