Duke Preston Signed

[HarveyWallbangers]

Please let us know which college teams primarily run zbs.

The ZBS is common in college. I could name several teams that run it. Josh Sitton played in the ZBS at Central Florida. Notre Dame runs it. Marion Barber and Laurence Maroney ran behind ZBS schemes at Minnesota. Michigan and West Virginia run it. Those teams run ZBS with spread offenses. College teams run it for some of the same reasons that NFL teams do. It's hard to find big people. It's easier to find a guy like Greg Eslinger (All-American at Minnesota who went virtually unrecruited). It's easier to find a smaller, athletic high school OL that could develop into good ZBS blockers than it is to find the protypical mammoth, smashmouth OL.

[Gunakor]

The zbs is not widely used in college f-ball due to the proliferation of spread offenses which makes evaluating offensive talent more difficult for the NFL.

The specific Gibbs basic ball ZBS is very rare, correct, but zone based running schemes are in fact extremely common and many of the NCAA zone based schemes are much more advanced than their pro counterparts, and feature pulling lineman and whatnot as part of specific zone based plays.

Please let us know which college teams primarily run zbs.

Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota, right off the top of my head in the big 10.

Careful Waldo. He thinks the Big 10 is very overrated. You might have to come up with a school from the Pac 10 or the SEC or the Big 12 to convince him.

Edit: didn't catch the edit to your post before starting this one.

[Waldo]

Please let us know which college teams primarily run zbs.

The ZBS is common in college. I could name several teams that run it. Josh Sitton played in the ZBS at Central Florida. Notre Dame runs it. Marion Barber and Laurence Maroney ran behind ZBS schemes at Minnesota. Michigan and West Virginia run it. Those teams run ZBS with spread offenses. College teams run it for some of the same reasons that NFL teams do. It's hard to find big people. It's easier to find a guy like Greg Eslinger (All-American at Minnesota who went virtually unrecruited). It's easier to find a smaller, athletic high school OL that could develop into good ZBS blockers than it is to find the protypical mammoth, smashmouth OL.

Kent State too, I just read about a OT/OG we were scouting there (Parrish), they run a ZBS.

[Dylan McKay]

Not to be a smart ass, or pile on but I think most college teams, even in the spread run the zone. Especially more so because they usually have more defensive players in the box than linemen to block. Teams like Texas, Florida like to run a lot of veer. It sort of the same concept, reach block on the play side, cut block or get to the next level on the backside and option off the decision on the unblocked linemen, whether it is the defensive end or the inside tackle.

[Patler]

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.

As a backup, I'm not sure Wells is a "center only". He spent a half year starting for the Packers at guard. I don't like him as a guard, certainly not as a starter, but in a reserve role where a guy is expected to have some versatility, Wells could provide it.

That said, I wouldn't be surprised to see him traded at draft time. I agree that if he isn't starting he is likely gone, not because of a lack of versatility but because TT will go with a younger guy with more potential.

I think they want Preston to do Moll's job. A back-up at a couple spots. Moll is OK filling in, but he's a disaster when hr starts. Both Moll and Wells gone? Could be, could be.

That's what I'm thinking. I'm not sure they are looking at Preston to be a starter in '09, although I wouldn't be surprised to see them give him a shot at RT. More than likely he will be the backup at center to either Wells or Spitz. If Wells keeps the starting job, Spitz will start at guard, and Preston will come in if needed for Wells rather than moving Spitz. If Spitz takes over for Wells, Wells will be gone, and Preston will backup Spitz.

Moll's contract may be working against him. He qualified for an escalator taking his base salary to over $1M. It's not a lot, but TT might think the extra half-million can be better spent elsewhere.

[Zool]

Not to be a smart ass,

Let er rip man. Its all good here.

Also, scale this down and get your av setup.

[RashanGary]

I like the idea of DC at RT. He played a great game there against the lowly Lions, but still, he looked good. If I had to take a rough guess at the lineup, I'd go something like this:


Clifton or high draft pick
Barbre or Spitz
Spitz, Wells or Preston
Sitton
Colledge

[RashanGary]

Right now, if I had to order the lineman in terms of value to the team (based on my view of quality, age and contract), I would go like this:

Colledge (IMO our best lineman last year and still getting better. Young)
Spitz (solid player. Has a lot of good years ahead)
Sitton (Great college player. Good athlete. Coaches saw something real)

(to me you have to resign both Spitz and Colledge before the season. They're our only two veteran lineman that can play.


Then we have the vets with major warts

Wells (You want to replace him, but he can play this scheme if you have no one esle)
Clifton (old, bad run blocker, but can still protect the blind side)


Then you have the prospects that could easily move ahead of Wells and Clifton or easily be gone:

Preston
Barbre
Giacomini


Obviously we have no stars. We could really use a star to bring the level of the whole group up. We have some prospects, but we have to keep our decent guys here so we're not starting all over again with nothing next year (if they get to UFA, the price goes way up).

[PaCkFan_n_MD]

Right now, if I had to order the lineman in terms of value to the team (based on my view of quality, age and contract), I would go like this:

Colledge (IMO our best lineman last year and still getting better. Young)
Spitz (solid player. Has a lot of good years ahead)
Sitton (Great college player. Good athlete. Coaches saw something real)

(to me you have to resign both Spitz and Colledge before the season. They're our only two veteran lineman that can play.


Then we have the vets with major warts

Wells (You want to replace him, but he can play this scheme if you have no one esle)
Clifton (old, bad run blocker, but can still protect the blind side)


Then you have the prospects that could easily move ahead of Wells and Clifton or easily be gone:

Preston
Barbre
Giacomini


Obviously we have no stars. We could really use a star to bring the level of the whole group up. We have some prospects, but we have to keep our decent guys here so we're not starting all over again with nothing next year (if they get to UFA, the price goes way up).

Good post, I agree. I wouldn't mind if our first pick was a OT.

[SnakeLH2006]

From his Wikipedia page:

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

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

Too bad Longwell wasn't still around. That guy played a mean game too.

Snake's a pretty mean golfer too, yet would bitchslap Longwell if he tried some mulligan BS...Hard to bitchslap a physical beast like Duke when he outweighs ya by 100 lbs.

I think this is a pretty deece TT type signing though, and must be cheap, as the 2 years implies, yet it looks like a project deal as he got his ass beat by many top DL guys last year via the JS article, but noted that he might be our Center??? WTF? That would have to be the biggest center at 6'5" 325 Snake can EVER remember. Dayummm.....

[Guiness]

Right now, if I had to order the lineman in terms of value to the team (based on my view of quality, age and contract), I would go like this:

Colledge (IMO our best lineman last year and still getting better. Young)
Spitz (solid player. Has a lot of good years ahead)
Sitton (Great college player. Good athlete. Coaches saw something real)

(to me you have to resign both Spitz and Colledge before the season. They're our only two veteran lineman that can play.


Then we have the vets with major warts

Wells (You want to replace him, but he can play this scheme if you have no one esle)
Clifton (old, bad run blocker, but can still protect the blind side)


Then you have the prospects that could easily move ahead of Wells and Clifton or easily be gone:

Preston
Barbre
Giacomini


Obviously we have no stars. We could really use a star to bring the level of the whole group up. We have some prospects, but we have to keep our decent guys here so we're not starting all over again with nothing next year (if they get to UFA, the price goes way up).

Things that make ya go Hmmm.

I'm not sure ow Sitton (does he have an NFL start?) ranks ahead of either Wells or Clifton. Wells get the job done, and until unseated, is our starting center. Clifton - well, to steal a good line, he 'knows how to get in the way' Sitton may be the future, but that's a may. As of right now, the other two are the incumbent starters.

[Waldo]

Right now, if I had to order the lineman in terms of value to the team (based on my view of quality, age and contract), I would go like this:

Colledge (IMO our best lineman last year and still getting better. Young)
Spitz (solid player. Has a lot of good years ahead)
Sitton (Great college player. Good athlete. Coaches saw something real)

(to me you have to resign both Spitz and Colledge before the season. They're our only two veteran lineman that can play.


Then we have the vets with major warts

Wells (You want to replace him, but he can play this scheme if you have no one esle)
Clifton (old, bad run blocker, but can still protect the blind side)


Then you have the prospects that could easily move ahead of Wells and Clifton or easily be gone:

Preston
Barbre
Giacomini


Obviously we have no stars. We could really use a star to bring the level of the whole group up. We have some prospects, but we have to keep our decent guys here so we're not starting all over again with nothing next year (if they get to UFA, the price goes way up).

Things that make ya go Hmmm.

I'm not sure ow Sitton (does he have an NFL start?) ranks ahead of either Wells or Clifton. Wells get the job done, and until unseated, is our starting center. Clifton - well, to steal a good line, he 'knows how to get in the way' Sitton may be the future, but that's a may. As of right now, the other two are the incumbent starters.

Give it four months.

Next time we see them, IMO there is a 85%+ chance that Sitton is starting at RG.

Is right now, right now, or is right now the next time that they are seen?

[Joemailman]

Right now, if I had to order the lineman in terms of value to the team (based on my view of quality, age and contract), I would go like this:

Colledge (IMO our best lineman last year and still getting better. Young)
Spitz (solid player. Has a lot of good years ahead)
Sitton (Great college player. Good athlete. Coaches saw something real)

(to me you have to resign both Spitz and Colledge before the season. They're our only two veteran lineman that can play.


Then we have the vets with major warts

Wells (You want to replace him, but he can play this scheme if you have no one esle)
Clifton (old, bad run blocker, but can still protect the blind side)


Then you have the prospects that could easily move ahead of Wells and Clifton or easily be gone:

Preston
Barbre
Giacomini


Obviously we have no stars. We could really use a star to bring the level of the whole group up. We have some prospects, but we have to keep our decent guys here so we're not starting all over again with nothing next year (if they get to UFA, the price goes way up).

Things that make ya go Hmmm.

I'm not sure ow Sitton (does he have an NFL start?) ranks ahead of either Wells or Clifton. Wells get the job done, and until unseated, is our starting center. Clifton - well, to steal a good line, he 'knows how to get in the way' Sitton may be the future, but that's a may. As of right now, the other two are the incumbent starters.

Sitton likely had the RG spot won last year before he was injured, so I can see him projected as a starter. Projecting Wells as a starter just because he's an incumbent might make sense if the Packers had a dominant offense line, but that's not the case. Wells is adequate, but if the Packers are to have significant improvement on the OL, I don't think it will be with Wells as a starter.

[mission]

I ran into Bucs reserve RT Julius Wilson today at the studio and we had some small talk about the draft, Gruden (EVERYONE hated him on the team... EVERYONE he says) and wondered aloud about A.Smith... says the dude is the real deal and and worked out with him a lot in Alabama. He said someone's gonna get a Pro Bowler.

Not that any of this means anything, I just thought it was cool.

(He declined to smoke any weed)

[Packnut]

ZBS

It's an effort in futility to label what run scheme the Packers use. It is not a pure ZBS. If you go back to the orgins of it, MM and TT wanted to model it after the Bronco's scheme. They found out much to their dismay, that it's easier said than done.

So instead of giving it time, it has now become a mixture. The reason it's pointless to label it is because it DOES'NT work. It is inconsistent at best. What's worse is the large number of minus runs that the Packers have had.

Grant had success only because defenses schemed for Favre and feared the pass more than the run. Proof of that is comparing 2007 and 2008. Take away the "Favre" effect and MM's running game whatever you call it has really been piss poor.

I expect more of the same this season just because I believe it's a McCarthy weakness. Jags leaving hurt more than most realize. As was the case with our previous QB, we will live and die with the arm of Mr Rodgers......