klos63

Sure, I'm not giving Marrone a pass, but I think the fact that he was a former lineman/line coach it too simplistic a reason to think we should have a good o-line. Every team has a line coach that devotes 100% of their time to that position, most are probably former lineman at some level. Doesn't guarantee anything.You seem to agree with me that our line stinks - I don't know how anyone couldn't, I disagree on Wood, hasn't shown me much, you can say he has no help, or maybe he doesn't help much - he is the most important member of the line. I think our line stinks, I think some of the players will improve, I think some won't. I do believe a better staff would get more production from them, but not sure it would be a significant improvement. Our offense is in disarray , lot's of blame to go around.

I don't see how the fact that the line stinks isn't the main factor in anyones mind as to the problems with this offense. Get a good line and then judge the rest. Now you could make the argument that our play calling doesn't gel with our lines skills, but I doubt that right now. They really blow.To some of your points. I don't care who are #1 target is on a game by game basis, it's who is open, but I do think we are better served getting the ball to Watkins/ Woods. We don't run the read option anymore - not with Orton Spiller, sorry you can't just place him ' in space' he needs blocking just like any other back - he doesn't know how to follow any blocks - if there is a small hole that Jackson can hit, why can't Spiller? I wouldn't mind seeing Bryce Brown given a shot - who do you sit or take carries away from? Or do we run more and pass less to Watkins/ Woods.... I think the desire of this teams offensive philosophy would be a running ball control team, low risk, low turnover type offense , but you need a good o-line , we have a horrible one. Someone, somewhere mentioned how Dallas has given Garrett a probably very fair amount of time to get the team as a playoff contender. Marrone is less than 1 1/2 years into his program. I know it's tough to be patient week to week, but to be fair to him, he may need more time to be fairly judged. We drafted 3 lineman this year, to expect much out of them as rookies is asking an awful lot. Patience sucks, but I hear it is a virtue.

No it's not. Kujo was absolutely horrible, Richardson rated one of the worst guards in the league - they are rookies and may develop, but they obviously aren't ready. Manuel isn't ready and by most wasn't regarded as a top tier QB prospect. Every team drafts players in the first round, second round, third.... doesn't mean they are all good picks. We have good skill at WR, I will agree with you there. Limited skill at TE, we do not have 2 of the best RB in the league. The line stinks - is it poor drafting, poor coaching or just not enough time yet to judge Kujo, Richardson and Henderson - probably the latter, but it's still an issue.

Really? So the quality of the roster doesn't matter? Listen, I'm not sold on Marrone either, but I can't ignore 4 weak points on the line. Just watch the games, the line kills us. I think it's that simple.

might be a combination of that. But I go by the logic, it's the GM's job to field a quality team with players that fit the team philosophy. It's the coaches job to get the most out of that team. I don't believe Marrone has been given all the tools offensively. He has defensively, and the defense is playing quite well. Would you give him any credit for that? He's been given good quality on special teams and they are playing well. Not enough on offense.

Like I said , I agree that Lee Smith is awful. Pears stinks, however - you don't have many options with your roster. This falls on Whaley for not having enough quality players in those positions.Regarding Watkins, I think he will get used more often as Orton plays more, but it all comes down to the line, You really can't have a cohesive unit with such crappy line. It all starts and ends there. Besides Pears, Henderson isn't very good, Richardson isn't very good and Wood isn't very good.

Spiller is not a good RB in my opinion, so using him at all might be considered misuse. Watkins, throw to him more, yeah, ok, but then don't ask for Williams to get used much more, but I think with Orton, more than Manuel, you will see more passing overall. I don't get the criticism of interior runs vs 'exterior' runs - but Dixon and Jackson do often run between the tackles, they also run outside occasionally. Those are the only 2 choices for running the ball. It comes down to blocking. Pears stinks, my guess is Urbik is worse... do you have a better explanation?

since you refer to him as st. doug, sarcastically I'm sure, my guess is it wouldn't have mattered how he handled kujo, unless he played well, you would criticize. Just curious, what other mistakes of 'deployment of personnel' do you refer to. If you say Lee Smith, I will agree with you.

probably because he was drafted as a tackle, and not having him practice at tackle pretty much gets rid of any reasonable chance that he could succeed there in the near future.

great!

take away all runs over 3 yards and they are averaging less than 3 yards per carry.

with 2 rookies starting, it should be expected to take some time to gel, but they should, in theory. They also need running backs to execute the plays properly. If a play is designed in one direction and Spiller cuts another way, the line looks bad because Spiller gets tackled at the line or close to it. They all have to be on the same page for it to work.

Have never really ever heard of this before. Why are his hits more powerful than any other run stuffing LB? Regarding Poz, he was outrageously priced and Spikes wasn't effective enough after his achilles injury.

So this idea popped into your head and you felt it made enough sense to post it for the world to see? Come on!

Spikes is only 27. Not sure what accelerated hit taking is, but he is not an everydown player and missed games last year. So he probably has less wear and tear than others. But I don't see them re-signing him. I would hope the sign Hughes to a long term deal. Next year I would expect to see our LB core of Bradham , Brown and Alonzo.

What does 'used in space' mean? He still needs to learn to follow blockers in order to get 'in to space' since he is a poor runner, I assume the defenses will watch him a little closer if he starts to run a pass pattern. The fact is , he is not very good. Maybe on a different team, he would be more effective, but he doesn't fit on this team, right now.

Finally! Thank you.

Fair enough. But a couple points to make. Henderson is far from a book end. He may get there someday, but not there yet. If Kujo stinks at tackle, which we all saw the preseason, he was horrible, why think he would do well at guard? If they want to address the RG position long term, I suggest they get a guard, not a failed tackle. It is too early to give up on Kujo, but he really looked like crap.

Yeah, really. Kujo should be starting guard since he looked so good at tackle in preseason. What makes you think you know more than the coaches that see him everyday.

Other than getting nice sack numbers, our defense was horrible last year. Pettine did not get the job because of Buffalo's defense. He was the only one who would take the job. Schwartz might get more looks because it seems like our defense could be a top 10 or top 5 one.

Yes, and we are in first place. It's nice to learn and still win 3 of 5.

I think this is pretty significant. We have 2 rookies learning the ropes against some superstar players and very strong defenses. I have to think this was a partial factor in our offensive struggles. Curious to see how we perform against weaker defenses.

Apparently not. I'm guessing if they thought he was better he would play him, don't you?

That's what coaches are for. Would you trade your starting guard for a player who is having a crappy year and is a free agent at the end of the year?

I'm not carried away with his accuracy, I was referring to your comment specifically about the throw to Goodwin, where you stated in was 'in the area' and Goodwin had to make a great catch. It was a perfectly thrown pass that Goodwin caught in perfect stride as it landed in his hands. Orton's accuracy was mixed throughout the game, but if you think that pass wasn't great, you are very confused... and blind.