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re: Any word on which FA the Saints are talking with.

Posted on 3/6/14 at 12:57 pm to
Posted by bountyhunter
North of Houston a bit
Member since Mar 2012
6340 posts
Posted on 3/6/14 at 12:57 pm to
quote:

DLP is no where close to as bad as this board makes him out to be. It blows my mind.

I agree, he is your standard single A gap blocker. I think the biggest problem with the interior Oline this year was them adjusting to a new position coach and blocking assignments. I saw several instances early in the year with an interior lineman standing in an empty gap with no defender to block. That's a blown assignment; usually caused by a mistake on assignments, a player blocking the wrong player, or the Dline confused the line with a maneuver post-snap, like a twist. When Armstead came in and Grubbs was able to focus on his assignments, the line play improved drastically, not only from the edge but also on the interior.

But I have to be pragmatic here; I saw plenty of times where DLP lost on the 1 on 1s and got overpowered. He's still backup caliber to me, and I really want to see the team inject a veteran at C and draft the future late in the draft. If they keep DLP for a low sum, I'd say forgo the veteran FA. But the biggest no-no for the Saints in this situation is to overpay DLP; it'd be better to let him walk and spend some cash to go after a more stable player at that position.
This post was edited on 3/6/14 at 1:01 pm
Posted by BigBrod81
Houma
Member since Sep 2010
18971 posts
Posted on 3/6/14 at 1:22 pm to
quote:

But I have to be pragmatic here; I saw plenty of times where DLP lost on the 1 on 1s and got overpowered.


This is the problem right here. DLP is consistently inconsistent. He's not a true mauler in the run game & his footwork can be atrocious at times in pass protection. While he isn't as bad as the guy he replaced, Olin Kruetz, this past season, he wasn't that much better.

quote:

He's still backup caliber to me


This. Playing next to Nicks & Evans in 2011 gave everyone a false since of his worth. In 2011, Carl Nicks was truly dominant & probably the best offensive lineman in the league with Evans not being that far behind him. Those two were able to cover up any weaknesses of DLP.

Grubbs is solid Guard but his play in his first 2 years as a Saint has been nowhere near the level of Carl Nicks before he left. In return, we have seen DLP become a bit exposed at certain points during games.
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