Re: Todd Wade is the man at Left Guard
 

[quote=Mattyk72;313065]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.[/quote]

Well, he may have been hurt in Houston but they cut him for a reason. I guess they felt he was done as a full time player. But I trust Buges. He knows what he's doing. Plus they seem to like the guys behind Wade.

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]


that is an extremely good point

Re: Todd Wade is the man at Left Guard
 

[quote=skinsfan_nn;313055]I think your onto something Capt. Obvious......?[/quote]

say what?

Re: Todd Wade is the man at Left Guard
 

I have my worries about Wade's flexibility. He looks a little rigid and doesn't quite fit the mold of the short-squatty guys who typically play guard. One name to keep in mind is Mike Pucillo. I saw him last year a few times as the 3rd TE on goaline packages. He's a G/C type with some athleticism.

Also people who think G is an insignificant and easy position to fill have a short memory. I remember the year before Randy Thomas got here. The middle of the line was a disaster that year and was largely responsible for P. Ramsey spending half the season with his back on the turf.

Re: Todd Wade is the man at Left Guard
 

If G is such an easy position to fill, and a relatively unimportant position on the team, then why are guards getting $50 million contracts these days?

Some of that inflated contract value stems from the ridiculous amount of cap space teams had last year. But still, if teams felt they could just switch a backup T to G, or draft some rookie, they'd never lay out that much money for starting Gs.

This isn't to say Wade can't be good at G, though. I'm just trying to put this silly notion to bed, that any dipshit can play G and you'll have a strong offensive line. Regarding Wade, I think he'll be good in certain areas and lousy in others; in no way will he be a complete Guard. He should hold up real well in pass protection, and I think he's quick enough to pull and get out on the edge. But I don't like his chances in a goalline situation where he needs to just drive straight ahead.

Re: Todd Wade is the man at Left Guard
 

Our discussions here on the Warpath (and just about everywhere else where discussions take place) tend to be very polarizing. Some argue that Wade is going to be great as a Guard because of his athleticism and this and that, others argue he'll be a disaster because he won't get leverage and this and that.

In reality he'll likely fall somewhere in between. Will he be the next Steve Hutchinson? Hell no. Will he be a total disaster? Probably not. Chances are he'll simply be adequate.

Re: Todd Wade is the man at Left Guard
 

I would like to take an oppurtunity to say thank you to Schneed10 for posting to a different thread, and pulling me off the Michael Vick thread where I was.........circling the drain.........

Re: Todd Wade is the man at Left Guard
 

[quote=Schneed10;313889]Our discussions here on the Warpath (and just about everywhere else where discussions take place) tend to be very polarizing. Some argue that Wade is going to be great as a Guard because of his athleticism and this and that, others argue he'll be a disaster because he won't get leverage and this and that.

In reality he'll likely fall somewhere in between. Will he be the next Steve Hutchinson? Hell no. Will he be a total disaster? Probably not. Chances are he'll simply be adequate.[/quote]

And that's something I'll take in a year where people like Dockery and Steinbach are getting record contracts. Let's draft a prospect and work it out from there...

Re: Todd Wade is the man at Left Guard
 

Personally I trust that Buges knows what he's doing here. As I've said before, we could have went out and got a quality vet like Mulitalo at a decent price. The fact that we didn't seem to have much interest in him tells me Bugel and co. are confident in Wade.

Re: Todd Wade is the man at Left Guard
 

[quote=Mattyk72;313895]Personally I trust that Buges knows what he's doing here. As I've said before, we could have went out and got a quality vet like Mulitalo at a decent price. The fact that we didn't seem to have much interest in him tells me Bugel and co. are confident in Wade.[/quote]

I agree, I think the last several years our line has been pretty solid.

Re: Todd Wade is the man at Left Guard
 

[quote=Mattyk72;313895]Personally I trust that Buges knows what he's doing here. As I've said before, we could have went out and got a quality vet like Mulitalo at a decent price. The fact that we didn't seem to have much interest in him tells me Bugel and co. are confident in Wade.[/quote]

Or...

They were confident that signing Mulitalo would have put us in some salary cap trouble.

Re: Todd Wade is the man at Left Guard
 

[quote=Schneed10;313922]Or...

They were confident that signing Mulitalo would have put us in some salary cap trouble.[/quote]

What did he sign for?

If push came to shove I'm sure we could have worked him in, no?

Re: Todd Wade is the man at Left Guard
 

[quote=Mattyk72;313924]What did he sign for?

If push came to shove I'm sure we could have worked him in, no?[/quote]

I searched high and low for Mulitalo's contract details but everything just says "contract terms not disclosed." I can tell you it was a 3-year deal. I'll bet it would have been similar to the deal Wade got from us, maybe a shade more. Wade's cap number is about $2 million per year.

So yeah I'm guessing we could have squeezed Mulitalo in there, but it would have left us with virtually no emergency fund for the season, and no ability to extend Cooley before the season ends.

Re: Todd Wade is the man at Left Guard
 

I think Wade is going to be a complete stud. This is his second year removed from ACL surgery. We all know it takes two years to fully come back! I look for big things from the O-Line this year.

Re: Todd Wade is the man at Left Guard
 

[quote=mmil12;313937]I think Wade is going to be a complete stud. This is his second year removed from ACL surgery. We all know it takes two years to fully come back! I look for big things from the O-Line this year.[/quote]

Case in point... polarized opinions.