IrishMike,
Probably my best take is that this OL has developed well and played to its potential, and who can ask more than that. They clearly struggle against good pass rush, and Leonard’s mobility and quick reactions mask the stat sheet in this regard. We struggled against a very big athletic front seven in the run game as well, but one hell of an impressive stat is only one TFL against a defense that feeds off of this.
There are so many variables and unknowns as to next year’s OL. It’s conceivable, and I think probable, that only two players start in the same position: Schrauth and Wagner. Knapp with a full season of experience will be bigger and stronger, and I will be surprised if he’s not starting, somewhere. If Lambert beats him out at LT, that has Knapp competing with Jagasuh for guard or Craig for center. And that’s me assuming that Rocco and Coogan, two starters last night, don’t return.
My pure guess is we start the season with Lambert- Schrauth-Knapp-Jagusah-Wagner. You can just as easily make the argument for Knapp-Schrauth-Craig-Jagusah-Wagner, or Lambert-Schrauth-Craig-Jagusah-Wagner, etc…. And this doesn’t take into account guys like Absher and Pendleton, et al. I personally think any of these iterations has the potential to be elite, and a major improvement over our current OL, especially in pass pro. As Echo often says, what an embarrassment of riches and a great problem to have.
