I remember when the same concerns arose when Slauson became the starting LG.....obviously, those concerns have dissipated. Listen, I don't want to get Sanchez killed.....i just want the best players playing. Hunter has the experience....and deserves to start. But if he goes down or is pulled for Ducasse.....I'm not going to hang myself in the shower. This isn't the preseason anymore....Ducasse isn't as raw as he was then. He's had a full season to learn from one of the best Oline coaches in the league.
From what I saw in preseason I cannot imagine he is ready to step in and play at a level we need him to play at in a playoff game. I'm sure he has learned alot and is much better but that doesn't mean he's ready to play at this level.
Why are the preseason snaps more meaningful than the game against buffalo? Yea they packed it in but he was playing against starters that I have to assume have some kind of pride.
he's not the Gholston of offensive linemen, junc. I admitted...he was pretty raw at the beginning of the season......but he should have learned enough throughout the season to become serviceable in case of emergency. Slauson was terrible in the preseason too.
Let's all just hope Hunter stays healthy and does a good job. Yes, Ducasse could do well.. but he could also do terribly. Do we really want to see a project player from a D2 school who was inactive most of the year have to step in during a road playoff game in a hostile place like New England against a Bill Belichick coached team? Not really.. I wouldn't mind seeing him used as that extra blocker though for running plays.. he certainly has the size and could help out in that department. I just don't really trust our 3rd string rookie tackle who was inactive for most of the season to protect Sanchez (who is already banged up) in the biggest game of the season.
The Buffalo game was basically a preseason game except instead of facing hungry guys who can't play in this league he was facing guys who could play but had quit and weren't trying. I'm not saying the guy will never be able to play but I certainly wouldn't feel comfortable w/ him playing RT against NE on Sunday.
I'm not arguing with junc here. Hunter showed he can play against a good defense (Pittsburgh), but Ducasse still hasn't proved anything. Hunter starting = comfortable. Ducasse starting = not comfortable.
So you're claiming to know how motivated these guys were? Do you have them on your speed dial? c'mon junc, you're being ridiculous here. A game 2 weeks ago against starters should hold far more weight in evaluating a rookie than his first preseason games fresh out of college. ESPECIALLY when we're talking about a project player that clearly needed Callahan's guidance. I don't want him to start either, but I think it's silly to assume he'd fail if he were put in.
Here we go again. Did you watch the game? did you see a team that was giving full effort? Buffalo isn't good when they do give full effort but to be humiliated by our backups? This was a team that played competitive against NE, Pit, Bal, Chi and our backups humiliate them in week 17? I don't know if he would do well or fail but I wouldn't feel good if he was forced into action and nothing I saw in a glorofoed exhibition game is going to change my mind.
These guys are competitors, are you saying they just stood there and allowed the Jets to do whatever they wanted? Have you ever played in a meaningless sporting event? Did you just allow your opponent to beat you? It is absolutely 100% without a doubt, absurd, to put more meaning into a preseason performance of a rookie than a week 17 performance.
How lomng have you followed the NFL? You have never seen teams out of the race mail it in late in the year? This is a new concept for you? You think our backups are that much better than Buffalo's starters? Come on. Week 17 was a glorified exhibition game, if the coaches took anything out of it why did Mcknight not even get activated last week?
junc...did it ever occur to you that the Bills starters were auditioning for jobs NEXT season? I'm sure they put in an effort for their coach. Saying the Bills completely mailed it in is asinine.
I like how you completely avoid the issue at hand. You're trying to contend that preseason games of a rookie tell us more about them than a week 17 performance. I don't care who the opponent was, the week 17 performance holds more weight. And again, this is especially true when talking about a developmental guy like Ducasse is. McKnight wasn't active because a) we have 2 guys ahead of him who are better and b) we wanted to load up on DB's to face manning. We only had 4 active d-linemen for that game, you wanted 3 RB's + 2 FB's?
