I honestly believe that the zone blocking scheme we ran hurt vlad. The guy is strong as shit and it's not unrealistic to think that switching to a man blocking scheme will help him when he doesn't have to think as much. If this were true I wouldn't be surprised if he beat out hunter.
Considering this will be Vlad's first real off-season of training, I still believe (hope) that he'll become a contributor. I'm probably in the minority, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's finally able to put his natural ability to use and be a member of the o-line
Vlad is honestly the player I'm looking forward to most with Training Camp and OTA's this year. His physical attributes are off the charts and by being in a power-man running scheme and learning only one position in the offseason I expect he should really start to show some promise and if he can tap into the mental part of the game then I see no reason he shouldn't easily dominate Hunter in TC. Doesn't necessarily mean I expect him to come out and be a Pro Bowler but I do expect him to be leaps and bounds better than the Turnstile.
I call smokescreen. We maybe targeting a RT in the draft to possibly start. We might want other teams to think we believe that our starting RT is on the roster. I dont think the staff is this oblivious.
Lets not forget Hunter also was hurt with the lack of ota's, and pre season preparation. Hunter looked great in the playoffs the year before so lets not just lose hope on him. Id love to see that Duccasse is starter material, along with Hunter. Then we would finally have a GOOD problem, kind of like Braylon and Holmes. Just saying don't give up on Hunter bcuz he does haves the physical attributes to be a successful starter.
I'm not so sure. If they have strong reason to believe they're going to have one solid starter in a man scheme between Hunter and Ducasse they might be planning on risking it if nothing falls in their laps. They brought in Sparano for a reason, their plans may all hinge on getting one of these two guys if not both to transition into a useful contributor. If it works they hope Slauson can hold his own or bring in a guard through FA/1st round and if their assumption proves true then they come out smelling like a bed of roses. The problem is there are very meager pickings at RT in free agency this year. If we don't get lucky and see one or two specific RT's fall through the cracks and get to us in the draft there might not be a realistic option for a guaranteed upgrade at the position. This might just be one of these situations where we have to take our lumps at the position for another year and we know it and they know it...sucks but that's the NFL today sometimes. Of course they'll be keeping their eye out for anything they can spot but it looks to me like they're strongly considering rolling the dice on Ducasse and hoping to hell that Hunter sucks a lot less in man if they craps out on Venereal.
This is good news, last year they had him playing at every OL spot except center in the preseason and there's no way it helped him. There are a lot of positive things for Vlad's development going into this season. Let's hope he gets it, because he had the physical tools to be a beast of a RT.
This is better than making him learn 3 positions before he is decent at one. He now has until the end of August to prove he isn't a bust. This is all anyone who has ever defended the guy has ever asked for. One full offseason where he can focus on one position. If he is still as bad as we have seen him be after this offseason he truly is a bust but I think he proves some people wrong.
The Duke may learn how to power block from the right side in the run game but he has a long way to go learn how to finesse block in the passing game. In run blocking o-lineman attack the defense, in pass blocking it's the other way around. But I think 74Mangold nailed it.
Pass blocking was where he needed to grow the most, and most scouts said teams drafting him would need to be patient while he learned to pass block in the NFL. Having a complete NFL offseason to get down the footwork at only the RT position should make it a lot easier for him than what was asked of him last year. The footwork is different at every position, it wasn't fair what they asked him to do last year given his background.
Sanchez better take out a life insurance policy.... Thankfully Vlad Ducasse has a better chance of washing cars next fall then he does starting at RT for the NYJs.. I'm not buying this report for a second.
Hopefully a switch to man blocking scheme will benefit guys like Hunter and Ducasse. Ducasse has actually been solid in run blocking, his pass blocking is another story.
