I don't disagree with what you are saying here, but it's not the whole picture. Part of the deal with Slauson and letting Faneca go, as someone else also alluded to, was not necessarily that they had great confidence in Slauson. It was that Faneca's contract called for too much money, he was getting too old, and they decided to take a calculated risk to go younger what with the assessment that both Ferguson and Mangold were solid enough going into last year to help bring a young LG along. Another part of the picture is that Slauson, despite getting the starting role, was nonetheless the weakest starter on the whole team. So it's not like Ducasse lost out to even an average starter. I would agree that Ducasse was picked in part on the assessment that he could play tackle or guard. But I distinctly recall he was being given a shot to beat out Slauson at RG. Sure, that may have been more to light a fire under Slauson. That consideration does not discount the fact that Slauson did beat him out, and as a consequence we just have not seen much of Ducasse to date. I would love to have it happen that Vlad takes it up enough notches to be the starting RT on opening day. Just ain't countin on it. Not yet.
I think you mean LG, and I remember all of the talk about competition between Slauson and Ducasse for that spot, but Ducasse didn't get much training camp reps with the 1's outside of minicamps. I think the 'competition' was more a sign of respect for the guy who Ducasse was drafted to replace - Woody. Were they really supposed to come out and say 'This guy is the future at RT'? As far as Slauson being the weakest starter on the team, I'm not sure I'd agree with the assessment on a full season basis. He improved steadily as the season went on and you hardly ever heard his name near the end of the year. I paid close attention to the guy, and while he was targeted by opposing teams with elite inside rushers, he didn't get abused half as much as I had expected. I didn't expect a 6th round pick to come in during his soph season and become a young Alan Faneca, but he exceeded my expectations, even though I had expected him to start before the season began. As far as votes of confidence go... the Jets replaced their pulling guard with a 6th round pick in a contending year. I'd say that was pretty confident. Have we seen much of Ducasse since he lost the 'competition' with Slauson? No, because we have 2 solid depth players in Turner and Hunter. We didn't see much of Slauson in 2009 either. I'm not sure how many games that they dressed Slauson in '09, but I'd wager that the number is similar to the number of games we saw Ducasse dress this past season. The Rex Ryan Jets have shown me that they do not dress developmental OL players for the hell of it, because they stack their defensive game day roster with DLs or DBs, depending on the opponent. So it's near impossible for a fan to know if the team is confident in a guy to come in the next season to start, unless the fan is sneaking into practices during the season. Time will tell, I guess, but I'm banking on Callahan having this guy ready for week 1, if I'm forced to bet on it.
Same can be said for pretty much every other major university in the US. Kids like to party at every school.
You can do the same at every ivy league school i've been to and at every pac 10, ACC and SEC school I have been to including my own graduate school at a very prestigious (snobby) institution.
Yes, as I said earlier in my post, I obviously meant LG. I also agree Slauson improved as the year went on. But still overall which starter had fewer problems and was less adept? You didn't name anyone. You conclude by saying we don't know whether he's ready, and express your willingness to bet that Callahan will get him ready, if you are forced to bet. Alrighty then.
Right. And then you said RG again in that post I quoted. Brodney Pool. Yeah. You don't get that? I thought lawyers were supposed to be smart.
"they decided to take a calculated risk to go younger what with the assessment that both Ferguson and Mangold were solid enough going into last year to help bring a young LG along." I am not a fan of Pool, either, but I think overall he did not have the mistakes that Slauson had. And I paraphrased your conclusion as I did becuase it does nothing to establish whether Vlad is ready to start, and otherwise is noncontroversial and inane. I totally got all those things. Even a non-lawyer could.
And later in the same post: "But I distinctly recall he was being given a shot to beat out Slauson at RG." How would I be able to establish whether Vlad is ready to start? I already made the point that we saw as little of Slauson circa '09 as we did of Ducasse this season. Arguments about this are nothing but fantasy until we see what happens in camp, if camp actually happens this year. I just happen to have faith in the judgment and coaching ability of Bill Callahan when it comes to OL personnel.
I think you make a key point that is often forgotten, both about the OL, the Jets in general, and is also pretty much applicable to the entire NFL. Callahan knows what he's doing. The coaches really do know what they're doing and they know what they're doing much, much more than we as fans know; it's not like they're going to keep starting Slauson or Ducasse or Hunter or whover if they're so bad some street free agent could do a better job. Not that every guy on the line is going to be great, but your starting o-line on day 1 of training camp generally isn't going to have anybody on it who's going to give up 20 sacks or consistently gets blown off teh line of scrimmage or anything like that.
Slauson was active for 3 games in 09. Ducasse active for 2 this season. Simply sitting and learning. The way the good teams replace starters. And the jets have two very capable backup OL.
Message for Abyzmul. Who is the guy in your picture, and what is he holding? And where did you get the picture?
i dunno what the big debate is. Slauson wasnt solidified at LG going into the draft so they brought a big body who could run block in. (Ducasse) Someone who would either settle in at LG or project well at RT due to his skill set. (Ducasse) Ducasse had trouble making inside reads and blitz pickups, we lucked out as Slauson developed fast and learned on the fly. Slauson has proven to be servicable whereas we need to find a replacement for Woody and keep our rotational guys like Hunter and Turner. Kick Ducasse out to RT. the possibility of this was discussed the day he was drafted. as long as we have FB/HB's who can block well to make up for the occasional edge rusher who will beat Ducasse; I look forward to having a road grader to seal the ends on run plays.
It was a mistake. In the same post i referred earlier to LG. Are you suggesting I didn't know Slauson played LG? How many Hail Marys should I say? Regarding the bolded part, that is all I have been saying. Regarding the faith part, see the Hail Marys.
The debate is pretty simple. On draft day last year what would Tanny have said if you pumped him up with truth serum and made him answer the questions (1) who plays how much at LG in 2010, (2) who plays LG and who plays RT in 2011 and beyond and (3) is Ducasse playing anywhere other than LG or RT in 2010 or beyond? Abyzmul would tell you, and he's consistent about this, that Tanny would say: Slauson starts at LG in 2010 and beyond unless Ducasse is a completely shocking freak who picks up zone blocking like it's nobody's business, and Ducasse starts on the right side somwhere, probably RT replacing Woody, in 2011. His primary logic was that Slauson might be a sixth rounder but he knew the scheme, and Ducasse played for a crapy college team so he wouldn't be ready to play in 2010. I would have told you that Tanny would say: It's 80/20 or 90/10 that we start Ducasse over Slauson at LG in 2010, and that maybe they move Ducasse over to RT in 2011 but if Ducasse and Woody are both healthy and both play well in 2010 we probably keep them both. My logic was Slauson might have experience with Callahan but he's a really limited athlete and you don't draft o-line projects in round two, you use those picks to get guys who can play right away. Abyzmul's prediction looks like it will be 100% accurate. Now that doesn't mean that that's what Tanny/Rex/Callahan plan actually was on draft day but it's pretty darn good evidence for him.
