Quote: @prairieghost said:
@ JimmyinSD said:
@ prairieghost said:
My 2 favorite takeaways from this really good writeup: Danny Isadora's continued progress, which makes me big-time happy to hear, and the positive remarks about Mac Alexander, who I am very excited to see play this preseason.
As far as TJ Clemmings...reading that he was owned once again, this time by Tom Johnson, was disheartening. I have a soft spot for TJ as I think he kind of got a bad deal with how he was thrown into the fire, moved around so much, and never was allowed to settle at one position. I wish things wouldn't have went that way for him. It sounds like he's more or less hanging on by a thread at this point, but I'm going to keep hoping he'll have some positive things go his way soon.
I am curious about TJ, early reports his rookie year were that he wasnt strong enough to play G and that his athleticism and team need had him moved to RT, not saying he shouldnt have gotten stronger in the last couple years, but is G really his best position? I am also looking at Sirles at RT... I thought he looked markedly better as a G last year than at a OT.
Yup, I remember that too, Jimmy. TJ doesn't look like a guard body to me at all, and yeah, first out of the gate when he played guard he didn't linger there and was moved to RT. I like him at RT and think if they just let him stay there he'll be good depth if he can just settle in and stay put. I hope he gets that chance but with the amount of linemen they're sifting through this training camp I'm a bit worried for TJ. Sirles...yeah he seems more guard material to me than T. He had some quality fill-in snaps last year at guard and I guess I was under the impression that he was going to be depth at that position. I'm really liking what they're saying about Isadora. Could we have FINALLY found a gem in the later rounds on the OL???? It has been several years in the making.
It could end up being really interesting at cut down time in terms of age and experience or youth and potential.
I agree about Sirles playing guard. I thought he had a good game when Boone was injured.
I thought the only reason he was playing tackle last year was because we didn't have anybody else.
Dont forget about Zac Kerin he hasn't had a bad camp but not much mention of him.
As far as TJ, I'm beginning to wonder if we might have ruined him.
Quote: @Norse said:
I agree about Sirles playing guard. I thought he had a good game when Boone was injured.
I thought the only reason he was playing tackle last year was because we didn't have anybody else.
Dont forget about Zac Kerin he hasn't had a bad camp but not much mention of him.
As far as TJ, I'm beginning to wonder if we might have ruined him.
thats kind of where I am at with him. its to bad we couldnt have put him on the PS for a year to work at RT and see what we ended up with.
Yeah, that's my worry, that TJ was ruined by too much moving around. I feel for that guy and I would love to see him turn it around. Athletically he really has it all. Keeping my fingers crossed for him, but he might be running out of time 
I just mentioned on a different thread that I was curious about Clemmings, so thanks for these updates.
OK, I am going to indulge the Conspiracy Theorist for a moment here, but...doesn't it seem like moving Sirles to OT and Clemmings to OG are potentially harmful to both? Specifically, Sirles had some momentum at OG, and Clemmings looked his best - well, his least challenged - at RT near the end of the 2015 season (when he had been in the same place for 17 games). I thought the Vikings should have left TJ at RT a year ago, rather than signing Lardass Andre Smith, or at least let Clemmings compete with Smith at RT.
Clemmings played RT in college for his only 2 seasons on the OL. He was imperfect there as a rookie, so what did they do? Move him to a tougher position (LT) and count on someone the Bengals didn't want and had not been in shape since he was 19.
My point? For 2 years in a row, the Vikings have signed a medium-profile free agent (Smith 2016, Remmers 2017) and would not let Clemmings compete with him. I'm not sure how much it would hurt the front office if a free agent like Remmers ended up on the bench...but I wonder if Clemmings might be a pretty good RT by now if he had been at the spot steadily.
Quote: @Jor-El said:
I just mentioned on a different thread that I was curious about Clemmings, so thanks for these updates.
OK, I am going to indulge the Conspiracy Theorist for a moment here, but...doesn't it seem like moving Sirles to OT and Clemmings to OG are potentially harmful to both? Specifically, Sirles had some momentum at OG, and Clemmings looked his best - well, his least challenged - at RT near the end of the 2015 season (when he had been in the same place for 17 games). I thought the Vikings should have left TJ at RT a year ago, rather than signing Lardass Andre Smith, or at least let Clemmings compete with Smith at RT.
Clemmings played RT in college for his only 2 seasons on the OL. He was imperfect there as a rookie, so what did they do? Move him to a tougher position (LT) and count on someone the Bengals didn't want and had not been in shape since he was 19.
My point? For 2 years in a row, the Vikings have signed a medium-profile free agent (Smith 2016, Remmers 2017) and would not let Clemmings compete with him. I'm not sure how much it would hurt the front office if a free agent like Remmers ended up on the bench...but I wonder if Clemmings might be a pretty good RT by now if he had been at the spot steadily.
wasnt TJ a Guard in college? of did we just try him there as a rookie?
I agree about not moving guys around so much unless they are doing it with the back ups early in camp to try and make them more versatile and worth carrying at cut down time.
While it’s possible Clemmings might have gotten good if he
spent time at one spot, I don’t think there’s any evidence to suggest that we’re
doing a good job at coaching up the OLine or that Clemmings is improving via
his own volition.
Quote: @medaille said:
While it’s possible Clemmings might have gotten good if he
spent time at one spot, I don’t think there’s any evidence to suggest that we’re
doing a good job at coaching up the OLine or that Clemmings is improving via
his own volition.
I thought TJ performed quite well for a raw rookie his first year. He got lots of help, but he did well enough. Once he started bouncing around, it seems he lost his head and his technique went out the window.
The comment about Datone Jones not having enough strength is concerning. He does not look the part of a DT, I was afraid this was going to happen.
Quote: @Ponifan said:
The comment about Datone Jones not having enough strength is concerning. He does not look the part of a DT, I was afraid this was going to happen.
I saw him as a passing down specialist at DT. I didn't think he seemed big enough to hold up in a run game.
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