Good to see you back matey.I thought they had finally captured you and strung you up from the nearest yardarm .
He still appears a little awkward in pass protection. I like his instincts and tenacity for run blocking though. If he can add another 10+ pounds, then he'd be a nice bookend for Jake for the next 8-10 yrs IMO.
In my opinion his first step seems to vary a lot. Some times he gets off the ball well and other times he seems slow. He had a hard time handling those outside speed rushers and it seemed like sometimes he would turn his body and try to run with them, totally losing his balance and leverage. He easily handles the inside moves and bull rush though. He gets incredible push on running plays though, he was blowing defenders off the ball 5 yards. He was also good at turning his defender away from the play/running back. I think he would make a fine RT for us. I think drafting him and moving Carey to right guard would greatly improve our running game and out line as a whole. After thinking about it, I think it would be a lot wiser drafting a Tackle and moving Carey inside as oppose to drafting a Guard. By drafting a Tackle and moving Carey inside you would be improving two positions. The new guy we would bring in would be better off than Carey and in my opinion Carey would be a great Guard for us. If you just draft a guard you have to worry about how Carey holds up at RT. Guards are cheaper and easier to find outside of the draft too.
I am not as high on his run-blocking as you guys seem to be. I don't like how he engages defenders, his lack of use of leverage or his apparent lack of lower body strength. Can he be good? I think so, with good pro coaching and conditioning, but he seems to me to be just above average at this point (as a pro prospect). Maybe I am missing something in my evaluation of him?
Solder gives what I call a soft shoulder in pass protection; in essence he allows the defender to play through him rather than having to go around and through him. He lets DE's get the corner and can't ride them wide. He does have issues with the inside move, he did it at Mobile as well - looked awful when he did it. He was over leveraged to the outside and he was victimized by it. Solder is a former TE so he can still fill out, but he isn't an overly physical player by any means. He has the athleticism, but must become much, much stronger.
This class is not very impressive at the top at that position IMO. I am not thrilled with Solder, Sherrod nor Castonzo. Tyron Smith has talent but hes a lightweight.
I was thinking the same thing.... and I think you're being kind with your criticism. lol. The more I see this kind of a deficient class, the more I appreciate us having a guy like Jake available at the #1 pick!
How many years away do you think he is from adding the extra size/strength to be good on the right side in both facets of the game? At least 2?
