Duke Preston Signed

[run pMc]

Honestly, my first thought was they were going to try him a RT, trotting out a lineup of Clifton, Colledge, Spitz, Sitton and Preston.

Then I read this:

Preston, 26, did not begin the season as a starter. He took over for Melvin Fowler after Fowler injured his elbow, and started the last 11 games. He did not play particularly well, struggling against the likes of Cleveland's Shaun Rogers, the New York Jets' Kris Jenkins and New England's Vince Wilfork.

Sounds like a developmental player.
Whatever.
Good for them.

[pittstang5]

You have to like this signing. Duke is a far cry from Adrian Klemm and it sounds as if C Scott Wells might be demoted soon

Yeah, I was already thinking Wells was in danger with the guys we had. You have to think he's going to have to show something extra this year to survive.

I too think that maybe Wells might be on is way out. He's a decent center, but I think Spitz is better. He can play guard or at least he did under the Sherman regime, but I think Spitz, Colledge and possibly the younger guys could step up and play better as well. Wells definitely can't play any of the tackle positions, something that alot of the other players behind him on the roster can. It might just come down to a pure numbers game and Wells might be gone.

Anyone know when his contract is up?

[KYPack]

From his Wikipedia page:

Duke is widely believed to be the best golfer in the NFL.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Preston

That is wild.

I've never seen an NFL lineman who can play golf well.

As Waldo indicated, usually kickers are real good. The mechanics of kicking are very similar to a good golf swing.

Isaac Curtis, the premier WR that played for the Bengals, was one of the shittiest golfers I've ever seen. Guy couldn't hit it out of his shadow.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Honestly, my first thought was they were going to try him a RT, trotting out a lineup of Clifton, Colledge, Spitz, Sitton and Preston.

Then I read this:

Preston, 26, did not begin the season as a starter. He took over for Melvin Fowler after Fowler injured his elbow, and started the last 11 games. He did not play particularly well, struggling against the likes of Cleveland's Shaun Rogers, the New York Jets' Kris Jenkins and New England's Vince Wilfork.

Sounds like a developmental player.
Whatever.
Good for them.

Well, it's not hard to see anybody struggling against two of the best DTs in the game, and one of the most talented DTs in the game. Also, he struggled against those big DTs while playing OC, and I'm not sure that means he can't play RT--where he wouldn't be facing those types of players. Is Buffalo a ZBS team?

[Waldo]

From his Wikipedia page:

Duke is widely believed to be the best golfer in the NFL.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Preston

That is wild.

I've never seen an NFL lineman who can play golf well.

As Waldo indicated, usually kickers are real good. The mechanics of kicking are very similar to a good golf swing.

Isaac Curtis, the premier WR that played for the Bengals, was one of the shittiest golfers I've ever seen. Guy couldn't hit it out of his shadow.

I worked as a golf course for a while when I was in college (one of those golf neighborhood places, a house in that neighborhood is where the infamous hot tub incident with Chmura happened (my younger bro was friends with and hung out with that group of kids, but wasn't there at the time)). NEway the Majik man was there golfing one day, and he is absolutely god awful at it, with a wicked slice. Granted he was pretty hammered (I was selling him the booze), but still, absolutely terrible at golf.

Tausher is actually pretty mean with the stick, as is Harris. They used to have this Packers golf challenge (I forget the details), and the one I watched had Favre, Longwell, Tausher, Harris, and Rodgers. Of course Longwell dominated, but Tausher and Harris were surprisingly good. Aaron sucked at the time.

[HarveyWallbangers]

I worked as a golf course for a while when I was in college

Damn! That must have been rough.

[Zool]

I worked as a golf course for a while when I was in college

Damn! That must have been rough.

Thats a lot of balls in your holes Waldo.

[Gunakor]

You have to like this signing. Duke is a far cry from Adrian Klemm and it sounds as if C Scott Wells might be demoted soon

Yeah, I was already thinking Wells was in danger with the guys we had. You have to think he's going to have to show something extra this year to survive.

I'd hope we'd keep wells as the backup C at least. Should something happen to Spitz we could do far worse for a backup than a guy who has starting experience and is intelligent enough to make the correct line calls on a consistent basis.

[Waldo]

You have to like this signing. Duke is a far cry from Adrian Klemm and it sounds as if C Scott Wells might be demoted soon

Yeah, I was already thinking Wells was in danger with the guys we had. You have to think he's going to have to show something extra this year to survive.

I'd hope we'd keep wells as the backup C at least. Should something happen to Spitz we could do far worse for a backup than a guy who has starting experience and is intelligent enough to make the correct line calls on a consistent basis.

A CO (center only) has almost zero roster value if he is not starting. If we are going to keep a CO, he should be kept on the PS (we do, Carvalho). If Wells is not the starter, he will not be on the team.

[wist43]

You have to like this signing. Duke is a far cry from Adrian Klemm and it sounds as if C Scott Wells might be demoted soon

Yeah, I was already thinking Wells was in danger with the guys we had. You have to think he's going to have to show something extra this year to survive.

I thought all you ZBS guys thought Wells was "da bomb"??? You know me... I"ve always loved those "Fightin Midgets"

[Waldo]

You have to like this signing. Duke is a far cry from Adrian Klemm and it sounds as if C Scott Wells might be demoted soon

Yeah, I was already thinking Wells was in danger with the guys we had. You have to think he's going to have to show something extra this year to survive.

I thought all you ZBS guys thought Wells was "da bomb"??? You know me... I"ve always loved those "Fightin Midgets"

Do you have any idea of what attributes teams look for in ZBS lineman?

[wist43]

You have to like this signing. Duke is a far cry from Adrian Klemm and it sounds as if C Scott Wells might be demoted soon

Yeah, I was already thinking Wells was in danger with the guys we had. You have to think he's going to have to show something extra this year to survive.

I thought all you ZBS guys thought Wells was "da bomb"??? You know me... I"ve always loved those "Fightin Midgets"

Do you have any idea of what attributes teams look for in ZBS lineman?

Yeah, mobile midgets... always hated the ZBS, always will. No secret I prefer power football. Just my perference... I'm stuck with the ZBS... we've argued this thing to death long b/4 you got here Waldo.

[Tarlam!]

I'm stuck with the ZBS... we've argued this thing to death long b/4 you got here Waldo.

This is true, we have.

But we haven't really argued whether on not we actually PLAY the ZBS, which don't believe we do. Not effectively anyways.

Cliffy is sheit at cut blocking, Tausch strugglles and our inside OL can't open gaps consistantly on run plays.

It's a half hearted ZBS at best.

[Waldo]

You have to like this signing. Duke is a far cry from Adrian Klemm and it sounds as if C Scott Wells might be demoted soon

Yeah, I was already thinking Wells was in danger with the guys we had. You have to think he's going to have to show something extra this year to survive.

I thought all you ZBS guys thought Wells was "da bomb"??? You know me... I"ve always loved those "Fightin Midgets"

Do you have any idea of what attributes teams look for in ZBS lineman?

Yeah, mobile midgets... always hated the ZBS, always will. No secret I prefer power football. Just my perference... I'm stuck with the ZBS... we've argued this thing to death long b/4 you got here Waldo.

I don't really care how much you've debated the ZBS here, I've debated it to death elsewhere too, 95%+ of Packer fans, even the so called "informed" fans, have no idea what they are talking about.

Mobile midgets is 100% totally and completely false. You have no idea of what you are talking about. They look for the biggest guys that are athletic enough. Problem is that big guys that are athletic enough are extremely rare, whereas the little guys that are athletic enough are much more common and not as valuable to the teams that value size over athleticism.

Little guys are less than ideal prospects for ZBS lines too. Athletic big guys are valuable to everybody. When looking at less than ideal prospects, power lines can live with the reduced athleticism of less than ideal big guys, ZBS lines can live with the smaller size of less than ideal athletic guys. They are still less than ideal.

We are always seeking the Duke Prestons and Josh Sittons, guys that are quite large yet athletic enough to play in a ZBS. You can count on one hand the # of guys in each draft that are both large and athletic enough to play in a ZBS, since those guys are valuable to all teams, they are hard to get your hands on.

The reasons to run a ZBS has absolutely nothing to do with easier to find lineman. Athletic lineman have another trait, they are typically good pass blockers. If you build a line of the best pass blockers you can get your hands on, chances are the running scheme for them to excel in is the ZBS. The old style WCO is used zone based running. Athletic pass blockers is what they would seek in a line. The ZBS at the pro level is a specific system of zone blocking that maximizes the value of the athleticism of the good pass blockers, and is a natural pairing to the WCO. As the NFL becomes more Urban Meyerized and the spread attack grows at the pro level, pass blocking becomes more and more valuable, and more and more teams are switching to the ZBS every year.

[rbaloha1]

Denver Broncos zbs coached by Alex Gibb was the model zbs -- smaller mobile lineman able to reach the second level.

Jags, a Gibb disciple was brought in to implement the scheme. Lineman were drafted to fit the scheme -- Colledge, Spitz & Moll.

Jags departed. IMO the new staff is unable to properly coach the zbs. The o tackles are unable to cut block consistently. Lineman are flip flopped too much.

Thrilled MM is adjusting the scheme with bigger linemen that are mobile -- i.e. Sitton and Preston.

Preston is a wonderful value pick and should compete for the right tackle position.