Hendrickson next week, if he's healthy, will be a good test
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Brandon Thorn did a deep dive and thought he really struggled. He’s a straight shooter and a pretty damned good evaluator of this stuff.

If he and Schwartz are saying that, I take it at face value.
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It’s so difficult for a team drafting late every year to find a starting LT that is even marginally decent and not a dumpster fire that ruins games like Orlando Brown Jr and Wanya Morris have done.

It was his first game and they left him on an island with almost no help. Can’t help but feel good about his performance even if he struggled a bit. He seemed fine to me most of the game.

I think it’s an enormous win if the kid is floating around an average playable starter that fits the system.
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I'd be amazed if there aren't games he's given a little help. He'll need it to start
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He definitely had some rough reps. Think that’s the rub. The highs are nice, the losses were pretty brutal. Needs to lose slower when he does lose.

Hopefully he’s far from a finished product. Doubt he’s ever an All-Pro, but don’t think he needs to be.
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If he can get up to Donovan-Smith-last-year level this season, it’s a great pick.

I’m not disparaging the guy - he’s a (young) rookie. I just want to be realistic about what he is and what he isn’t at the moment. Wanya Morris had some real bright spots early last year before the wheels kinda fell off. Just gotta be patient and hope he improves over the course of the season.
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In baseball, occasionally a young player called up to the majors starts his career by hitting the cover off the ball in his first month, some (like Jeff Franceour,) even look like the second coming of Bonds.

At about the month mark, enough footage/scouting has been compiled to single out weaknesses. In Bobby Witt’s first year, it was that he couldn’t lay off the slider. Pitchers then proceeded to pound the slider over and over again, burying him with that strategy until Bobby adjusted. But some players (like Franceour) are never able to counter that first adjustment.

I feel like we saw that happen with Wayna last year. Once teams got film of his weaknesses against NFL talent and speed, they were able to hone in on those weaknesses and crush him (like the Fade on Christmas). It does not seem like Wayna has been able to adjust now that tapes out on him.

Believe it or not, Niang also had a really strong and encouraging performance in Week 1 against a good Browns line in 2021. The physicality of the game seemed to do him in, as he was never able to last the season.

If Kingsley can be stout at this level all year (more or less where Smith was last year), I’ll be happy. The concern will come if a consistent weakness reveals itself on tape.
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:-) Crediting him with 1 pressure yet ends up with a grade under 50. PFF scores are a worthless metric and I can't wait until it's completely irrelevant.
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Just say it. You know you’re itching to say it…it’s killing your inside. Don’t be scared. I’ll start out for you

We need to bring back……



You got this little buddy
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Yeah, just about NOBODY cares about his run-blocking right now. It'll likely get better, but his JOB is to protect Pat.
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only 33 pass plays. Only 54 total offensive plays.

That seems awfully low. Almost certainly a product of the number of 3rd down conversions we surrendered.

We struggled to force turnovers and get their offense off the field. So we just didn't get to run many plays.

Tell ya what, if you're gonna put stock in these PFF grades, you should be FAR more concerned about Trey Smith's 50.2 pass-block grade than you are about Kingsley's 37 in run blocking.

And Taylor wasn't much better. Honestly, that one checks out. I usually think PFF is being awfully hard on our OT play but Taylor just flat got dog-walked a couple times last night. Setting aside the penalties, he's usually a pretty sturdy pass protector. But I saw a couple straight bull rushes that just drove him back into the pocket last night.

On offense, Taylor was probably my biggest concern last night. Athleticism looked good but he seemed to really be struggling with power.
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The Schwartz isn't a sunshine pumper unless it's Mahomes.
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Agreed. And apparently he lost some weight this offseason to make up for the alignment tweaks, but if it means he can’t anchor the same, big mistake.

It’s very early but he’s definitely on a trajectory to not finish out this contract.
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I think I'm less concerned about Smith compared to Taylor, He was up against what, Ojabo? At keast Smith had Jones, Pierce and Madubuike. Taylor is the weak link on this OL, imo. He moves well but I'm not sure he's ever anchored well.
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And it's more or less impossible to get out from under it for the next 2 seasons, correct?
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