a couple of radio host were talking about our oline and they were talking about good character guys. So I will ask this; when was the last time we had a darn good oline ? M One of the host mentioned Mark Dixon , Richmond Webb, James Brown , Tim Ruddy and Kevin Donnelley . I will add John Bock and Jamie Nails but am not sure what year that was for certain. I never Held Ruddy in that high of Esteem but he was a good guy from what I heard. wasn't Mark Dixon the olineman who rode a motorcycle and while Jimmy Johnson was here he got a call in the middle of the night saying Mark broke his leg in a accident, then Jimmy made Mark sell his motorcycle ? it seems like the last decade only Jake Long stands out when it concerns our olinemen I know Sparano had one year where the oline was good but I cant say how good that line was. So what would you say as to picking 9 good olinemen from 2000 to present day ? I am only doing this because of our current oline mess .
2009 was a really quite good offensive line. Jake Long, Justin Smiley, Jake Grove, Donald Thomas, and Vernon Carey, with guest appearances from Nate Garner and Joe Berger. Long, Grove, and Vernon all played at Pro Bowl quality levels, Smiley was quite good, and all of the young guys(Garner, Thomas, Berger) played like above average quality guys when they got asked to rotate in. It's bizarre that Jake Grove and Justin Smiley would suffer what were essentially career-ending injuries, and Vernon Carey would be done shortly thereafter.
That 99 Oline was pretty darn good. They also had Gogan rotating in who was pretty decent for the 1 year that he was here. Too bad we had Cecil Collins at RB, what a waste. then having backups like JJ Johnson and Autry Denson.
Can't forget the 2002 line that helped pave the way for Ricky's career year. Career year for Jamie Nails and just solid across with Dixon/Nails/Ruddy/Perry/Wade. That year by Nails was probably the best guard action we had after Sims was gone.
Eh, I thought so too but in retrospect I think it was mostly Ricky Williams being phenomenal and Jay Fiedler not getting enough credit for what he could do in the pocket: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ej-51fHvhE There's a lot of penetration on run blocking plays, and even on the small number of pass plays there is some ugly performances. Screens are supposed to let pressure up field, but not quite like that. Jamie Nails was a beast, though.
Can't help but link this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ej-51fHvhE&t=4m53s That ****ing play. That's not a stiff-arm, it's a choke slam, and if he didn't get tripped up it'd been amazing.
When I opened this thread I immediately thought Jamie Nails. The Webb / Sims left side were probowlers.
Kieth Sims, Richmond Webb, Dwight Stephenson.....man..we did have some good O lineman over the years, didnt we.
Wow, he was something. In part 2 at about 7:25 it showed him doing that goal line spin move against Ed Reed. I always remembered that play but not who it was against. Just scary how talented he was.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKXOP0KYSEA&t=1m52s I've always remember how badly he gamed Rodney Harrison in this play
Ohio , do you know why Jimmy drafted JJ Johnson ? I have to say the Cecil Collins draft pick was absolutely terrible and I hated the jj Johnson pick how many years has it been since Cecil was put in jail ? I really like FB Rob Konrad but the other backs were un impressive . as far as olinemen I really liked Kevin Donnelley and even though I was opposed to drafting Jake Long he is a classy guy .
I remember hearing the reason for that, and Jake Long breaking down eventually, was due to Parcells' outdated training and conditioning program. It built up guys strength but they broke down easier down the stretch.
The 1988 line only gave up a league record 7 sacks....a few of those guys Foster Galbreath Dellenbach...obviously a pretty good group.