Observations on the OL in Denver game
Just finished re-watching the first half of the game. Impressed by how the 1st line played. Really good awareness and 2nd level blocking.
Riley Reiff (B-). Played well for the most part, especially in the run game, but he's a beat slow on those outside rushes.
Tom Compton (C-). Nothing he did poorly had much consequence, but he gets stood up all the time in the run game. That should not happen and it's alarming. He's "OK" in pass pro, but not very strong and he was soundly beaten on the TD pass to Thomas. Siemian barely got that off.
Cornelius Edison (A). Who the hell is this kid? Damn. He played better than anyone on our line. He's strong, aware, relentless. Equally effective blocking for the run and the pass. I have to wonder how he might look at left guard..
Danny Isadora (A). Danny Isadora might have played better than Edison, but Edison is more remarkable because he came from nowhere. Isadora is so strong. He was a wall in pass pro and a bull in the run game. Keeps his head up. Can manage multiple defenders. Alert, aware.
Rashod Hill (B). Absolutely stoned Derek Wolfe on Diggs pass to the 2 yard line. Played pretty well for the most part. Like Reiff, he can be beaten around the edge, but so can everyone.
Aviante Collins (B-). Played with the starting OL at LT replacing Reiff after first series. Held is own for the most part. Was beaten with an inside move once, but had a nice cut block on one of Mike Boone's longer runs. He then moved to left guard with the 3rd team. He's a better tackle. Was beaten badly on his first play at guard. But then he, Andrews and Norton combined for some good screen blocking on the play Roc took to the house.
Storm Norton (B) Looked pretty good. 6-8, 311 and 35 inch arms. Hard to design a left tackle better than that. I'll have to go back and see how he did in the run game, but his pass pro was solid. Moves well, mirrors well, plays with balance. Pretty good looking long term prospect.
Josh Andrews (C-). I thought Andrews maybe had the worst game of any of our linemen. Was beaten badly on a couple of plays and looked lost on a few others.
Cedric Lang (B). Man, this is an enormous human. Former TE has put on 40 lbs since college. Seems an awkward fit at guard.
Brian O'Neill (A-). I don't mind saying this one bit, but I was NOT a fan of O'Neill in the draft, but I have to admit he looks OK. He moves really really well obviously. Granted, he didn't really have anyone challenge him with a bull rush, which is where he struggles so much, but maybe the scouting reports aren't yet complete. Still, gotta give credit where it's due...he played well.
Parting thoughts:
Paxton Lynch is just god awful. Keenum played only one series. From that point on to the half and beyond, it was Lynch. At the half he was 4 or 9 for 12 yards. Lynch was Elway's pick and he's getting HAMMERED by fans and media for sticking with HIS guy despite all the evidence that he just can't play.
Kendall Wright is missing. Thought he might be a surprise player for us, but I'm beginning to wonder if he will even make the team.
Vikings were 100% in red zone efficiency.
Best part, no injuries that I’m aware of.
“A gentleman is someone who can play the accordion, but doesn't." - Tom Waits
Funny I just rewatched the OL as well and was planning on making a thread about it. But both A. Collins and O'Neill were solid A's maybe A+ .
As you stated A. Collins was better at Tackle but no bad at Guard either. From the Tackle position he had the key block on the Roc Thomas screen and long TD. He then proceeded to outrun a LB and be the first player to arrive at Roc after the TD. Really fast for a big man and showed a ton of hustle. Very impressed.
O'Neill may have been even more impressive. He stonewalled his guy on every snap. Seriously, he did not get beat by anyone all game. One play a DE took a wide angle around O'Neill and he was able to get back and push the pass rusher out of the play. Now both players were against second stringers but Wow, we look very solid at the Tackle position both starters and depth.
Would really like to see both go against 1st stringers, maybe O'Neill can beat out Hill, his feet are amazing.
I didn't really notice Isadora doing anything great or bad but we did have some nice runs to his side. The two nice runs by Murray the key block was by TE Morgan on the first (two TE set) and the second was by Ham in the hole.
Agree on Edison as well, good and came out of nowhere.
Cornelius Edison...Who'd have thunk it? It's early, but at the very least is probably helping us not rush Elf.
Would not shock me to see Isadora in the starting line-up. I was wondering who that Lang was on the sidelines. Yes, way too tall for OG.
Thanks for these write-ups MB and Minny. There's a lot of praise of late for Danny Isidora. I think he's got a good shot at starting. Even my not-so-skilled eyes could see Compton is not that great. In a real game I can see him getting abused.
The Minnesota Vikings’ offense opened up their preseason slate by posting an impressive 42 points against the Denver Broncos. While there were plenty of strong performances across the board — i.e. Roc Thomas’s 120 yards receiving and Kirk Cousins’ touchdown drive — we don’t know much more about the near future of the Vikings’ offensive line than we did before Saturday’s game.The starting line stood strong on the opening series with Cousins in the game, creating big holes for Latavius Murray, who gained 42 yards on just four carries.
“I felt good about it,” Cousins said. “I could not believe how many explosive runs we had. I thought they did a great job in run protection as well.”
http://www.1500espn.com/vikings/2018/08/questions-answers-remain-vikings-o-line-first-preseason-game/
If I am Mike Remmers.... I am getting healthy really quick after seeing how these young interior guys are playing.
Thanks for the analysis guys. Not much of a break down film guy myself so I really appreciate this stuff. Seemed to me that Siemian seem more rushed than Kirk or Sloter, maybe he is just slower with his reads etc. On the whole though thought the OL had a good night. Interested to see how they fair against the Jags D.
pff gave oneil 48 for run blocking but he did not allow a single pressure
Very well thought out post. I was pleasantly surprised by the oline play. They ran the ball very good with the starters. Murray love it I'm sure. I think Flip will game plan to cover our deficiencies. I was impressed with him too. Think we picked the right guy. By years end with these weapons we might have trouble keeping him. Looks like this could be a huge year for the offense.
@"suncoastvike" said: Very well thought out post. I was pleasantly surprised by the oline play. They ran the ball very good with the starters. Murray love it I'm sure. I think Flip will game plan to cover our deficiencies. I was impressed with him too. Think we picked the right guy. By years end with these weapons we might have trouble keeping him. Looks like this could be a huge year for the offense.i think losing Flipper has been in the plan all along. there is a reason that the team blocked the giants interview request of Stefanski even after the Vikes hired Flipper.
Nice write ups here. I have no idea if they are real accurate. I thought Collins whiffed a bit while at LG. Didn't really notice anyone else to be honest. I guess that's good.
@"JimmyinSD" said:@"suncoastvike" said: Very well thought out post. I was pleasantly surprised by the oline play. They ran the ball very good with the starters. Murray love it I'm sure. I think Flip will game plan to cover our deficiencies. I was impressed with him too. Think we picked the right guy. By years end with these weapons we might have trouble keeping him. Looks like this could be a huge year for the offense. i think losing Flipper has been in the plan all along. there is a reason that the team blocked the giants interview request of Stefanski even after the Vikes hired Flipper.Hard to say for sure... I mean DeFilippo said he was very choosy about leaving the Eagles for an offensive coordinator position. He didn't want to leave Philly for any job and the Vikings were on his short list of places he would go. Maybe the same holds true after this season... depends on what head coaching jobs become available, if he gets asked to interview for them, and if its an organization he would like to go to.
Let's face it, the Vikings are set up to be a contender for at least the next couple seasons. Brand new stadium and facilities... stable head coach and front office situation. Great owners. He might decide to stick around for a few years...
@"Wetlander" said:@"JimmyinSD" said:@"suncoastvike" said: Very well thought out post. I was pleasantly surprised by the oline play. They ran the ball very good with the starters. Murray love it I'm sure. I think Flip will game plan to cover our deficiencies. I was impressed with him too. Think we picked the right guy. By years end with these weapons we might have trouble keeping him. Looks like this could be a huge year for the offense. i think losing Flipper has been in the plan all along. there is a reason that the team blocked the giants interview request of Stefanski even after the Vikes hired Flipper.Hard to say for sure... I mean DeFilippo said he was very choosy about leaving the Eagles for an offensive coordinator position. He didn't want to leave Philly for any job and the Vikings were on his short list of places he would go. Maybe the same holds true after this season... depends on what head coaching jobs become available, if he gets asked to interview for them, and if its an organization he would like to go to.
Let's face it, the Vikings are set up to be a contender for at least the next couple seasons. Brand new stadium and facilities... stable head coach and front office situation. Great owners. He might decide to stick around for a few years...
Or he wasn't going to go to a team that was rebuilding or flat out sucked and end up stuck there for years. He may have viewed the Vikings and their talent as a good step towards head coach. Who knows. Ideally I think running an offense for a few years would be a requisite to running the entire team, but logic isn't always used when hiring head coaches.
@"greediron" said:@"Wetlander" said:@"JimmyinSD" said:@"suncoastvike" said: Very well thought out post. I was pleasantly surprised by the oline play. They ran the ball very good with the starters. Murray love it I'm sure. I think Flip will game plan to cover our deficiencies. I was impressed with him too. Think we picked the right guy. By years end with these weapons we might have trouble keeping him. Looks like this could be a huge year for the offense. i think losing Flipper has been in the plan all along. there is a reason that the team blocked the giants interview request of Stefanski even after the Vikes hired Flipper.Hard to say for sure... I mean DeFilippo said he was very choosy about leaving the Eagles for an offensive coordinator position. He didn't want to leave Philly for any job and the Vikings were on his short list of places he would go. Maybe the same holds true after this season... depends on what head coaching jobs become available, if he gets asked to interview for them, and if its an organization he would like to go to.
Let's face it, the Vikings are set up to be a contender for at least the next couple seasons. Brand new stadium and facilities... stable head coach and front office situation. Great owners. He might decide to stick around for a few years...
Or he wasn't going to go to a team that was rebuilding or flat out sucked and end up stuck there for years. He may have viewed the Vikings and their talent as a good step towards head coach. Who knows. Ideally I think running an offense for a few years would be a requisite to running the entire team, but logic isn't always used when hiring head coaches.
I think he was using his new found fame with Philly to leverage a sweet deal with another solid team to propel himself upward quickly. I doubt he will be quite as picky when it comes to a HC gig. He will just be more demanding in his terms to ensure he gets a decent chance to make it his team or gets paid enough not to care if they fire him after a year.
@"JimmyinSD" said:@"greediron" said:@"Wetlander" said:@"JimmyinSD" said:@"suncoastvike" said: Very well thought out post. I was pleasantly surprised by the oline play. They ran the ball very good with the starters. Murray love it I'm sure. I think Flip will game plan to cover our deficiencies. I was impressed with him too. Think we picked the right guy. By years end with these weapons we might have trouble keeping him. Looks like this could be a huge year for the offense. i think losing Flipper has been in the plan all along. there is a reason that the team blocked the giants interview request of Stefanski even after the Vikes hired Flipper.Hard to say for sure... I mean DeFilippo said he was very choosy about leaving the Eagles for an offensive coordinator position. He didn't want to leave Philly for any job and the Vikings were on his short list of places he would go. Maybe the same holds true after this season... depends on what head coaching jobs become available, if he gets asked to interview for them, and if its an organization he would like to go to.
Let's face it, the Vikings are set up to be a contender for at least the next couple seasons. Brand new stadium and facilities... stable head coach and front office situation. Great owners. He might decide to stick around for a few years...
Or he wasn't going to go to a team that was rebuilding or flat out sucked and end up stuck there for years. He may have viewed the Vikings and their talent as a good step towards head coach. Who knows. Ideally I think running an offense for a few years would be a requisite to running the entire team, but logic isn't always used when hiring head coaches.
I think he was using his new found fame with Philly to leverage a sweet deal with another solid team to propel himself upward quickly. I doubt he will be quite as picky when it comes to a HC gig. He will just be more demanding in his terms to ensure he gets a decent chance to make it his team or gets paid enough not to care if they fire him after a year.
This is my thinking as well. He seen the weapons here. Thought if we landed Kirk he was in a great position to look like a guru. Then he takes best available top job off that success. I think you're also right about not letting go of Stefanski. He gets one year to bond with Kirk as his coach then takes over the offense after Flip moves.
As a follow up to this, some interesting comments from Denver radio today. Using a lot of tough guy metaphors for how the Vikings beat the Broncos Saturday. Gashed, manhandled, bloodied, punched in the mouth are expressions I'm hearing a lot. Also interesting to note that on Murray's 21 yard run, it was 2nd and 14 and the Broncos had 8 in the box and were still "gashed." The yappers can't seem to get over that one. Looks like the Vikings had two TEs on that side. One was Morgan, can't make out who the other was. But this could be a formation we see a lot.
@"MaroonBells" said: As a follow up to this, some interesting comments from Denver radio today. Using a lot of tough guy metaphors for how the Vikings beat the Broncos Saturday. Gashed, manhandled, bloodied, punched in the mouth are expressions I'm hearing a lot. Also interesting to note that on Murray's 21 yard run, it was 2nd and 14 and the Broncos had 8 in the box and were still "gashed." The yappers can't seem to get over that one. Looks like the Vikings had two TEs on that side. One was Morgan, can't make out who the other was. But this could be a formation we see a lot.I see some 53 man roster projections that only have us carrying 3 TEs, with Flipper being a philly guy i cant see us only carrying 3 guys when we would often line up 2 at the same time.
@"JimmyinSD" said:I wonder, though, if that 2nd "TE" isn't sometimes going to be a 2nd tackle. A guy like Collins like last year, or O'Neill would be great there. Maybe that's something they don't want to show in the preseason.@"MaroonBells" said: As a follow up to this, some interesting comments from Denver radio today. Using a lot of tough guy metaphors for how the Vikings beat the Broncos Saturday. Gashed, manhandled, bloodied, punched in the mouth are expressions I'm hearing a lot. Also interesting to note that on Murray's 21 yard run, it was 2nd and 14 and the Broncos had 8 in the box and were still "gashed." The yappers can't seem to get over that one. Looks like the Vikings had two TEs on that side. One was Morgan, can't make out who the other was. But this could be a formation we see a lot. I see some 53 man roster projections that only have us carrying 3 TEs, with Flipper being a philly guy i cant see us only carrying 3 guys when we would often line up 2 at the same time.
@"MaroonBells" said:I had thought of that, but I was thinking more of 3 pass catching guys and manbun as the blocking TE. of course that was when I had heard they werent going with a FB this year, but that appears to not be the case.@"JimmyinSD" said:I wonder, though, if that 2nd "TE" isn't sometimes going to be a 2nd tackle. A guy like Collins like last year, or O'Neill would be great there. Maybe that's something they don't want to show in the preseason.@"MaroonBells" said: As a follow up to this, some interesting comments from Denver radio today. Using a lot of tough guy metaphors for how the Vikings beat the Broncos Saturday. Gashed, manhandled, bloodied, punched in the mouth are expressions I'm hearing a lot. Also interesting to note that on Murray's 21 yard run, it was 2nd and 14 and the Broncos had 8 in the box and were still "gashed." The yappers can't seem to get over that one. Looks like the Vikings had two TEs on that side. One was Morgan, can't make out who the other was. But this could be a formation we see a lot. I see some 53 man roster projections that only have us carrying 3 TEs, with Flipper being a philly guy i cant see us only carrying 3 guys when we would often line up 2 at the same time.
@"MaroonBells" said: As a follow up to this, some interesting comments from Denver radio today. Using a lot of tough guy metaphors for how the Vikings beat the Broncos Saturday. Gashed, manhandled, bloodied, punched in the mouth are expressions I'm hearing a lot. Also interesting to note that on Murray's 21 yard run, it was 2nd and 14 and the Broncos had 8 in the box and were still "gashed." The yappers can't seem to get over that one. Looks like the Vikings had two TEs on that side. One was Morgan, can't make out who the other was. But this could be a formation we see a lot.Yes two TE set and Morgan had the key block on that run.
The second 21 yarder was set up by CJ ham who basically got in the way block right in the hole.
Give the OL coaching staff (go back to Tony's efforts with coaching up some of these young guys last season, OTA's and minicamps), some credit for developing these youngsters. It didn't just happen.
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