Well This Sucks!

[Guest]

if losing Easton kills our season... lets blow this bitch up because something is seriously flawed.  he is an average OG,  he was improving,  but lets not pretend he was likely headed to the pro bowl.  remember the team chose not to extend him this offseason, obviously they wanted to see more and as thin as the league is at OL it seems that if he were as big of a loss as some are trying to make him be that the team would have put a higher priority on getting him locked down long term.  Nice player,  certainly helps the team when hes out there,  but he isnt day and night better than his replacements.

[Guest]

Plenty of competition for Easton's spot and like others he is very replaceable and was average at best in his first 12 games starting at Guard for us last year.  Not like he was a 4 year starting Guard that was above average.  He was a project at best.  Remember he was mostly a Center until last year and our draft of Elflein who beat him out there last offseason.  

We now have had over a week of practice with competition for his spot already with 4 more weeks of practice and preseason and see if one of the guys on our roster can step-up.  If not we have time to look at late cuts and trades.  Everyone off the bridge it is not a huge loss.  Better then Reiff going down that is for sure.  Guards are much easier to develop and replace then the Tackle or Center position.  

"That scenario leaves Easton's spot at left guard wide open with guys like Tom Compton, Danny Isidora, Aviante Collins and rookie Colby Gossett as candidates to fill that role, which right now has Compton in the lead. What the Vikings should be doing and what head coach Mike Zimmer has maintained they are in the process of doing is finding the best five guys period and not pigeon-holing someone like Remmers into a guard or tackle spot.
Compton started five games for the Chicago Bears last season and has 11 starts to his name in his career, so he provides the most starting experience among the fill-in candidates on the roster. Isidora is an ascending player heading into his second season in the league so he will not be discounted either. Gossett was selected in the sixth round of this year's NFL Draft, which was a spot many experts felt the Vikings got good value with. They should, and likely will be, in the running to replace Easton. Depending on the direction the Vikings elect to go with Remmers, two of them could fill out both guard spots."
Compton has the spot right now:

Listed as an offensive tackle, Compton can also play guard. He has appeared in 71 games during his career. Five of those starts came last year in 11 games playing Guard with the Bears, and he saw action in both contests between Chicago and Minnesota.

[Guest]

MB's boy Collins has been playing well so far...great athlete...good size...I'll go out on a limb and say he performs better in Flip's O...

[Guest]

Zimmer: "I know everybody's nervous about our line but I like how they're working." Says "the word is calm. Tweet that."
Coach Zimmer discussed Aviante Collins' athleticism and spoke at length about his mean streak. He said he knows people are worried about the OL, but likes the unit's mentality. 

[Guest]

What'd you all like better?

C-A-L-M? 
or
R-E-L-A-X?

[Guest]

All of the smart guys who aggressively defended the draft strategy are already polishing up their excuses.  

[Guest]

@"Poiple" said:
All of the smart guys who aggressively defended the draft strategy are already polishing up their excuses.  

HaHa! :o

[Guest]

@"Poiple" said:
All of the smart guys who aggressively defended the draft strategy are already polishing up their excuses.  

Yep. Should have used a 1st on a backup for an UDFA LG. It's what all the good teams do. Like the Eagles when Jason Peters went down for like the 10th season in a row. They were prepared and had...wait, that was a 5th Round pick playing LT? How the hell did they win the Super Bowl with a 5th Round pick at the most important spot on the Line?

Must have been luck. If I was a Philly fan I'd be ticked the team didn't invest a 1st. When Peters goes down again that will automatically signal the end of their chances this year.

[Guest]

@"Poiple" said:
All of the smart guys who aggressively defended the draft strategy are already polishing up their excuses.  

not really excuses per say... just trying to explain to the chicken littles that all is not lost and even if they had grabbed one of the remaining OLmen in the draft that said player wouldnt necessarily be a better solution to the current situation.

[Guest]

Most fans of a team only look at their team in a vacuum. For example, their are a few posters who basically want/wanted us to draft OL in the first round no matter what players were available because everyone knows that every other teams OL's are loaded with first or second round Offensive Lines!
For example: The two Super Bowl teams have OL's as follows:
Eagles Super Bowl lineup:
LT - Vaitai - a 5th round pick by the Eagles who stepped in for the injured J Peters who was an UDFA pickup by the Bills 
LG - Wisniewski - a 2nd round pick by the Raiders to play Center whom the Eales signed as a FA from Jax and moved to Guard 
C - Kelce - a 6th round pick by the Eagles 
RG - B. Brooks - a 3rd round pick by Houston and signed as a free agent 
RT - Lane Johnson - a 1st round pick by the Eagles
So in summary, The Eagles starting OL consisted of a 5th round pick, a 6th round pick and a 1st round pick - Eagles picks 
The other starters were an UDFA (Peters injured) a 2nd round pick by the Raiders and a 3rd round pick by Houston.
Patriots starting Lineup:
LT - Nate Solder - 1st round pick by Patriots 
LG - Thuney - 3rd round pick by Patriots 
C - Andrews - UDFA 
RG -Mason - 4th round by Patriots 
RT - C. Flemming - 4th round pick by Patriots
In summary - Patriots have two 4th round picks, one 3rd round pick, a first round pick and an UDFA that started in the Super Bowl.
So when you let the hot air out of the Vacuum you can see the logic of just taking an OL in the first round just to take one. That darn Spelly (GM of the year) just doesn't understand drafting OL in early rounds guarantee's success around the league! When will he learn from us armchair experts???