Predict Our Five Starters On the O-Line

[Monkeydad]

Originally Posted by Longtimefan

I can just pencil in Williams instead of Okung now, and my origional group remain unchanged.

T. Williams L/T
D. Dockery L/G
C. Rabach C
M. Williams R/G
A. Hicks R/T

Subject to change between now and then.

Looking better. If we can upgrade one more position (either C, RG or RT), it'll look like a solid line.

[Dirtbag59]

Breakdown of all our O-Lineman

Trent Williams - Amazingly athletic, versatile prospect. Compares to....Ryan Clady. He will be a pleasant surprise this year for the people who didn't like this pick.

Derrick Dockery - Reported to have short area quickness and he's a solid NFL starter regardless of the scheme.

Dockery is one of the most consistent and durable players in the league. He has excellent size, strength and limited-area athleticism. He has great power and punch at the point of attack as a zone run-blocker, while having the strength and size to anchor versus interior bull rushers.

Casey Rabach - I personally like him in this scheme. He's smarter then most people give him credit for and he fits the athletic profile of a zone blocker.

Mike Williams - Putting a tackle at guard is always a plus when you want athleticism and from what I've heard about BMW is that he moves amazingly well for a big man. I would personally love it if he emerged as a starter.

Stephon Heyer - Apparently the Bronco's coaching staff fixed Clady's habit of bending at the waist so maybe they could help Heyer recover after his horrible year last year. It will also help if he's healthy. Of course keep in mind Heyer isn't nearly as athletic as Clady but as Shanahn said Heyer has "untapped potential." Weather he capitalizes on it or just said it to say it remains to be seen. I think our 4th round pick, along with who's available at Tackle when we pick will tell us a decent amount concerning how the coaches feel about Heyer.

Artis Hicks - Versatile strong lineman that apparently can play in a Zone blocking scheme in spite of the fact that he's pretty big.

He has decent initial pop off the line of scrimmage as a zone run-blocker and is best in a confined area. He uses his hands well to lock on but is inconsistent to stay connected to defenders. Hicks has average lateral agility and quickness, and gets exposed in space.

Chad Rinehart - Wildcard in the O-Line shuffle. Apparenlty he played well last year before getting injured so we'll see if he can live up to his potential this year. The fact that he played LT in college suggest he has the athleticism to succeed at Guard in the ZBS. At the same time I could easily see him getting cut.

Kory Lichtensteiger - I like his prospects of succeeding Rabach, especially if Rabach plays down to a lot of peoples expectations. He could also easily be in the mix to start at Guard.

Edwin Williams - I just want him, BMW, and Trent to start. Maybe Roydell Williams can get in at Reciever. However in all seriousness he seemed to generate a strong buzz in camp last year, but he's another guy I could see getting cut.

Conclusions:
We have a lot of people that have played Tackle, but not a whole lot of people I would be comfortable with playing Tackle for us. This includes BMW and Rinehart. Shawn Andrews seems to be catching some buzz around the fan base but that will likely be BMW 2.0 for us. We have some talent, now the only thing we need to find out is if Shanahan can experience the same success with "rejects" as he did in Denver.

Also right now I have 9 players listed as possible factors on the line. I think at max we carry 10, but thats pretty rare around the league to carry that many O-Lineman. Then again after last years walking wounded fiasco God knows we'll need all the help we can get.