49ers Offensive Line

Originally posted by Paul_Hofer:
That may be what he said, but what if the RT gets injured? Keeping Boone at either guard smacks as a cost-savings idea not a football idea.

Interesting take, but I think there are some possible reasons:

• Boone is not as good a tackle as many of us think
• They don't trust Boone to resign
• They want Boone to be able to fill any spot other than center before moving him to RT
• They really like Pear (enough to give him a pretty good contract) and Brown at RT
• Staley may have some health issues that make the coaches keep Boone near him

I'm sure there are other possiblities!

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

Originally posted by NCommand:
I'm inline with what MM said in that what we see right out of the gate to start TC maybe a very good indication of the coaches initial thoughts on how they perceive the OL to be. It will give us a lot of insight.

I agree with most in that we'll probably see the 3 vets to start but my ideal lineup in this:

Boone - Looney/Thomas - Kilgore - Martin - Staley

Why? With age your LT's tend to move out to RT. Looney is an excellent pulling guard and could help in [our power run plays and he finished the year at C and knows all the linecalls. Thomas has a license to beat him out though. Kilgore is going to be an excellent ZBS C but needs strength help inside on power runs hence Looney/Thomas and Martin (worked on his strength and conditioning). Staley is crucial here b/c we tend to run right a lot and Staley is ideal at cut blocks to seal the edge on stretch runs from our ZBS.

I've given up hoping for Staley to move to RT but agree with you NC...as we have been saying for...years! Trouble is...he's by far the best OLman at LT and giving up that strength may only diminish the overall effectivenss of the line. I'm also very hesitant to rely on Boone. Something about the guy just doen't ring true for me.

Oh yeah...we know that's a pipe dream from my arm chair GM seat. But what gives me confidence is that this coaching staff seems to be open to trying different personnel combinations. Did anyone consider them trying Boone at LG? With Foerster/Wolford and their fresh set of eyes, don't be surprised to see a surprise here and there!

Colts RT Gosder Cherilus was just released. Totally overpaid but possibly a reclamation project. I'm sure he's on Baalke's radar. IDK maybe he's no better than J-Mart.

Originally posted by ninerjok:
Colts RT Gosder Cherilus was just released. Totally overpaid but possibly a reclamation project. I'm sure he's on Baalke's radar. IDK maybe he's no better than J-Mart.

Wow that would be a decent tryout atleast. Gosder is better then Pears for RT.

Originally posted by ElephantHaley:

Originally posted by ninerjok:

Colts RT Gosder Cherilus was just released. Totally overpaid but possibly a reclamation project. I'm sure he's on Baalke's radar. IDK maybe he's no better than J-Mart.

Wow that would be a decent tryout atleast. Gosder is better then Pears for RT.

I don't know about that. If we're going to use more zone-blocking this year, Pears is the better choice. He's experienced in the scheme and fits his skill set.

Cherilus is a power blocker but struggles to move laterally. He would probably struggle in zone.

Originally posted by SofaKing:

Originally posted by ElephantHaley:

Originally posted by ninerjok:
Colts RT Gosder Cherilus was just released. Totally overpaid but possibly a reclamation project. I'm sure he's on Baalke's radar. IDK maybe he's no better than J-Mart.

Wow that would be a decent tryout atleast. Gosder is better then Pears for RT.

I don't know about that. If we're going to use more zone-blocking this year, Pears is the better choice. He's experienced in the scheme and fits his skill set.

Cherilus is a power blocker but struggles to move laterally. He would probably struggle in zone.

Agree.

Everything comes down to the Oline. If these guys don't do their job, our "down field threats" wont have time to get down field.

Originally posted by Oakland-Niner:
Everything comes down to the Oline. If these guys don't do their job, our "down field threats" wont have time to get down field.

It really does. Run blocking and pass protection. Otherwise the coaches are going to have to scheme the ^/&=%#&÷% out of this offense BW-style. Not easy...

Originally posted by Oakland-Niner:
Everything comes down to the Oline. If these guys don't do their job, our "down field threats" wont have time to get down field.

Yeah, and our Rb's won't get the holes to run through.

Or if the ol is average at best in pass pro, do what ANY COACH or fan would suggest.....quick passes or screens to rbs. Dam! It would of saved our season last year especially against s**tty lbs of the bears, rams, ariz, sd. I think if we called 5-10 of those a game we would of won all of them and been 12-4 had the bye week and homefield.

Too little too late but I'm glad our coaches are fixing the problem. It will make the offense better and settle Kap

Originally posted by Oakland-Niner:
Everything comes down to the Oline. If these guys don't do their job, our "down field threats" wont have time to get down field.

Play calling has to help the OL out! If they just tip the defense what they plan to do and try to power their way through it will be another long year. Power blocking is so dependent on having the best, strongest line...and is still dependent on being able to beat a stacked box. Having some stealth is really important. Roman had some ver good ideas, like the Wham Block, but after a few years other teams figured out how to beat his blocking schemes and the pass blocking was so bad, and under emphasized, the team couldn't counter the stacked boxes.

The Harbaugh/Roman niners were the first team I have ever seen consistently facing 8 or 9 guys in the box. There was a reason for this...playcalling.

Originally posted by dtg_9er:
Play calling has to help the OL out! If they just tip the defense what they plan to do and try to power their way through it will be another long year. Power blocking is so dependent on having the best, strongest line...and is still dependent on being able to beat a stacked box. Having some stealth is really important. Roman had some ver good ideas, like the Wham Block, but after a few years other teams figured out how to beat his blocking schemes and the pass blocking was so bad, and under emphasized, the team couldn't counter the stacked boxes.

The Harbaugh/Roman niners were the first team I have ever seen consistently facing 8 or 9 guys in the box. There was a reason for this...playcalling.

This and man was it pathetic!!

NFL teams always seem to figure out how to beat a scheme.

The Buddy Ryan [Hate him] "46" D was one of the very best in NFL history.

It was incredible - for only one year!! Then teams figured it out.

It's not just one team trying to figure it out but EVERY team is working to beat it and they study tape and learn what worked and what didn't.

Everyone had our number and the JH/Roman offense became an Epic fail.

Like a dinosaur who couldn't adapt - it died a very painful death.

Put into perspective it took years and years for the Great Bill Walsh offense to be figured out.

I hope JT goes into the vault and comes out w/some gems!

Originally posted by LasVegasWally:
This and man was it pathetic!!

NFL teams always seem to figure out how to beat a scheme.

The Buddy Ryan [Hate him] "46" D was one of the very best in NFL history.

It was incredible - for only one year!! Then teams figured it out.

It's not just one team trying to figure it out but EVERY team is working to beat it and they study tape and learn what worked and what didn't.

Everyone had our number and the JH/Roman offense became an Epic fail.

Like a dinosaur who couldn't adapt - it died a very painful death.

Put into perspective it took years and years for the Great Bill Walsh offense to be figured out.

I hope JT goes into the vault and comes out w/some gems!

Great post! My only disagreement is around the definition of WCO...and it being figured out. Walsh's system was built to change, or morph, depending on what the defenses did. He had enough experience, with great coaches, to recognize what defensive coaches were doing and modify as needed. Some think he would have been outcoached if he hadn't retired but he was very smart, dedicated and experienced enough to stay ahead of opposing coaches. You might catch him unawares for a game but he would have dissected the problems and made subtle adjustments to overcome for the next game.

Harbaugh did not have this capability and that was sad. He should have learned from his brother beating him in the Super Bowl but the rest of the league learned from the game, Jim Harbaugh did not!

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

Originally posted by LasVegasWally:
This and man was it pathetic!!

NFL teams always seem to figure out how to beat a scheme.

The Buddy Ryan [Hate him] "46" D was one of the very best in NFL history.

It was incredible - for only one year!! Then teams figured it out.

It's not just one team trying to figure it out but EVERY team is working to beat it and they study tape and learn what worked and what didn't.

Everyone had our number and the JH/Roman offense became an Epic fail.

Like a dinosaur who couldn't adapt - it died a very painful death.

Put into perspective it took years and years for the Great Bill Walsh offense to be figured out.

I hope JT goes into the vault and comes out w/some gems!

Great post! My only disagreement is around the definition of WCO...and it being figured out. Walsh's system was built to change, or morph, depending on what the defenses did. He had enough experience, with great coaches, to recognize what defensive coaches were doing and modify as needed. Some think he would have been outcoached if he hadn't retired but he was very smart, dedicated and experienced enough to stay ahead of opposing coaches. You might catch him unawares for a game but he would have dissected the problems and made subtle adjustments to overcome for the next game.

Harbaugh did not have this capability and that was sad. He should have learned from his brother beating him in the Super Bowl but the rest of the league learned from the game, Jim Harbaugh did not!

Thanks man!

Agree BIG time in bold.

I think many figured out other coaches using the WCO.

I like to call it the Bill Walsh offense.

IMO, Bill would have kept it evolving w/counters to their counters.

When JH said he was going into the vault and resurrect some of Walsh's plays - I was stoked.

But we all know what happened - JH couldn't carry Walsh's pencils.

Hopefully our new guys make use of the treasure he left behind.

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

Play calling has to help the OL out! If they just tip the defense what they plan to do and try to power their way through it will be another long year. Power blocking is so dependent on having the best, strongest line...and is still dependent on being able to beat a stacked box. Having some stealth is really important. Roman had some ver good ideas, like the Wham Block, but after a few years other teams figured out how to beat his blocking schemes and the pass blocking was so bad, and under emphasized, the team couldn't counter the stacked boxes.

The Harbaugh/Roman niners were the first team I have ever seen consistently facing 8 or 9 guys in the box. There was a reason for this...playcalling.

Disgusting how many stacked boxes we saw and couldn't take advantage of. Instead we tried running into it time and time again. And when it was a pass, the run blitzes turned into pass blitzes and we failed anyways.

I'm hoping the ZBS helps some in that there is no predetermined hole. Also, having Torrey smith should back up a safety for a change.