Seems like our drafted O-linemen get worse rather than better, is it our coaching?
Warford looked great his rookie season and then slowly declined.
Decker looked like a steal, and now he just doesn’t seem like the same player.
Crosby looked like a steal last year, now he looks like he’s playing in wet-cement.
Dunno man. Sometimes the Lions draft 'em to play one way and then there’s a new OC or new OL coach and they’re asked to do something they ain’t so good at. Or maybe it’s injuries sometimes, Decker hasn’t been the same since he tore his labrum, maybe it messed with his mind. Wagner, I wonder if he got the big bucks contract and now he’s just coasting?
No clue about Crosby, looks to me like he just ain’t good enough to handle the speedy Edge guys. Did they even look at him inside? Not enough maybe, or maybe he just ain’t good enough period. Has he been in good shape condition-wise? Dunno, but he’s playing himself out of a job.
All fair points. I never thought of it like that. To me, it seems like more of an injury thing, but why is THAT so common. Warford got hurt, wasn’t the same after…until he left. Decker seemed to decline after injury too. Crosby never really showed me that much.
We most definitely have never solved the riddle of OL though.
Other than his predraft hype, I’ve never heard anything but bad things on Crosby.
He was considered to be a 2nd round prospect and wasn’t he like one of the better run-blocking OT’s in college football his last two years…
Crosby was an analytical star in 2017; posting some of the highest ratings as both a pass and run-blocker for Oregon. Rang ranks him the 58th best prospect in the class, and sixth among tackles. Rang calls him “agile, powerful and tenacious,” and if he shows those qualities in the loaded Senior Bowl roster, he could move into Day 1, early Day 2 conversations.
A couple of random thoughts:
Warford was still good when he left. He just couldn’t stay healthy. Fans blamed the overall offensive line problems on all of the lineman, but if you go back and watch Warford by himself, you’ll see he was playing at a high level.
The idea that players in general would “get worse” over time isn’t unusual. Once teams have film on a guy, and know all of his strengths and weaknesses, a lot of guys can’t recover. They just get progressively worse (aka taken advantage of) until they are out of the league and the team moves on to fresh meat. Being fully transparent, I haven’t gone back to do an extensive film study to see if Decker is truly getting worse or if we just perceive him to be.
Eventually, all players get worse.