Spring Position Battle - Left Guard

[Eric]

Shaq Mason has the right guard spot locked up which only leaves the left guard to be filled...

Competitors - Trey Braun, Shamire Devine and Errin Joe.

Favored - Trey Braun

Trey Braun ended up seeing more action last year than originally anticipated due to the offensive line being ravaged by injuries...as most young Freshman do he played great in spurs and head scratching plays at other times. Braun can play G or T but he is set at G for now...He has good size and decent mobility. He missed some assignments which is to be expected....what I liked about Braun is that he seemed to get better each week. I think he may surprise some this season.

Shamire Devine is by far the biggest signee that CPJ has had measurable wise...Devine is a legit 6'7 and 350 pounds...what makes him so special is his feet. Devine has the quickest feet I have ever seen for a guy his size...If you watch his nike video from the opening you will see exactly what I am talking about. The natural size and ability is all there...we will see how he adjusts to guard and how he puts it all together...He needs to learn to play with a mean streak.

The last one on the list is Errin Joe...Joe suffered a injury that caused him to miss all of last season...From what I have seen in the limited time I have watched him has not been anything special. In fact I have been disappointed with him thus far...He needs to lose weight and get in better shape but he has yet to do show. He is still young so hopefully the light bulb clicks on and he gets things going.

* Nick Brigham can play guard as well.

Prediction - Trey Braun.

I think Braun holds Devine off...Still expect to see Devine get a lot of snaps.

 

[Yoda]

I'm more of a casual observer on the recruiting trail. All I heard about in Devine's class was him, but now everyone is talking about Griffin. Was Griffin a better "get"?

 

[Techster]

Devine needs to shift over to the LT while Griffin mans RT if Braun is starting. Haven't seen him play, but from his HS tape, he's probably already our best OT on the team...definite upgrade already from what we witnessed last season.

No need to have him waiting on the sidelines to give one of the OGs a breather when he's already a vast upgrade from what we fielded a tackle last year.

 

[AE 87]

Devine needs to shift over to the LT while Griffin mans RT if Braun is starting. Haven't seen him play, but from his HS tape, he's probably already our best OT on the team...definite upgrade already from what we witnessed last season.

No need to have him waiting on the sidelines to give one of the OGs a breather when he's already a vast upgrade from what we fielded a tackle last year.

Shamire will likely play tackle at the next level, but I'm not sure he can excel at what we ask our tackles to do.

 

[Eric]

I'm more of a casual observer on the recruiting trail. All I heard about in Devine's class was him, but now everyone is talking about Griffin. Was Griffin a better "get"?

They are both big gets for us and you can really pick either one of them...I just feel that Griffin is a perfect fit for tackle in our offense.

 

[Techster]

Shamire will likely play tackle at the next level, but I'm not sure he can excel at what we ask our tackles to do.

What exactly are we asking our OTs to do that's beyond his capabilities but would make him an NFL OT? Yet he can play guard in our system, which is the most physically demanding positon in our offensive line? Sorry, watching our offense, there isn't anything we're asking our guards or tackles do that Shamire wouldn't excel at.

The main reason Shamire is at guard is because the guard spots are the most important OL positions in our offense, and the staff sees Shamire as a physically dominant OL that with great feet and movement to get to the next level. It's not because he can't excel at OT in our offense.

 

[takethepoints]

I think it's Devine at LG and Braun to OT. Braun can play either position and this arrangement gets the most bang for the buck on the field. Devine is simply too good to leave on the pines and I expect that the coaches will see that and act accordingly.

But Eric could be right too; Coach really likes consistency in starting OL positions and we have good people coming up at OT. We'll see soon enough.

 

[stylee]

I think Techster has a good point about what Devine brings to the G position: you want to be able to neutralize a big DT so that you can free up your Tackles to get downfield. It's not just about what a big guy *can't* do at Tackle.

 

[AE 87]

I think Techster has a good point about what Devine brings to the G position: you want to be able to neutralize a big DT so that you can free up your Tackles to get downfield. It's not just about what a big guy *can't* do at Tackle.

Fair enough. I agree that he will be a great guard for us. I wasn't saying he couldn't play tackle for us. I was saying that the need to get downfield or to the flats would not be his strength.

 

[OldJacketFan]

What Eric points out about Shamire's ability to move caught my eye immediately in his film from the Nike camp. He went up against some of the best pass rushers in the country and I cannot recall him getting beaten once, in my mind he is a prototypical tackle and I would love to see him at LT slot for the next 4 years. I understand why the coaches want him at guard but damn his frame and quickness just screams LT to me!

 

[dressedcheeseside]

What Eric points out about Shamire's ability to move caught my eye immediately in his film from the Nike camp. He went up against some of the best pass rushers in the country and I cannot recall him getting beaten once, in my mind he is a prototypical tackle and I would love to see him at LT slot for the next 4 years. I understand why the coaches want him at guard but damn his frame and quickness just screams LT to me!

Simple solution, move him to tackle on obvious passing plays.

 

[Eric]

I could see Braun playing T as well as someone mentioned above...we are so that we will have several guys moving around.

I am excited about seeing a package with Mason, Devine and O'Reily/Burden

 

[OldJacketFan]

As to pass pro, keep the D line push neutralized at the LOS and you give your QB a pocket to step up into if he gets an outside rush so having Sharmire inside helps with that along with the GCG area for the run game. I guess that's why the coaches are looking at him at guard rather than tackle. With Mason, O'Reily/Burden and Shamire you have a trio of road graders in the middle. Add Griffin at R tackle you've an O line that's going to wear on some folks. Gotta solidy that L tackle slot though.

 

[Boomergump]

That Nike camp video of Devine was so so impressive. If we were playing a different offense, he would certainly be a tackle. In our offense, he is a guard all the way. Who knows, if he has taken his conditioning seriously or if he has a motor? Personally, if the answer to those two questions is yes, then I think it will be hard to keep him off the field. If Griffin is all that, then I say push Braun out to tackle along with him and give Devine a chance at guard. Having a G-C-G combo averaging 320 bills would be imposing to say the least.

 

[jayparr]

That Nike camp video of Devine was so so impressive. If we were playing a different offense, he would certainly be a tackle. In our offense, he is a guard all the way. Who knows, if he has taken his conditioning seriously or if he has a motor? Personally, if the answer to those two questions is yes, then I think it will be hard to keep him off the field. If Griffin is all that, then I say push Braun out to tackle along with him and give Devine a chance at guard. Having a G-C-G combo averaging 320 bills would be imposing to say the least.

Thanks Boomer finally!! I have been waiting quite a spell for your first comments on this position! Don't stop now!

 

[Techster]

My only issue with Devine is leverage. He's 6-7 with long legs. Will he be able to get low enough consistently, or will the shorter DTs and NGs get underneath him causing him to lose leverage? Our best guards have been 6'2 Shaq Mason and 6'3 Uzzi. Both were the squatty types with thick bases who were able to bend low.

That said, the coaches have seen him for a year, and had he not had minor surgery and lost some time, he probably would have played last season. Obviously the coaches think he fits what we need from the guard spot.

Something tells me Shamire will be a starter before the end of the year.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

Gotta solidy that L tackle slot though.

Braun.

 

[vamosjackets]

Braun.

Between Chase Roberts, Brian Chamberlain, Chris Griffin, and possibly Braun, we should be able to find 2 guys that can be very good at that spot and 2 more that should be very good as subs.

 

[takethepoints]

One more thing. Boomer, as part of one of his excellent posts, asks if Devine has taken his conditioning seriously and if he has a motor.

Apparently, he has lost weight and built muscle. Whether that will be enough is a wait and see proposition.

As for his motor: he's 6'7" and will probably play at ~ 345. How much of a motor do you need at that size? You'll outweigh most DTs by somewhere between 25 - 50 lbs. If you can move at all - and he can - ferocity will be sort of beside the point.

 

[alaguy]

That Nike camp video of Devine was so so impressive. If we were playing a different offense, he would certainly be a tackle. In our offense, he is a guard all the way. Who knows, if he has taken his conditioning seriously or if he has a motor? Personally, if the answer to those two questions is yes, then I think it will be hard to keep him off the field. If Griffin is all that, then I say push Braun out to tackle along with him and give Devine a chance at guard. Having a G-C-G combo averaging 320 bills would be imposing to say the least.

B,
I just hope that we find a combination that can work--but having Shamire at OG and Braun at OT with Griffin seems to be best.Actually Ctr is my biggest worry this yr.