Good thread
@CoachO
I like what we have right now. Maybe some see a lack of depth and ability but I see a lack of good ole playing time and playing together as a unit. I think we have some real studs in the making along this line and that we haven't seen but a small portion of their future as a unit. I'm sure there are positions we could improve upon. But what team can't say that? Maybe we do need to draft more O-linemen in the upcoming draft but I personally don't consider it a high priority whereas I have thought it was one of our highest priorities in the past.
I also think GRob gets way too much crap thrown on him even though I will admit that I haven't liked what I have seen in quite a few games. Part of the problem seems to be that he is an attention magnet - some of his doing and some not. I heard the announcers Sunday bag on him on a play that had zero to do with him. I think a lot of fans do that as well. GRob may not be the next Orlando but he is not near as bad as some seem to want to paint him.
As far as Barnes goes, we may be able to improve on him but we could certainly do worse. I really like the way he stays in pursuit of the play. It is that desire and effort that resulted in the two recovered fumbles. Without that, we lose both of those fumbles. And this is not to say that those two plays are enough of a body of work. They are however, perfect examples of how he plays the game. Give me 5 guys on the line with his level of talent and we have a pretty damn good O-line.
In the long run, I think we have both a pretty good O-line in the making along with pretty good depth and they are only going to get better. Havenstein seems to be talented, relentless, and smart. GRob is a little slow in the uptake but appears to be getting it. Brown is IMO a stud in the making. Reynolds has been pretty decent. And Barnes after a couple of bad games has really become a nice center. I realize it is hard to rely on Saffold but his previously injured and operated on shoulder was not the problem this last time and by accounts I read, it is stronger than the original. Is it possible that the recently operated on shoulder has the same result? Dunno. If it does though, Saffold is not exactly chopped liver. Add to this, back-ups in Donnal, Wichmann, and Battle and I think we have the ingredients of a pretty good O-line with depth.
To me this says that we should go after skill players. I'm in the camp that says to go after a #1 WR and QB. I think Case is a good one to keep as a back-up and I want to see what Mannion can do. If the Rams think one of the QBs is an upgrade early in the draft then I'm fine with that. I'd rather have the best WR in the draft than a QB as I think that is the biggest missing piece right now.
I think Case can manage the offense and make quite a few plays while we groom Mannion. I like what I see in our young O-line. We have a stud RB and good back-ups. We have a gadget/#3WR/PR in Austin that can score from anywhere. We could hold onto Britt and/or Quick as depth but I think Marquez is a player. Welker could have another year in him as well. To me, a real playmaking WR would make this offense pretty tough to handle for opposing defenses.
I'm digressing from the O-line subject of the thread but what I see is an O-line that gives us the ability to target the next big hole.