Scout's Inc: Pouncey is a Pro Bowler in the making

[Oviedo]

Re: Scout's Inc: Pouncey is a Pro Bowler in the making

IMO either Hartwig or Legursky will be the odd men out heading into the season. I hope it is the former and Legursky can wrestle the job from him. As I have said before the long term solution is Pouncey at C and Urbik at RG.

Urbik is currently running as the 3rd string LG and is not even in the mix at RG...Essex, Pouncey and Foster are ahead of him there. In fact, Urbik is being tried at C right now, what makes you think he is the long-term solution at RG?

What is the surprise there? Kemo and Essex are the starters and Foster is the 2nd team G with Legursky at the end of the season. Urbik was 3rd team last year and Pouncey & Scott are now in the equation. Urbik is running 2nd team C with Hartwig not practicing while Legursky is playing RG with 2nd team. I think you are reading too much into how they are pairing up. Urbik had 4 Gs ahead of him at the end of the season and Pouncey's draft position immediately slots him ahead. Urbik has no easy task ahead of him.

Maybe the best way to understand it is this. As long as Essex, Foster, & Legursky are on the roster...Urbik will "always" be behind them if he is not the starter. If he plays well at C, he has a shot at overtaking Legursky if he isn't starting. Playing inside & out will dress you on gameday and move you up the depth chart. Pouncey is a talent and light years ahead of Urbik coming out. No surprise if he would be #2 at G in rookie camp, OTA's, and possibly even training camp. He will start at RG by game 3 in the preseason because they will want to see him with the 1st team. I don't expect him to give it up after that.

I think you need to go into this with an open mind. The old OL caoch and his system is gone. We don't know what Kugler is implementing and how that plays to the strengths of the players at each position. Foster may have been very good at what Coach Z asked them to do but Urbik may be better at what Kugler wants.

The new coach will go into this will no preconceived notions. In reality I think Essex is out at Giard. He was OK but nothing special. Foster was also OK but nothing special. Urbik didn't seem to figure it out. Lots changes in the off season and maybe Urbik did the things he needed to to get better. He definitely looks much bigger and keep in mind that he was one of the top 3 rated Guards coming out in last years draft for a reason.

I think with Kugler at the helm both Center and RG are totally open.

[Eddie Spaghetti]

Re: Scout's Inc: Pouncey is a Pro Bowler in the making

umm, Foster played pretty damn well at RG last year, and Urbik as we know was physically overmatched from the very first day of camp. anybody who says he is the long term solution at RG is blowing smoke.

there is NOTHING to suggest that other than him being a 3rd round pick of the steelers , which other than wallace have not panned out lately. he better really show something in camp to even make the team much less entrench himself as a starter.

[Flasteel]

Re: Scout's Inc: Pouncey is a Pro Bowler in the making

umm, Foster played pretty damn well at RG last year, and Urbik as we know was physically overmatched from the very first day of camp. anybody who says he is the long term solution at RG is blowing smoke.

there is NOTHING to suggest that other than him being a 3rd round pick of the steelers , which other than wallace have not panned out lately. he better really show something in camp to even make the team much less entrench himself as a starter.

I didn't sit there and grade Foster out, but I can say that he didn't appear to be in any way a liability. That's a lot to be said for an undrafted rookie who is playing next to an injured center, who is at best pedestrian when fully healthy.

That said, Oviedo's point is still very valid. If Urbik is struggling with his assignments in a zone scheme, it can easily cause a slight delay coming out of his stance. This is goint to give any D-tackle with an ounce of quickness, a physical edge. Put him in a man-blocking situation and he could fire out of there like he had rockets on his ass.

It might well turn out to be the case that we eventually start referring to him as Kraig Urkle. But I think that moniker would be premature until he has had a fair shake under the new line coach.

[RuthlessBurgher]

Re: Scout's Inc: Pouncey is a Pro Bowler in the making

It is interesting that Roethlisberger's suspension may actually benefit Pouncey.

In a typical year, if Pouncey's play in the pre-season is reasonably comparable to a veteran's play in the pre-season, the coaches may opt to play the veteran at the beginning of the season to give the rookie more time to learn, then maybe insert the rookie after the bye week, so they have two solid weeks of practice to prepare him for his first start.

However, since everyone expects Ben's suspension to be reduced from 6 games to 4, his first game back would be the Cleveland game following the bye week. Do you think that the team would want to risk inserting a rookie o-lineman for his first start at the same time we get our franchise QB back?

In this unique year, if Pouncey's play in the pre-season is reasonably comparable to a veteran's play in the pre-season, they may opt for Pouncey instead of the vet, so the rook has a month of NFL experience under his belt before the franchise QB gets back.