Re: Todd Wade is the man at Left Guard
 

A part of me wonders what went on behind the scenes to keep Wade here.

Let's face it, he probably would have drawn some interest on the open market for a starting tackle job.

Re: Todd Wade is the man at Left Guard
 

Wade made the best of his one start last season. I think we won that game and Wade played well.
I see this as a chance for the O-line to get better, I never felt Dockery was the next Russ Grimm at LG. I am not saying Wade will be either. I am just glad we did not spend a fortune to keep an average player like Dockery.
Bugel can find and develop a great guard for us. The canidate can even end up being a undrafted player and cheap... win-win.
I do see us signing a veteran guard that another team will cut sometime this offseason for financial reasons.

Re: Todd Wade is the man at Left Guard
 

[QUOTE=Mattyk72;312839]Dock was 6'6, Wade is 6'8, I don't think the extra two inches will make a big deal.

It sounds like Wade is committed to making the switch and he seems to have a good attitude about it.

I honestly don't think we'll see much of a dropoff from Dockery. In fact Wade could actually be an improvement.[/QUOTE]


I agree....Wade is a veteran player who has been around the NFL game. Any adjustments for him should not be compared to Dockery coming into the league and starting as a rookie. I agree that the coaches should be the one's to say he can't do the job. I can't imagine the two inch difference in their height being a major concern.

Re: Todd Wade is the man at Left Guard
 

Height does not neccasarily mean you can't get low, it all depends on your body type and your proportion of center of gravity which gives you balance, long legs on a tall guy could provide problems, but if he's proportioned properly with a good base on the lower half of his body he should be able to get as low as he needs to be. As for him being able to handle the guard position? Haven't really seen him play so I don't know, but I do think he would have a hard time not out performing Dockery, Dockery missed block after block, I think we will be pleasantly surprised with our O-line this year if we get good play [it doesn't have to be great] at the left guard position.

Re: Todd Wade is the man at Left Guard
 

the only problem he might have is using his height against him. you can get away sometimes at tackle, with standing up. but the defensive tackles will bury him if he does this at guard

Re: Todd Wade is the man at Left Guard
 

I think the only area of concern about Wade to me is run blocking, bc. he will have to get under the DT to move him and it a whole lot easier for a guy 6'6" to get under a guy thats 6'4" than it is for someone who is 6'8" to get under the same guy; that and getting to the next level and blocking a LB BUT... I think that he will GREATLY IMPROVE our pass protection over Dock now that he will not only have help from big bodies on BOTH sides but he also is going to be blocking slower players than hes used to. But with as much as we run the ball his mobility could be the big issue

Re: Todd Wade is the man at Left Guard
 

What I'm most excited about is Wade's ability to pull. We'll finally have someone like Thomas on the other side who can get out into space. How effective he'll be remains to be seen, but there's no way he's worse than Dockery.

Re: Todd Wade is the man at Left Guard
 

It seems to me that if you can play tackle you can play guard. Jacoby made the switch and he was a big man. Nobody will know for sure until the season starts. Until then its just speculation. Just remember that this aint the first rodeo for Buges. I think he has guys that he likes in this group. I expect the trend of the last five games to continue into this season. Good luck to Rest of the League (ROTL) stopping our run game. Now I'm getting all fired up.

Re: Todd Wade is the man at Left Guard
 

Todd Wade has outstanding work ethic, I think he will do a fine job at starting LG. We won't even remember who dock was, we'll read about how they overpaid for a middle of the road guard, that's not playing as well as they expected.

Re: Todd Wade is the man at Left Guard
 

If we are going to be a successful team, there should be no talk of hiding Wade away in the line or that the guard spot is somehow unimportant. Our running game will need for him or anyone else at that spot to perform just like any other spot on the line. Bottom line is that buges didn't start doing this yesterday so if he is confident enough to name him the starter this early in the offseason then Wade must have some skills.

Re: Todd Wade is the man at Left Guard
 

The key will be Saunders scheming to use Wade's strengths and minimize his weaknesses. Wade's not going to line up and mash guys like Dockery did, so running right behind him on goallines is probably out.

But Saunders loves to get his RBs out on the edge, and as has already been said, Wade's strength will likely be pulling and blocking out in space. I'd look for more pitches and sweeps to the left side of the field. The left side is shaping up to be the athletic side, while the right side is more power (though Randy Thomas is a nasty mix of both).

Re: Todd Wade is the man at Left Guard
 

[quote=Mattyk72;312840]Care to elaborate?

Why won't Wade work at LG?[/quote]

Becasue this guy has been an average RT his whole career. He was released by Houston and Miami. So how is this guy going to change positions this late in his career and be effective, when he wasn't effective on the worst line in the NFL? If it was college I wouldn't be so worried. But this is the NFL. I just don't see it working. If he was switching from LT to LG then I wouldn't be so worried. Joe Jacoby did this w/ alot of success. Most of the time guys switch from guard to center or vice versa. Raleigh Macenzie did this as well. But RT to LG isn't very common and that's becasue of all the different footwork. I hope I'm wrong but I think the coaching staff is putting way too much stock in the one game he started.

Re: Todd Wade is the man at Left Guard
 

Or maybe Wade should have been a LG all along but was being misused at RT?

Re: Todd Wade is the man at Left Guard
 

[quote=SmootSmack;313053]Or maybe Wade should have been a LG all along but was being misused at RT?[/quote]

I think your onto something Capt. Obvious......?

Re: Todd Wade is the man at Left Guard
 

[quote=skinsfan69;313047]Becasue this guy has been an average RT his whole career. He was released by Houston and Miami. So how is this guy going to change positions this late in his career and be effective, when he wasn't effective on the worst line in the NFL? If it was college I wouldn't be so worried. But this is the NFL. I just don't see it working. If he was switching from LT to LG then I wouldn't be so worried. Joe Jacoby did this w/ alot of success. Most of the time guys switch from guard to center or vice versa. Raleigh Macenzie did this as well. But RT to LG isn't very common and that's becasue of all the different footwork. I hope I'm wrong but I think the coaching staff is putting way too much stock in the one game he started.[/quote]

He wasn't released by Miami, he left as a free agent for a big contract in Houston.

Houston let him go due to injury problems, which appear to be behind him now.

I'd trust the coaches on this one. There were a few attractive free agents out there, like Edwin Mulitalo, and the Skins barely showed any interest. They must be pretty confident in Wade.