The OL has got to be addressed in FA...

Vets who have been playing for as long as Levitre don't 'figure' it out. He is what he is and we have 3 choices. Sign or draft someone to replace him and give up $6mil in cap space a year to a backup, Cut him after June 1st so his cap hit is spread between this year and next year, or cut him before June 1st and take all of the cap hit this year so we have no dead money next season and beyond. We have more than enough cap space to cut Levitre, Griffin, Wembley, etc and still be able to sign 3-4 megastar free agent contracts this season!

 

The OL starts with the C. We don't have a good one despite how bad everybody wants to deem Schwenke a good one. The initial talk was about how he had a nasty streak in him. But he apparently has durability issues. And it's the Cs responsibility to lead and direct the interior of the OL. Hard to have a line jell when your key piece isn't playing (or at 100%) consistently.

Levitre has been awful no doubt but he's not had consistent quality beside him also.

 

I agree with you to a point. But with that, we start playing the domino affect. Guards cant play good because they have no center, center cant play good because he has no guards, guards cant play good because the tackles.... running back cant run because he has no Oline...

Levitre has to go. Center and RT could needs upgraded.

 

Levitre was paid a fortune to be an above avg OG. Schwenke was drafted in the 4th rnd to hopefully be a starting OC. Which one is supposed to provide the 'quality' to help the other guy? And Levitre is not getting beaten because of Schwenke. Schwenke has a chance to be a solid starter but we've given Levitre 2 seasons and $12mil to prove he's a below avg OG. He NEEDS replacing. Fix the biggest holes on the OL (LG and RT) and we'll see if Schwenke improves enough or if he needs upgrding too.

 

Schwenke needs to stay on the field.

 

It's not ALL luck, no. There is a lot of "luck" involved. Some players transition to different schemes better. Some play better with different guys around them. There are things you can't predict by scouting them. Just like these "sure" picks that are drafted high and are busts. Sometimes it doesn't work out no matter how much you scout and evaluate a player.

Football in general has a lot of variables, and yes, a lot of "luck" is involved. Say a defender gets an interception thrown directly to him when he's no where near the WR he's supposed to be covering. No athletics involved, just catches the ball. That's not being the best player...that's luck. Luck is a part of football and all sports really. It isn't always about being the best of the best. Sometimes the plays make themselves.

I know every thing I saw that off season mentioned Levitre being the best linemen available and a good pick up for any team. Do you think he was brought in and paid a big contract with them thinking he was going to suck? Unfortunately, they thought they were getting the best available and he turned out not to work here. Bad luck.

Oher on the other hand has always been a disappointment from what I've heard...so he was a curious signing.

 

Just because you're the best OG available does NOT mean you are good or even an avg player...which is the trap fans AND GM's fall into. The difference is, the fans wants you to sign someone while the GM has scouts and game tape and an OL and OC to look at tape and determine EXACTLY how good this guy is in his system and how he would translate in our system.

Not only did they miss the evaluation, they drastically overpaid on that evaluation. And then, THEY DID IT AGAIN with Oher. Only problem with Oher was, most people thought he would be the last OT signed and wouldn't get much money. We gave him the 3rd highest RT money that year. This is how Ruston wastes money on below avg talent. We could sign Iupati and Roos for the kind of money we are paying our 2 current starters!