Unit Analysis: Guards/Centers

[Monksdown]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

Dockery gets such a bad rap here it's ridiculous. We could do a helluva lot worse. He's still young and growing into his position. He was much improved last year over his rookie season, and under Bugel he should continue to develop. It's premature to start talking about his replacement.

I agree with you, we dont need to replace him yet. But he is the main detractor on our line. If there is one.

[Daseal]

Dockery makes some great plays, but others seem like he doesn't give his all. Offensive line is one of those places where you want to keep a coach and 5 guys together for years upon years. Lets keep this group together for a bit then see what we're saying about a mature dockery. He has the talent to be a beast, let's see what he does with it.

[dirtbag2112]

Everyone says that the NFL is a copycat league. That can also be said about the reporting, journalism and in this case, analysis. It's usually some shmuck thats regurgitating what someone else said. I dont but it at all.

[dirtbag2112]

*buy

[Defensewins]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

Dockery gets such a bad rap here it's ridiculous. We could do a helluva lot worse. He's still young and growing into his position. He was much improved last year over his rookie season, and under Bugel he should continue to develop. It's premature to start talking about his replacement.

We could also do a hell of lot better. Dockery in his first two season made a ton of bone head mistakes. Offsides, holding, missed assignments...he was not very good. Considering he is a third round draft pick and starting his third season, he has not been a value pick yet.
In contrast, the San Diego Chargers last year drafted OT Shane Olivea in the bottom of the seventh round and center Nick Hadwick in the third round. They both started all season on 12-4 team and they went deep into the playoffs. They both played really well. They did not need three years to "grow into his position". Plus guard is the easiest of the positions on the line to play, if Dockery can not play guard, he can not play tackle or center.

I still want Dockery to be a Radskin and play well. But we need a back up plan just in case he does not improve. This is his last season to prove he belongs.

[Schneed10]

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.

[Sean"Big Hurt"Taylor]

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.

[TheMalcolmConnection]

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

[MTK]

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.

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

Originally Posted by Sean"Big Hurt"Taylor

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?

[Red Robert]

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...

[Monksdown]

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

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

[TheMalcolmConnection]

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-.

[JWsleep]

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?

[TheMalcolmConnection]

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.