Unit Analysis: Guards/Centers

Guys, this just in, The Sporting News is GARBAGE. They never have anything worthwhile to say, they never break any news that we don't already know about, and they can't analyze a team to save their lives. Don't even bother with it.

Giving our line a C is ludicrous.

im just saying dockery could be a good guard for like the steelers or somebody but as far as zone blocking goes i do not think he can pull fast enough for cp to break those runs. dan neil is one heck of a pull guard. if he can come cheap i think we should bring him in. besides just like campbell was drafted to bring out the best in ramsey, neil could do the same thing for dockery. i just think we need somebody else to play guard for our main man cp.

I thought Brown had the most bonehead mistakes last year. Or at least the most costly ones.

Here's his profile from Scouts Inc. Keep in mind this is from 2004.

Name: Derrick Dockery
Position: Offensive Guard
Grade: 63 | Key
Alert: Y

Comment:
Dockery understandably experienced some growing pains during his rookie season but he showed significant progress over the course of last season and he appears to have a bright future. Possesses outstanding size, engulfs undersized defenders at the point of attack and wears defenders down at the point of attack. As a pass blocker, shows great initial quickness for size and rarely gets beaten off the snap. Has the upper body strength to maintain separation from defenders and uses wide frame to force pass rushers to take a wider angle to the quarterback. Dockery has great work ethic and he should only continue to get better with experience but he lacks ideal explosiveness and he is a better run blocker than he is a pass blocker at this point. Dockery has the combination of size and athletic ability to develop into an upper echelon guard and he will be given an opportunity to win the starting job opposite Randy Thomas. However, he would benefit from providing depth for a year, as he must improve his footwork and his ability to reach blocks at the second level.

i think dockery does bring down our o-line pretty much. what we should do is figure out og dan neil asking price is. he started the last 4 or 5 years for the broncos in their infamous zone blocking. he is not that old and was released because of the cap. he would be an incredible upgrade from the slow and stale derrick dockery. just think about first before you all shoot it down. we still have a lot of cuts to make, so im pretty much sure that their will be enough money for a league min. with escaladers in the contract to make it more.


I was curious about him too. I'm just wondering why is he still on the market?

I don't think there is any question our O-line will be the class of the NFC east this year. Portis rushing for over 1500 yards this season will more than prove it. If we stay healthy that is...

Giving our line a C is ludicrous.[/QUOTE]

They werent giving the entire line a c. Just the interior.

C being an average grade, Randy Thomas being rated I WOULD say at about a solid B and Rabach an A-/B+, Dockery is average at a C. So MAYBE we would all agree our interior is about a B/B-.

Look, all this is smoke. If we don't win, everything about us gets knocked on. And the offense last year wasn't good. No two ways about it. But until I hear Gibbs and Buges put down Dockery, I'll stay behind him. I think the o-line is close--it's really a game of inches there. If you get a little bit more of a crease, then Portis gets to the DBs and forget it. If you get 1 more SECOND in pass protection, the play opens up, and you get some serious yardage. We were a step short last year. Until we show improvment on the field, we'll get Cs and so on.

Wonder if the rookies from last year might challange for a spot, if Dock falters? Can they play left guard?

I hate the critics we are having this year. I mean I don't hear any of them saying, "If Gibbs was smart he would have signed Randy Moss or Plaxico Burress." They are going to criticize us no matter what we do.