OK, yall taked me into it.  When Cleveland comes back this line will be fixed.  He's gonna be a top 10 G again and Trevor will be behind a good oline.  That left side will be strength and we are SB bound!!  Let's get it.

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My hope was that Hodges and Foster could spell our two veteran guards and as the season went on increase their playing time. Alas, things never are that simple are they.

You have to think more positive than that.  Hopefully one of them are looking so good that it will be very hard for the coaching staff to keep one of them off the field.  One thing I hope the coaching staff doesnt do is keep a guy on the sideline that is better at this point in their careers because they want the vet out there.

Gotcha, actually I believe neither is truly ready for full time regular season (defcon 3) action. They both have never played at this level and need to learn/see the tricks the d will play on them. Coaches need to have the confidence in their ability and so does TL. It was not a vet thing with me. How fast can they learn well ...

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A new broom always sweeps clean.

OK, yall taked me into it.  When Cleveland comes back this line will be fixed.  He's gonna be a top 10 G again and Trevor will be behind a good oline.  That left side will be strength and we are SB bound!!  Let's get it.

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You have to think more positive than that.  Hopefully one of them are looking so good that it will be very hard for the coaching staff to keep one of them off the field.  One thing I hope the coaching staff doesnt do is keep a guy on the sideline that is better at this point in their careers because they want the vet out there.

Gotcha, actually I believe neither is truly ready for full time regular season (defcon 3) action. They both have never played at this level and need to learn/see the tricks the d will play on them. Coaches need to have the confidence in their ability and so does TL. It was not a vet thing with me. How fast can they learn well ...

We havent seen enough of either to know really but there are teams every year that have rookies or year 2 guys that come in and can upgrade their line day 1.  I know that sounds like foreign language here but it happens every year around the league. Unless you just feel like our interior is just to good right now to be upgraded lol.

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Gotcha, actually I believe neither is truly ready for full time regular season (defcon 3) action. They both have never played at this level and need to learn/see the tricks the d will play on them. Coaches need to have the confidence in their ability and so does TL. It was not a vet thing with me. How fast can they learn well ...

We havent seen enough of either to know really but there are teams every year that have rookies or year 2 guys that come in and can upgrade their line day 1.  I know that sounds like foreign language here but it happens every year around the league.  Unless you just feel like our interior is just to good right now to be upgraded lol.

I believe we are all basically on the same page based on the bolded above.  I believe it is a situation called "violent agreement" ... LOL   Also, until the interior shows us differently, it definitely needs to be improved.  I was hoping Foster was good enough to do what Jamaree Salyer from Georgia did for the Chargers his rookie year if needed.

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A new broom always sweeps clean.

We havent seen enough of either to know really but there are teams every year that have rookies or year 2 guys that come in and can upgrade their line day 1.  I know that sounds like foreign language here but it happens every year around the league.  Unless you just feel like our interior is just to good right now to be upgraded lol.

I believe we are all basically on the same page based on the bolded above.  I believe it is a situation called "violent agreement" ... LOL   Also, until the interior shows us differently, it definitely needs to be improved.  I was hoping Foster was good enough to do what Jamaree Salyer from Georgia did for the Chargers his rookie year if needed.

Van Lannen was actually the highest graded lineman last week.  I will be watching him, Little, Hodges, and and Steven Jones very closely this week.  Hopefully Jones will be healthy and can play

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He wasn't last year nor has he looked better this offseason by all reports.  Yeah he played LG and LT, the position he played in college and the position he has said a few times he wants play.  Hodges has looked better and he missed all of last year and was a 7th round pick.  

  A lot of players were hurt and battled injuries.  We don't know yet if we could have done better, he might come in and have an All Pro year lol.  But up to this point he has been pretty bad and not much better if  any than what we have seen at the LG position the last few years.  Hodges looked like the best olinman on the field last week between both teams, hopefully he looks great again tomorrow. 
 
I'm not letting contracts or experience determine who we put out there and I hope Doug doesn't either.  Hopefully we play the player that is plying the best.  If Cleveland is still injured he should be out there risking to make something worse, he isn't playing any other injured players, or it could be coach speak

LOL

Your perspective is like looking at LG through a drinking straw. 

What you should be hoping is that Ezra can get healthy early in the regular season and play like he did at the beginning of last year. Because that would be better than any LG play we've seen in years here. 

The odds of Hodges protecting TL as well as a healthy EC are pretty slim. But I'd love to see anyone rise to the occasion. Maybe the kid can, but I'll wait and see what he does the next two weeks before clamoring for hime to start.

hear, hear. At this stage all we can do is hope the guys we expect to be good stay healthy enough to prove it and for the questions marks to figure out just how to get the job done.

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LOL

Your perspective is like looking at LG through a drinking straw. 

What you should be hoping is that Ezra can get healthy early in the regular season and play like he did at the beginning of last year. Because that would be better than any LG play we've seen in years here. 

The odds of Hodges protecting TL as well as a healthy EC are pretty slim. But I'd love to see anyone rise to the occasion. Maybe the kid can, but I'll wait and see what he does the next two weeks before clamoring for hime to start.

I took my teal glasses off, Its reality perspective.  I hope he can play like he did a few years ago but I'm not banking on it.  Even if healthy we don't know if he can play at that level again.   Teams don't trade good 25 yr old olineman for a 6th.  I think the Vikings seen something there and he wasn't worth keeping in their mind.  They had no intension of wanting or keeping him long term and they were about to draft a rookie QB in the 1st. 

Disagree,  I'd start him this week and see how he does, maybe he sucks or maybe he has a great game, maybe somewhere in between but there is only 1 way to find out.  We know what Scherff is, let Hodges get the week 2 preseason start and let Scherrf rest up.

....says something about Mac, doesn't it?

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LOL

Your perspective is like looking at LG through a drinking straw. 

What you should be hoping is that Ezra can get healthy early in the regular season and play like he did at the beginning of last year. Because that would be better than any LG play we've seen in years here. 

The odds of Hodges protecting TL as well as a healthy EC are pretty slim. But I'd love to see anyone rise to the occasion. Maybe the kid can, but I'll wait and see what he does the next two weeks before clamoring for hime to start.

hear, hear. At this stage all we can do is hope the guys we expect to be good stay healthy enough to prove it and for the questions marks to figure out just how to get the job done.

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I took my teal glasses off, Its reality perspective.  I hope he can play like he did a few years ago but I'm not banking on it.  Even if healthy we don't know if he can play at that level again.   Teams don't trade good 25 yr old olineman for a 6th.  I think the Vikings seen something there and he wasn't worth keeping in their mind.  They had no intension of wanting or keeping him long term and they were about to draft a rookie QB in the 1st. 

Disagree,  I'd start him this week and see how he does, maybe he sucks or maybe he has a great game, maybe somewhere in between but there is only 1 way to find out.  We know what Scherff is, let Hodges get the week 2 preseason start and let Scherrf rest up.

....says something about Mac, doesn't it?

Mac who?

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It's a shame Steven Jones is out. Would like to see him get time at RG and actually see Cooper Hodges at OC instead. Not sure what the line-up will be tonight. Guessing it's:

LT - Walker Little
LG - Cooper Hodges
C - Luke Fortner
RG - Blake Hance
RT - Javon Foster

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"What do I know of cultured ways, the gilt, the craft and the lie? I, who was born in a naked land and bred in the open sky. The subtle tongue, the sophist guile, they fail when the broadswords sing; Rush in and die, dogs - I was a man before I was a king."

It's a shame Steven Jones is out. Would like to see him get time at RG and actually see Cooper Hodges at OC instead. Not sure what the line-up will be tonight. Guessing it's:

LT - Walker Little
LG - Cooper Hodges
C - Luke Fortner
RG - Blake Hance
RT - Javon Foster

Switch Hodges and Hance and I think that will be it.  Hodges has worked mostly at RG and said he feels more comfortable there

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Maybe just maybe fortner has a sudden re awakening

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Maybe just maybe fortner has a sudden re awakening

Hopefully it happened in the weight room.

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Hodges at center is interesting. If we could upgrade one of Ezra, Morse, or Scherff, who you upgrading?

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Hodges at center is interesting. If we could upgrade one of Ezra, Morse, or Scherff, who you upgrading?

Hodges isn't ready to replace any of them at this point, but if he can play center he could be the guy who pushes Pillow Fortner off the roster this year. Then he's probably in the right guard slot beside Morse next year while we develop the next guy to play center or right guard.  I hope it works out that way, but we haven't seen anything from the guy yet, so the optimism around him is...interesting.

2024: Cam - Ezra - Morse - Sherff - Anton
2025: Anton - Ezra - Morse - Tugboat - Foster
2026: Anton - Ezra - New Guy/Tug - Tug/New Guy - Foster

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

I would like to see Fortner try some time at guard. He might be salvageable.

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We havent seen enough of either to know really but there are teams every year that have rookies or year 2 guys that come in and can upgrade their line day 1.  I know that sounds like foreign language here but it happens every year around the league.  Unless you just feel like our interior is just to good right now to be upgraded lol.

I believe we are all basically on the same page based on the bolded above.  I believe it is a situation called "violent agreement" ... LOL   Also, until the interior shows us differently, it definitely needs to be improved.  I was hoping Foster was good enough to do what Jamaree Salyer from Georgia did for the Chargers his rookie year if needed.

Yes, I've been a bit perplexed by the way this staff doesn't seem interested in looking at Foster as a guard given the depth at tackle by comparison.

There was a phone interview, I believe between JP Shadrick or John Oehser and Foster's college HC on the Jags website a while back. In that interview as well as another I read online, the HC raved about Foster's ability to play inside. 

I really wonder what the Jags staff is seeing that makes them seemingly unwilling to explore that?

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Maybe just maybe fortner has a sudden re awakening

Hopefully it happened in the weight room.

He's been getting lots of snaps there in camp

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I would like to see Fortner try some time at guard. He might be salvageable.

Maybe. We have enough invested to at least give it a shot. I just think it's a long one.

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

I would like to see Fortner try some time at guard. He might be salvageable.

Maybe. We have enough invested to at least give it a shot. I just think it's a long one.

Well, after tonight a lot will be answered. If they are going to keep 8 OL like last year on the 53, the first 5 are set. Then you have Little and Foster. Choose ONE from the rest. Rauscher go into the season with Fortner in any capacity and he shows no more than last year they both will be looking for employment. My guess is Fortner is a practice squad contestant. I am guessing Hodges would not clear waivers. (he is inexpensive with more upside than downside.)

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A new broom always sweeps clean.

I focused on Mr. Tug Boat in the KC game, and he impressed me. Prisco and Boselli say he has more power than anyone we currently have on the inside. That's what it looked like to me, too.

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Maybe. We have enough invested to at least give it a shot. I just think it's a long one.

Well, after tonight a lot will be answered. If they are going to keep 8 OL like last year on the 53, the first 5 are set. Then you have Little and Foster. Choose ONE from the rest. Rauscher go into the season with Fortner in any capacity and he shows no more than last year they both will be looking for employment. My guess is Fortner is a practice squad contestant. I am guessing Hodges would not clear waivers. (he is inexpensive with more upside than downside.)

I think it's 9 this year: Little, Foster, Hodges, Fortner/Hance. One of the backups has to play center and the only ones that can at this moment are Fortner and Shatley, that's why I think they have to carry the 9th guy. By all accounts they have Blake Hance as the 3rd guard, so do they riff him to keep Hodges? I

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

Well, after tonight a lot will be answered. If they are going to keep 8 OL like last year on the 53, the first 5 are set. Then you have Little and Foster. Choose ONE from the rest. Rauscher go into the season with Fortner in any capacity and he shows no more than last year they both will be looking for employment. My guess is Fortner is a practice squad contestant. I am guessing Hodges would not clear waivers. (he is inexpensive with more upside than downside.)

I think it's 9 this year: Little, Foster, Hodges, Fortner/Hance. One of the backups has to play center and the only ones that can at this moment are Fortner and Shatley, that's why I think they have to carry the 9th guy. By all accounts they have Blake Hance as the 3rd guard, so do they riff him to keep Hodges? I

I'll watch Hance tonight.  Last year when I did he looked totally lost. Hoping the guy turned a corner. Before watching tonight my three are the same as you. None of those 3 will clear waivers for good reason. The rest of O-line currently on the roster have a good chance of clearing waivers.  They would look like fools if they kept Hance at the expense of Hodges and Hodges was scooped up on waivers.

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A new broom always sweeps clean.

hear, hear. At this stage all we can do is hope the guys we expect to be good stay healthy enough to prove it and for the questions marks to figure out just how to get the job done.

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....says something about Mac, doesn't it?

Mac who?

given the concept of sixth round picks and guys on our roster named Mac, I'll just say you exceed expectation when folks ask just how dumb can one person be.

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