Quote:
Originally Posted by Chief Roundup
Our OL is not improved as he stated.
The loss of LDT and Niang is a huge hit to our depth at OL.
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Yeah, it's a loss of depth. But Niang was a huge question mark if only for health concerns. You can't pencil him in as any kind of clear upgrade, especially if Rankin manages to make it back in any kind of shape. And Osemele brings the same health issues that LDT did but with legitimate Pro Bowl upside that LDT didn't have.
Ultimately I just can't see any kind of support for the idea that the line is WORSE. We replaced LDT w/ a guy with the same floor and a higher ceiling. Niang was a wild card in his own right who would've essentially taken Wisniewki's roster spot. Okay, well we got Wiz off the street in week 6 - maybe that was more about the system than the player. The player himself was street free agent depth.
And if Fisher doesn't miss 9 weeks this year, the line will be HUGELY improved over last year, regardless of what else happens on the interior. Again - Cameron Erving took more snaps at LT last year than Eric Fisher did.
Yes, there's absolutely a path to this line being better than last year's line. All we need is a healthy Fisher and its essentially a lock. Losing a rookie (who had no camp and was coming off a serious injury) and a declining G doesn't change that.