Dave didn't ignore the line. He just didn't get enough of the right guys.

Let's not leave TC out of this either.  He came in preaching building the lines and shortly after that speech the team acquired Campbell and Albert. One of those was a great addition. The other, not so much.  He had his say in that matter.

This F.O. should have made the O-Line a greater priority but this projected '17 starting line should be better than what we ended up with last year. I'm not really that concerned.

I think part of the problem was this was a historically bad draft for offensive linemen.

There were only two (2) tackles drafted in the first round.  I can't recall that ever happening and I've been watching/following the draft since '83.

They had the chance for Feeney in the 3rd and Johnson in the 4th and, IIRC, Siragusa in the 5th.

Feeney may not have been a scheme fit.  Johnson had some sort of unusual medical issue that caused him to slide.

As a general rule, offensive lines are not built in one offseason (though Cleveland did a good job this offseason and Oakland did a good job last offseason getting theirs' improved).

As for getting the wrong guys...I'll say!

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

If it's bad, it's on Caldwell.

If it's good, it's to Coughlin's credit.

It's all so simple.

And from the usual suspects of posters...
if it's bad: See I told you so
if it's good: I'm glad they proved me wrong

Fence riders...

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This O-line has been hexed ever since Dave let Monroe walk.

Monroe was never that good.

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

This O-line has been hexed ever since Dave let Monroe walk.

Monroe was never that good.

Well, that, and he was traded....he didn't 'walk'.

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Just out of curiosity, who are the starters on this line and how many sacks have they given up this year?

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“An empty vessel makes the loudest sound, so they that have the least wit are the greatest babblers.”. - Plato

We havent even had a preseason game yet and complaining already lol

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Monroe was never that good.

Well, that, and he was traded....he didn't 'walk'.

The fact the Ravens replaced him in two years should tell you something.

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

You can call me crazy but I don't get the hate for our o line. Was it great no but it did some good things last year.

They finished 9th in yards before contact but 29th in total rushing yards which tells me there were lanes but the running backs couldn't do anything with it.

They finished 10th in sacks and 14th in QB hits which while not the best is still pretty good.

So they opened lanes and protected the QB but they get all the blame for poor QB and RB play.

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You can call me crazy but I don't get the hate for our o line. Was it great no but it did some good things last year.

They finished 9th in yards before contact but 29th in total rushing yards which tells me there were lanes but the running backs couldn't do anything with it.

They finished 10th in sacks and 14th in QB hits which while not the best is still pretty good.

So they opened lanes and protected the QB but they get all the blame for poor QB and RB play.

They definitely pass protected better than years before... 
Whether there were running lanes or not... I can't say... I'd put some on the Oline, some on the RBs, but I put a lot on the play calling...
Oly had this weird thing about running on first, getting stuffed, passing for 3 yards, and then running on 3rd and long a lot.

I suspect the hand wringers will need to focus somewhere else this year... maybe tight end?

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You can call me crazy but I don't get the hate for our o line. Was it great no but it did some good things last year.

They finished 9th in yards before contact but 29th in total rushing yards which tells me there were lanes but the running backs couldn't do anything with it.

They finished 10th in sacks and 14th in QB hits which while not the best is still pretty good.

So they opened lanes and protected the QB but they get all the blame for poor QB and RB play.

They definitely pass protected better than years before... 
Whether there were running lanes or not... I can't say... I'd put some on the Oline, some on the RBs, but I put a lot on the play calling...
Oly had this weird thing about running on first, getting stuffed, passing for 3 yards, and then running on 3rd and long a lot.

I suspect the hand wringers will need to focus somewhere else this year... maybe tight end?

Yrah I'm sure they will find something to be mad about.

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Dave didn't ignore the line. He just didn't get enough of the right guys.

Let's not leave TC out of this either.  He came in preaching building the lines and shortly after that speech the team acquired Campbell and Albert. One of those was a great addition. The other, not so much.  He had his say in that matter.

This F.O. should have made the O-Line a greater priority but this projected '17 starting line should be better than what we ended up with last year. I'm not really that concerned.

Bingo.

They've brought in plenty of players through the draft and free agency to help fortify the offensive line.  They also pursued one of the top restricted free agents and came up short a couple of years ago.  What they haven't done is overspend for aging talent with name recognition, which is all Debbie Downer really cares about.

The line is improved from last year to this season.  They didn't put enough of an emphasis on really upgrading the line previously, but with Coughlin her, I would expect the focus to change, and the fact that we drafted Robinson as high as we did in the draft this year is a good indication that's going to happen.  Certain people act as if the offensive line was the only real hole that needed attention, but anyone who watches this team understands just how many areas required attention.  It will get better, and we could actually have the talent on the roster already to put together a serviceable line.  Let's see how things progress during camp.  If an upgrade pops up on the wire before the start of the season, it wouldn't be a surprise to see the team snap them up.

Who are all these players we brought in? Robinson is an unknown at this point, Watford was like a 3rd tier FA who isn't even being mentioned as a potential starter and Albert is a declining veteran at the end of his career whose commitment to the sport is questionable and his team thought so little of him, that the traded him for a conditional 7th rounder. We overspent in free agency on the defensive side of the football and ended up with bargain bin O-Linemen.

As far as the O-Line being improved, that is yet to be seen. We haven't even played a game yet, so how you come to that conclusion is puzzling. The O-Line wasn't the only area that needed help, but from what I saw last year, it was certainly the biggest need and drafting a high profile RB before fully addressing the major needs on the O-Line is like putting the cart before the horse. I don't expect Fournette to have a breakout season, because he will probably be looking for running lanes that aren't there, since we have almost the same o-Line that we had last year. He'll have a better year than Ivory or Yeldon did in 2016, because he has more talent, but I don't think it will be the upgrade the front office wants. We'll just have to wait and see how things play out. We should know by game 6.

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This O-line has been hexed ever since Dave let Monroe walk.

LOL - You have got to be kidding me. 

Think a little harder.

They TRADED Monroe for draft picks that yielded Colvin and Telvin.  
And ravens fans will gladly tell you they got hosed on that deal.

Monroe was a solid tackle. Everyone assumed Joeckel would be good based on his draft position and thought getting rid of Monroe wouldn't hurt. They were wrong.

I'm not going to lie. I thought Joeckel would be good, especially under the tutelage of Tony Boselli. Again, boy, were we wrong.

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LOL - You have got to be kidding me. 

Think a little harder.

They TRADED Monroe for draft picks that yielded Colvin and Telvin.  
And ravens fans will gladly tell you they got hosed on that deal.

Monroe was a solid tackle. Everyone assumed Joeckel would be good based on his draft position and thought getting rid of Monroe wouldn't hurt. They were wrong.

I'm not going to lie. I thought Joeckel would be good, especially under the tutelage of Tony Boselli. Again, boy, were we wrong.

I hated Joeckel, but that's because I hate Texas A&M O-Tackles. They teach finesse at A&M and totally ignore the strength issues of the position. When those Tackles come into the NFL, they are largely unprepared for the power of opposing D-Linemen and they get blown off the line of scrimmage. I would never take an Aggie OT.

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When was the last time the Jags had a top 10 line?

When they had Manuwai.

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...drafting a high profile RB before fully addressing the major needs on the O-Line is like putting the cart before the horse.

There were no OLs worth drafting in the top five. According to many draftniks including the Jaguars scouts, Cam Robinson was the best OL in the draft.

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'02

Our Oline will continue to be a weak spot again this season. You have to blame Dave Caldwell. The line is just as bad as when Dave took over. He's had multiple opportunities to upgrade and continued to ignore it. 

We practically have the same exact line as the one that struggled last season outside of Robinson and he's a rookie. Josh Wells is taking reps with the 1st team for God's sake. This alone should get Dave fires. And why not bring In more help? If this front office is satisfied with what they have on oline,, then I can't trust this team's decision making any longer.

Caldwell clearly stated that the 3-year rebuild would take at least 5 to 7 years.

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Yeah I miss the days of Eugene Monroe ,Vince Manuwai , Brad Meester ,Chris Naeole and Maurice Williams!

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Shad Khan

Bingo.

They've brought in plenty of players through the draft and free agency to help fortify the offensive line.  They also pursued one of the top restricted free agents and came up short a couple of years ago.  What they haven't done is overspend for aging talent with name recognition, which is all Debbie Downer really cares about.

The line is improved from last year to this season.  They didn't put enough of an emphasis on really upgrading the line previously, but with Coughlin her, I would expect the focus to change, and the fact that we drafted Robinson as high as we did in the draft this year is a good indication that's going to happen.  Certain people act as if the offensive line was the only real hole that needed attention, but anyone who watches this team understands just how many areas required attention.  It will get better, and we could actually have the talent on the roster already to put together a serviceable line.  Let's see how things progress during camp.  If an upgrade pops up on the wire before the start of the season, it wouldn't be a surprise to see the team snap them up.

 The O-Line wasn't the only area that needed help, but from what I saw last year, it was certainly the biggest need and drafting a high profile RB before fully addressing the major needs on the O-Line is like putting the cart before the horse.

(Emphasis added)

I don't understand the insistence that the OL be built flawlessly before acquiring any skill players, irrespective of where the players rank in their particular draft classes or how hard it is to find particular positions.

There are people who think it pointless to draft a QB without having a perfect offensive line.  Under this rationale, if you are in a position to draft a franchise QB, but you have a hole at RT and LG, you wait to take the G and T first, then come back and get the QB, as if elite skill players grow on trees.

The fact is, history has proven time and time again that the very best teams in NFL history have emphasized skill players in early rounds and offensive linemen in the mid to late rounds in building their teams.

The only way what you describe above is putting the cart before the horse is if you are taking inferior players over superior ones.

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

Bingo.

They've brought in plenty of players through the draft and free agency to help fortify the offensive line.  They also pursued one of the top restricted free agents and came up short a couple of years ago.  What they haven't done is overspend for aging talent with name recognition, which is all Debbie Downer really cares about.

The line is improved from last year to this season.  They didn't put enough of an emphasis on really upgrading the line previously, but with Coughlin her, I would expect the focus to change, and the fact that we drafted Robinson as high as we did in the draft this year is a good indication that's going to happen.  Certain people act as if the offensive line was the only real hole that needed attention, but anyone who watches this team understands just how many areas required attention.  It will get better, and we could actually have the talent on the roster already to put together a serviceable line.  Let's see how things progress during camp.  If an upgrade pops up on the wire before the start of the season, it wouldn't be a surprise to see the team snap them up.

Who are all these players we brought in?

#2 pick Joeckel
3rd round pick Linder
6th round pick Bowanko
3rd round pick Cann 
2nd round pick Robinson

FA Beadles
FA Wisniewski
FA Parnell
FA Beachum

Trade: Albert

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Bingo.

They've brought in plenty of players through the draft and free agency to help fortify the offensive line.  They also pursued one of the top restricted free agents and came up short a couple of years ago.  What they haven't done is overspend for aging talent with name recognition, which is all Debbie Downer really cares about.

The line is improved from last year to this season.  They didn't put enough of an emphasis on really upgrading the line previously, but with Coughlin her, I would expect the focus to change, and the fact that we drafted Robinson as high as we did in the draft this year is a good indication that's going to happen.  Certain people act as if the offensive line was the only real hole that needed attention, but anyone who watches this team understands just how many areas required attention.  It will get better, and we could actually have the talent on the roster already to put together a serviceable line.  Let's see how things progress during camp.  If an upgrade pops up on the wire before the start of the season, it wouldn't be a surprise to see the team snap them up.

Who are all these players we brought in? It's a long list that includes guys like Wisniewski and Beadles. The post I responded to wasn't isolating it's criticism to the 2017 offseason acquisitions. Robinson is an unknown at this point, Watford was like a 3rd tier FA who isn't even being mentioned as a potential starter and Albert is a declining veteran at the end of his career whose commitment to the sport is questionable and his team thought so little of him, that the traded him for a conditional 7th rounder. We overspent in free agency on the defensive side of the football and ended up with bargain bin O-Linemen.
If you recall - I wanted them to take two linemen in the first four rounds. I do wish they'd gotten a guard out of this draft. 

As far as the O-Line being improved, that is yet to be seen.  We haven't even played a game yet, so how you come to that conclusion is puzzling. No one knows anything about this line until they play a damn game, but it's not a stretch to say they are slightly better on paper right now if they roll with Cam/Omameh/Linder/Cann/Parnell. That line is capable of producing a better result than the overall result of last year's rag-tag rotation. The O-Line wasn't the only area that needed help, but from what I saw last year, it was certainly the biggest need and drafting a high profile RB before fully addressing the major needs on the O-Line is like putting the cart before the horse. I don't expect Fournette to have a breakout season, because he will probably be looking for running lanes that aren't there, since we have almost the same o-Line that we had last year. He'll have a better year than Ivory or Yeldon did in 2016, because he has more talent, but I don't think it will be the upgrade the front office wants. We'll just have to wait and see how things play out. We should know by game 6.

I tend to agree on Fournette. I said it all offseason. I love his talent - but his skill set calls for a runway and our line probably won't give him that terribly often. Hopefully Williams gets up to speed quickly and helps in that respect sooner than later. Bohanon appears to be struggling. 

Regardless - it's way to early to be declaring it a tragedy or a triumph. Could they have done more t add to the line?  I wish they would have - but I think this group may do just enough more in the run game to deem it sufficient.

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Yeah I miss the days of Eugene Monroe ,Vince Manuwai , Brad Meester ,Chris Naeole and Maurice Williams!

Monroe never played with Naoele, and only played five games together with Mo Williams.

Monroe was a rookie in 2009.

Naeole played his last game in 2007. 

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/p...eoCh20.htm

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!