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SUMMARY: With second-year T Michael Roos moving over to the left side to replace the retired Brad Hopkins, the Titans are looking to fill the void at right tackle. Currently, Jacob Bell appears to have the lead and has been in the starting rotation so far during OTAs. Second-year T David Stewart is playing behind Bell and may improve to the level Bell could be moved back inside to guard if the Titans decide to release Zach Piller and his $2.5 million base salary. T Daniel Loper has been slowed with a wrist injury but may also play into the mix. "No decision has been made. I think we are just putting these guys out there and letting them compete," Offensive Line Coach Mike Munchak said. "Right now it is not that big of a deal who is out there. Who's out there now might not be the same in August, but how they perform will determine that. They can push each other and we'll see how it works out."

What do you think about this article? Post your comments below.
 
Great to have someone like Bell that can play more than 1position it creates depth and competion. If Stewart and Loper keep improving our guards may have a lot of competion to contend with. These young guys will improve but our veteran guards must play at a much higher level. We have to eliminate penalties, keep Volek on his feet and open holes for our rbs. If our guards play well we could be an exciting offense.
 
Boy, the coaches sure aren't showing an ounce of excitement over any of these guys. :sleepy:
It kind of sounds like they might want to add someone or shake things up somehow. Lets hope.

And another thing. What the hell does Munchak mean by "I THINK we are just putting these guys out there ...".

I'd sure like to think they have a plan! :flame:
 
I can understand Munch not wanting to commit to anything just after a few OTAs. My gut tells me Piller and his $2.5 mil base may be in trouble. If they find another use for that, Bell could move back inside and Stewart take over at RT.
 
Piller "should" be a beast at LG - he absoutly has all the tools. Does he lack attitude, desire, aggression??? I have no idea what it is but he has never been the roadgrader he should be at LG. Always puzzeled me. Olson is a head shorter and, until 2005, was at least above avg, borderline All-Pro at RG and sometime opened huge holes.

If I had to dump one of them it would be a no brainer to keep Olson.
 
IMO Reese should have been more aggresive and moved up the two or so spots and drafted Max Jean-Gilles instead of Calvin Lowry, a guy who possibly could have been available in a later round anyway. We probally could have made the deal without giving up our other 4th rounder and only losing our early 5th. Gilles was a darn good value in the late third and will probally be a starting OG in the NFL. Lowry may be only a STs player.

With Gilles we could have let Pillar walk and used the extra $ to pick up a vet safety or CB if we needed one. Gilles at 350 pounds is more quick footed than Pillar. Pillar actually doesn't have "all the tools" to play OG. Pillar couldn't pull out in front of a ball carrier if his life depended on it. Pillar is very limited IMO. Gilles could also get a look at RT.

I do like Bell better at RT than Stewart. Some of the best pass rushing DEs play on the left side of the defense. That is one of the reasons Kearse was so successfull early in his career. The slower footed RTs couldn't move well enough to stop him. That is one of the reasons KVB has been successfull. Bell has the athleticism and footwork to pass protect against quick DEs where I'm not sure Stewart can. Stewart is a better OG IMO.
 
Well...

The Titans have already said they want to be quicker on the OL...not bigger and stronger. I think that's why they and many teams allowed Gilles to free fall on draft day. Gilles has good feet for a 350lb OG, but he's slow and his inital movement on the snap is slow. And yes, he's slower than Pillar and he can't really pull either. What Gilles does better than Pillar is make adjustments on the move to make better contact. Gilles may be slow, but he has good body control. Pillar is stiff and always has been.

But the speed and agility is the thing that kept them from a player like Gilles.

I do agree we could have grabbed a few different guys to help...but didn't.

I don't think Munch knows who's gonna start nor even be on the roster right now so it's gonna be an open competition at RT if not also at OG. If Stewart and Bell are close at RT, then they'll compare Bell to our OG's and the 2 best players of the 4 will start.

I also am hoping they can find a cheap vet RT unless someone REALLY steps up. The O-line was a huge weakness last year and we can't afford for it to be equally bad this season.

Gut
 
I totally agree Gut the oline is the key to our season if Munch can get the right people in the right positions and they are productive it will make a huge difference in wins.
 
Gut said:
The Titans have already said they want to be quicker on the OL...not bigger and stronger. I think that's why they and many teams allowed Gilles to free fall on draft day. Gilles has good feet for a 350lb OG, but he's slow and his inital movement on the snap is slow. And yes, he's slower than Pillar and he can't really pull either. What Gilles does better than Pillar is make adjustments on the move to make better contact. Gilles may be slow, but he has good body control. Pillar is stiff and always has been.

.....
Gut

I'm sorry Gut I didn't read your expert scouting service blurb on Gilles. I did read the NFL.com GM JR Scouting breakdown where they rate a number of different postional factors and attributes.
http://www.nfl.com/draft/profiles/2006/jean-gilles_max

For intial quickness the comment was "He gets off the ball and set to block consistently fast" so apparently they don't agree with your scouting service. Infact his initial quickness grade is as high as his other highest grade for size (6.5 is . I guess wanting to have an OG who is massive and quick who could potentially dominate is too much to ask. Having another mediocre safety that nobody heard about until draft day however is priceless. The negatives on Gilles are that he does need to control his weight and that he isn't motivated at times however we are talking about a player who could have been taken late in the 3rd round, not a 1st or 2nd round pick. IMHO Gilles had a higher upaide than Pillar and would have been at least as good as Pillar. Of course we can all be comforted by the fact that after the middle of our OL gets blown up and we have to punt on 4th down we will have a guy like Lowry on the punt team.

Oh, Scott Wright ranked Gilles as the number 2 OG in the draft and wrote "Has the ability to be a dominant blocker at the pro level, especially if the team who brings him in can maximize his effort on every play." I'm not saying Gilles is the greatest OG in NFL history but certainly he had the tools for the coaches to work with and could have been a potential upgrade to our OL.
 
Soxcat said:
Pillar actually doesn't have "all the tools" to play OG. Pillar couldn't pull out in front of a ball carrier if his life depended on it. Pillar is very limited IMO.


Every so sorry. Should have said Pillar has all the tools to be a real roadgrader at LG ect...

Yes I agree the big guy lacks foot speed.
 
Sox...

Soxcat said:
I'm sorry Gut I didn't read your expert scouting service blurb on Gilles. I did read the NFL.com GM JR Scouting breakdown where they rate a number of different postional factors and attributes.
http://www.nfl.com/draft/profiles/2006/jean-gilles_max

For intial quickness the comment was "He gets off the ball and set to block consistently fast" so apparently they don't agree with your scouting service. Infact his initial quickness grade is as high as his other highest grade for size (6.5 is . I guess wanting to have an OG who is massive and quick who could potentially dominate is too much to ask. Having another mediocre safety that nobody heard about until draft day however is priceless. The negatives on Gilles are that he does need to control his weight and that he isn't motivated at times however we are talking about a player who could have been taken late in the 3rd round, not a 1st or 2nd round pick. IMHO Gilles had a higher upaide than Pillar and would have been at least as good as Pillar. Of course we can all be comforted by the fact that after the middle of our OL gets blown up and we have to punt on 4th down we will have a guy like Lowry on the punt team.

Oh, Scott Wright ranked Gilles as the number 2 OG in the draft and wrote "Has the ability to be a dominant blocker at the pro level, especially if the team who brings him in can maximize his effort on every play." I'm not saying Gilles is the greatest OG in NFL history but certainly he had the tools for the coaches to work with and could have been a potential upgrade to our OL.

Let me set you straight...

First, if you read all of GM Jr.'s assessment (as I have) his final grade on Gilles was a 4th rd pick (translates to a good backup/special teams player). In his description of Gilles he does quantify his 'speed' assessment as being fast for a 360lb guy. But that's NOT fast in the NFL. He thinks he'll be a starter...but won't live up to his potential as players with weight problems in college tend to carry that into the NFL too. In addition to GM Jr., I check out a variety of sites and draft gurus and draftnik friends of mine for my assessments on players I haven't seen much of. But I HAVE seen a lot of Gilles. My best friend (a squealers fan) is a huge Bulldogs fan so we catch a lot of their games.

But the most important point is that I wasn't defending what the Titans did, I was explaining why they didn't take him. When you come out and say you want your OL to lose weight so they can be fast and quick, it's not a shock that they passed on a 360lb guy who can't control his weight.

Personally, I would have taken a flyer on Gilles and a few other players over the S they drafted. But for several years now I feel Floyd has messed up one or more picks in the the top 4 rounds.

Now I wasn't in love with Gilles, but they certainly could have nabbed him without him costing too much! As you know, I've been calling for them to draft some quality OL players for several years and I think we still have work to do!

Gut
 
I see we agree then about how we should have "taken a flyer on Gilles and a few other players".

The rating on Giles was a 4th rounder but the service is very harsh in their ratings. Lendale White is a 3rd rounder according to them and Lowry is an UDFA. Getting a rating as a starter is darn good IMO based on how they rated most players.

Spencer, another OG who was rated close to Giles and went to Houston with the first pick in the 3rd round is rated 6.0 on initial quickness where Giles was rated 6.5. Davin Joseph, the OG taken in the first round also only had a 6.0 rating for initial quickness. Your comments about Giles having a slow first step were simply inaccurate.
 
read...

Soxcat said:
Spencer, another OG who was rated close to Giles and went to Houston with the first pick in the 3rd round is rated 6.0 on initial quickness where Giles was rated 6.5. Davin Joseph, the OG taken in the first round also only had a 6.0 rating for initial quickness. Your comments about Giles having a slow first step were simply inaccurate.

As I mentioned above, GM Jr. QUANTIFIES his rating. He's fast and quick for a 360lb guy, but he's NOT fast compared to a quick 300lb guy. I notice he does this a lot and personalizes some of the ratings.

If you look at his quickness ratings for some WR's and some CB's and then compare those ratings to their actual workouts (10 yard times), you'll notice they don't always compare accurately. If you also read his descriptions he has some conflicting info in his own ratings on the same player.

To prove my point, take a look at Gilles' 10 yard dash times and tell me how quick he is. The 10 yard dash is our best way to measure a player's initial burst since it's only a few strides.

Hopefully this will help you understand the ratings better. And while a player may be quick in college, few 360lb OG's become Pro Bowl caliber players. Unless Gilles drops to 330 or so and maintains that, he will probably have difficulties.

And as I mentioned, my assessment of Gilles is based mostly on me watching him in several games and seeing his workout/combine numbers. If GM Jr. disagrees with me...no problem. If you want to call me wrong because one of the draft 'gurus' disagrees with me, no problem. They are not infallible (and neither am I).

Gut
 
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