Gotta agree with this. Slauson hasn't been great but he's been good enough to win the job. Wouldn't be suprised if Slauson plays well this season, that Vlad goes from future LG to future RT and probably replaces Woody after this season.
Slauson has looked pretty good run blocking and I think he'll get better in pass protection as the season goes on. Vlad has massive physical potential. But what I've seen the last 2 games is a very young guy who much like Rex said is still indecisive and timid. We've seen him miss a few blocks due to indecisiveness. I think long term Ducasse will be a much better player than Slauson. On plays when he makes the correct block and isn't tentative, he's awfully impressive. But he isn't there yet w/ the playbook or consistency.
I found LaDainian Tomlinson's 20-yard run in the first quarter pretty interesting. Here's the link: LT's Run That right there is the play we rode to the AFCCG last season. It was Alan Faneca's main contribution. Matt Slauson ran it flawlessly and took out his man with force. A lot about Slauson's game makes me uneasy (he and D'Brick folded one play earlier to give up a sack) but it was nice to see him run the ol' bread and butter to perfection. We should see this play about fifty or sixty times this season.
Lol, beat you to it - http://forums.theganggreen.com/showpost.php?p=1790799&postcount=72 Also on that play Woody comes inside and makes a terrific block
Actually, I think that sack was predominantly on Sanchez. Here was Rex's post-game quote: That's a pretty telling choice of words, IMO. Sounds to me like Rex is saying it was Sanchez's job to shift the protection, and because he didn't, they looked "sloppy at that position."
Brick just got beat by Brown. It happens. Slauson has looked fine and is clearly going to be the starting left guard. He moves pretty well for a guy his size and his pass protection, while not great is a big upgrade over Faneca. I hope Vlad is being groomed to play right tackle.
I've been wondering of Ducasse can manage to make an appearance before the end of the season, should Woody go down with an injury. I'd like to see him take over if it happens but every description I've heard of Ducasse's performance in camp has included some form of the phrase "swimming". That could be because he's learning a new position or because he's having trouble adapting to the NFL in general. Either way, I'd really like to see him push himself past Hunter on the depth chart.
Great stuff Cato. Just studied the first quarter of the panthers game,Slauson gave up a pressure on the play where Sanchez threw it right to Chris Gamble and Edwards had to break it up.Apart from that he had a good pass blocking quarter.He didn't do anything spectacular in the run game.Moore and Mangold probably had a bigger impact on the LT draw than anything. Other OLine and blocking notes: A lot of individual errors.D'Brick gave up a bad sack,Harestock whiffed on the 2nd sack(LT coulod of done better with it too).Dustin Keller had a bad whiff on [(2:01) 21-L.Tomlinson up the middle to NYJ 48 for 1 yard (50-J.Anderson)]The play was meant to go left but LT had to cut it back right into a LBs face despite a pulling Brandon moore trying to save the play. Keller did have a nice trap block on [(8:25) 21-L.Tomlinson up the middle to CAR 30 for 5 yards (55-D.Connor).] The chemistry of the middle of the line looked a little iffy,on two plays,one either side to the line,the guards moved up to the second level without giving enough help to Mangold,The DT that Mangold was blocking then squeezed the gap shut.The guards need to punch that DT onto the centre who is trying to get both hands on his man after snapping the ball. To me,D'Brick was to blame for [(1:04) 23-S.Greene right tackle to CAR 19 for -7 yards (61-D.Landri, 52-J.Beason).]This is the classic Faneca play,where the LG pulls to join the FB as lead blockers on a run right.Slauson got away okay and made contact with a guy,but Dbrick blocks the DE out leaving a massive hole where Slauson lined up,LB knifes to easily blow up the play.Dbrick needs to fill this gap and act like it's a stretch right,punch the DE and move right at a 45 degree angle to fill the gap.Or even try and cut the LB. Edwards had a poor quarter blocking,he attacked the wrong guy on one of our early run lefts and he whiffed his corner that stopped this play: [18) (Shotgun) 6-M.Sanchez pass short left to 21-L.Tomlinson to CAR 22 for -3 yards (41-C.Munnerlyn).]
That's pretty much the way I saw/see it. But... I hope Slauson improves at pass protection, anyway. Always room for improvement. Heh.
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/jets/#ixzz0xb0SoFA Biggest caveat right there, but I think it's Slauson's job baring injury at this point, then Turner's. Ducasses is still very raw at this point and he'll benefit from a year on the bench. He still has a lot of potential to reach and not straining his head too much too early would go a long way in making sure that he reaches it.
Vlad was able to shine at his level because it allowed him to use his strength and athleticism instead of requiring an intense focus on sound technical play. He's now in a league that requires solid technique to excel. It's going to take a while for him. That being said, he's still a great prospect. Not too many people are going to like the idea of a second round pick riding the pine for his first season but this is probably the best move for him. What I'm interested in seeing is whether or not the CS decides to shift him back to tackle and let him play behind Woody with Slauson taking the LG spot and Turner acting as backup for the inside. Part of Vlad's struggles probably stem from learning a new position and letting him slide back outside could help his learning curve.
I'd love to see Ducasse slide outside to tackle if Slauson does well at left guard, but I think his highest upside as a pro is on the interior line. This kid has the ability to be a NASTY pull guard. It may take him a little while to pick up the mental aspect of this game, but when everything clicks, get out of his fucking way. Damien Woody was versatile as hell early in his career. He's a heck of a player to learn from.
Interesting that Vlad is still threatening to close the gap. Slauson might not be the lock that some of us thought he was. Rex doesn't seem to be sold on Slauson.
I think Slauson has it baring a complete collapse. But they still want botht o compete. Maybe something starts to click for Bad Vlad
Sure, Slauson got beat on that play, but he wasn't beat as bad as D'Brick was when Brown had a totally free inside run at Sanchez. Why didn't Ryan bash D'B the way he did Slauson? I tend to think Ryan is just challenging Slauson here. He rarely goes after a player publicly. Very unusual for Ryan to attack any ONE player like this in a presser. The entire O line played like shit against CAR. Why not blast them as a group? Like he usually does?
I think Slauson missing that block and almost getting Sachez hurt probably gave Rex some pause, but these things will happen with young inexperienced offensive lineman. Rex knows his SB dreams go down the drain if Sanchez blows out his knee, but he'll have to live with some of these rookie mistakes at left guard this year regardless of who wins the job.
I've watched that Brick play acouple times and I'm not so sure that wasn't partially Slauson's fault. The way Brick reacts to Brown's inside counter move it's as if he was expecting inside help. Surely Brick should have reacted better when he realized there was no help..but I'm pretty sure that was a break in scheme along the O-line.
