And like all coaches say....it all about how you practice. Brenner most likely wasn't showing much in that area or at least showing less knowledge, ability, upside, etc. than the guys who had the job. Some guys are just gamers. If not for injury no one would ever know how good they could be.

If you don't show good in practice, the coaches don't have faith in you and you don't play. It's pretty simple.

That being said, I don't think Brenner is blowing anybody away at this point. How much better can he get? I don't know. Can he win a starting job when there are three guys competing for one position? Does he have the skills to be dominant?

Can he pull and do all the things that are necessary or are they just limiting the play calls, etc so he can do what he does best?

Like Holic said, it's an inexact science. Remember Mark Dixon? He turned into one of the best for a short while and all he had done up to that point was wallow in obscurity in NFL Europe before starting as a 27 year old rookie at LG and eventually, LT.

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“I'm here" You're welcome!" - Kenny Powers

eesti Wrote:
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>Some guys are just gamers. If not for injury
> no one would ever know how good they could be.

Thats true. Including a guy named Brady...

> Can he pull and do all the things that are
> necessary or are they just limiting the play
> calls, etc so he can do what he does best?

If they are thats a GOOD thing IMO. I call it good coaching. Wish they had done it all year.

>
> Like Holic said, it's an inexact science.

And the most 'inexact' parts are QB and O-Line.

Philbin did a great job seeing that Brenner, an undrafted rookie free agent that none of the other 31 teams wanted, had potential and signed him to the practice squad. There was virtually no chance that Brenner would unseat an incumbant starter like Incognito (who was their 2nd best O-lineman last year) in training camp, and being an undrafted rookie free agent (did I mention that none of the other 31 teams thought him worthy of signing?) meant he got little playing time in preseason. It's also not like Brenner is playing at a pro-bowl level either; he's shown he's competent, and the O-line has shown a marginal improvement since he's been starting. We're not talking Larry Little here. I give Philbin credit for identifying him as starting material and improving the O-line when things looked like they were going down the toilet.

He also does not have to play next to an inexperienced turnstyle at LT. Are people really giving the credit for our lines resurgence to Sam Brenner? There were also a few other changes as well.

For instance...playing next to a seasoned, former PB left tackle in McKinnie may be a smoother transition than playing next to Martin.

Even though McKinnie is just adequate, he is light years better than Martin.

The other is the improved play by Clabo at RT.

Since week 7 Clabo has a rating of +7.9. That would rate him second to only Pouncey at +9.4. A down year for Pouncey who had a rating of +17.9 in 2012.

John Jerry, on the other hand, has a negative rating in 4 out of the past 5 games. Mainly because of bad run blocking.

.....................................................................................
“I'm here" You're welcome!" - Kenny Powers

eesti Wrote:
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> He also does not have to play next to an
> inexperienced turnstyle at LT. Are people really
> giving the credit for our lines resurgence to Sam
> Brenner? There were also a few other changes as
> well.
>
> For instance...playing next to a seasoned, former
> PB left tackle in McKinnie may be a smoother
> transition than playing next to Martin.
>
> Even though McKinnie is just adequate, he is light
> years better than Martin.
>
> The other is the improved play by Clabo at RT.
>
> Since week 7 Clabo has a rating of +7.9. That
> would rate him second to only Pouncey at +9.4. A
> down year for Pouncey who had a rating of +17.9 in
> 2012.
>
> John Jerry, on the other hand, has a negative
> rating in 4 out of the past 5 games. Mainly
> because of bad run blocking.

The difference is McKinnie.

He can handle the left side without help. It allows us to use the TE and/or RB to help Clabo.

Without help? vs Mario Williams?

McKinnie has given up 5 sacks in 8 games for Miami. He also allowed 7 hits and 19 hurries. I repeatedly saw Tannehill having to adjust his throwing motion because McKinnie was so close to him after getting pushed back into the pocket. Look at the TD throw to Thigpen.

During that same span of games, Clabo has given up 3 sacks, 4 hits and 10 hurries.

.....................................................................................
“I'm here" You're welcome!" - Kenny Powers



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/18/2013 10:01AM by eesti.

eesti Wrote:
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> Without help? vs Mario Williams?
>
> McKinnie has given up 5 sacks in 8 games for
> Miami. He also allowed 7 hits and 19 hurries. I
> repeatedly saw Tannehill having to adjust his
> throwing motion because McKinnie was so close to
> him after getting pushed back into the pocket.
> Look at the TD throw to Thigpen.
>
> During that same span of games, Clabo has given up
> 3 sacks, 4 hits and 10 hurries.
>
> Clabo faces the least talented lineman for
> Buffalo....Alan Branch and possibly Corbin Bryant.
> They have a half a sack between them. Although he
> may face manny Lawson on blitzes with help from
> the RB or TE.

I didn't say he was perfect. He's a competent NFL LT at this point in his career.

Sure he gets beat now and then but he doesn't require the assistance that martin did or Clabo needs.

I see what you're saying but Clabo has turned it around and probably outplayed McKinnie.

I also forgot about Jerry Hughes for Buffalo.

.....................................................................................
“I'm here" You're welcome!" - Kenny Powers

eesti Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I see what you're saying but Clabo has turned it
> around and probably outplayed McKinnie.
>
> I also forgot about Jerry Hughes for Buffalo.


Clabo 's numbers have gotten better because we have been able to give him the help he needs when he needs it.

The OL still has troubles with blitz pick-up but some of that is on the RBs. I'd say blitz pick-up is the biggest issue for pass-pro right now.

…c'mon guys -- we all know the OL is patchwork and needs TONS of resources applied in an intelligent, judicious manner.

McKinnie is a reasonable effective stop-gap measure, and a dude like Brenner is a nice enough story -- but I seriously doubt (despite the pic reference) he's the next Larry Little.

This team will go as far as the OL is limited to -- and that's probably just into the playoffs and MAYBE we win in the 1st round. But as soon as a quality team is capable of leveraging their DL against our OL -- we're done!

My opinion. Of course.

BNF.

But of course -- you've got to give credit to the coaching staff for piecing together the OL.

But on the other hand -- they sure screwed the pooch in that same area for quite some time.

Weird how that yeast infection was killing the team (probably malodorous as hell)!