Laurent??

[bjf1984]

So....with Mangiro out, Laurent played probably the best 60 minutes by a PSU OC in the last two years.

We know (I think, based on CJF's comments) that if Mangiro is healthy enough to go, he will be back in the lineup this week. So, given that:

1 - Do you simply replace Laurent with Mangiro ......and keep everyone else where they are (Palmer/Mahon/Mangiro/Gaia/Nelson from left to right)?

or

2 - Do you try to keep Laurent in the lineup and shuffle some other guys around?

Nelson...Mangiro....Laurent....Gaia....Mahon?
Palmer....Mahon....Laurent....Mangiro....Nelson?
Nelson....Mahon....Laurent....Gaia....Mangiro?
Nelson....Laurent....Mangiro....Gaia....Mahon?

Thoughts?


Balancing the plusses and minuses of "stability" vs "best five" is a bit of a dilemma.

 

[getmyjive11]

Mangiro is our best overall OL. If he is healthy and ready to go, I would like to see the following...

LT - Nelson
LG - Mangiro
C - Laurent
RG - Gaia
RT - Mahon

I think that is our best five right now.

 

[bmw199]

Do we have a third? Yes: Nelson....Mahon....Laurent....Gaia....Mangiro
or
Jives is fine too

 

[bjf1984]

Mangiro is our best overall OL. If he is healthy and ready to go, I would like to see the following...

LT - Nelson
LG - Mangiro
C - Laurent
RG - Gaia
RT - Mahon

I think that is our best five right now.

That was the first option I thought of as well.
I should have mentioned - though I makes the whole thing even more complicated - Dowrey deserves (based on his play relative to the others) to at least be in the conversation as well.

I HATE to sit down Palmer.......who I think will - in time - be a nice OT, but he has just been force fed so quickly it is kind of unfair to him (FWIW, his 1st half Saturday was OK)....but the idea of exposing Hack to complete breakdowns in Pass Pro is kind of frightening.

Mahon probably has the best pure athletic skills to play OT.....out of the available options to move to OT.


Obviously, none of the options are great (or even good).......this is a real pickle - I think - for Hand and the staff.

 

[bmw199]

That was the first option I thought of as well.
I should have mentioned - though I makes the whole thing even more complicated - Dowrey deserves (based on his play relative to the others) to at least be in the conversation as well.

I HATE to sit down Palmer.......who I think will - in time - be a nice OT, but he has just been force fed so quickly it is kind of unfair to him (FWIW, his 1st half Saturday was OK)....but the idea of exposing Hack to complete breakdowns in Pass Pro is kind of frightening.

Mahon probably has the best pure athletic skills to play OT.....out of the available options to move to OT.


Obviously, none of the options are great (or even good).......this is a real pickle - I think - for Hand and the staff.

Correct me if I am mis-remembering but didn't Mangiro play well at tackle last year in place of Smith. Mahon had looked good there too this year, honestly maybe better at tackle than gaurd.

 

[bjf1984]

Correct me if I am mis-remembering but didn't Mangiro play well at tackle last year in place of Smith. Mahon had looked good there too this year, honestly maybe better at tackle than gaurd.

Mangiro played a little at RT when Smith went down (they moved Nelson from RT to LT, and put Laurent at OC so Mangiro could go out to RT).

"Play well"? Uh.....no.
Not his fault, of course, but.....no. Like expecting a fish to climb a tree.

 

[bmw199]

Mangiro played a little at RT when Smith went down (they moved Nelson from RT to LT, and put Laurent at OC so Mangiro could go out to RT).

"Play well"? Uh.....no.
Not his fault, of course, but.....no. Like expecting a fish to climb a tree.

Oh, well it was a while ago.

I agree that I don't like the idea of shaking Palmer's confidence but I don't think he is one of the best 5 lineman that give us the best chance to win this weekend.

 

[bjf1984]

Oh, well it was a while ago.

I agree that I don't like the idea of shaking Palmer's confidence but I don't think he is one of the best 5 lineman that give us the best chance to win this weekend.

Yep. Tough decision.

 

[dawgduice]

Well the OL is sort of like throwing darts to find the "best" five

 

[hagberg]

That was the first option I thought of as well.
I should have mentioned - though I makes the whole thing even more complicated - Dowrey deserves (based on his play relative to the others) to at least be in the conversation as well.

I HATE to sit down Palmer.......who I think will - in time - be a nice OT, but he has just been force fed so quickly it is kind of unfair to him (FWIW, his 1st half Saturday was OK)....but the idea of exposing Hack to complete breakdowns in Pass Pro is kind of frightening.

Mahon probably has the best pure athletic skills to play OT.....out of the available options to move to OT.


Obviously, none of the options are great (or even good).......this is a real pickle - I think - for Hand and the staff.

I was wondering why you left Dowrey out of the mix. I haven't seen Gaia setting the world on fire this year, and Dowrey is -reportedly - the strongest OL we have. He has looked better (in limited reps) than he did last year; can't say that for everyone. Maybe try a lineup like:

Nelson - Dowrey - Laurent - Mangiro - Mahon

Mahon has done an OK job at RT, better IMO than he has at LG next to Palmer. This would also keep Mangiro close to Laurent to help out with the line calls. However, this is what I expect to see, and I would understand if we do since it's what the players are most familiar with:

Palmer - Mahon - Mangiro/Laurent - Gaia - Nelson

 

[BBrown]

So....with Mangiro out, Laurent played probably the best 60 minutes by a PSU OC in the last two years.

We know (I think, based on CJF's comments) that if Mangiro is healthy enough to go, he will be back in the lineup this week. So, given that:

1 - Do you simply replace Laurent with Mangiro ......and keep everyone else where they are (Palmer/Mahon/Mangiro/Gaia/Nelson from left to right)?

or

2 - Do you try to keep Laurent in the lineup and shuffle some other guys around?

Nelson...Mangiro....Laurent....Gaia....Mahon?
Palmer....Mahon....Laurent....Mangiro....Nelson?
Nelson....Mahon....Laurent....Gaia....Mangiro?
Nelson....Laurent....Mangiro....Gaia....Mahon?

Thoughts?


Balancing the plusses and minuses of "stability" vs "best five" is a bit of a dilemma.

Your first combo is the one I like the most and I think it would be pretty good.

 

[bjf1984]

I was wondering why you left Dowrey out of the mix. I haven't seen Gaia setting the world on fire this year, and Dowrey is -reportedly - the strongest OL we have. He has looked better (in limited reps) than he did last year; can't say that for everyone. Maybe try a lineup like:

Nelson - Dowrey - Laurent - Mangiro - Mahon

Mahon has done an OK job at RT, better IMO than he has at LG next to Palmer. This would also keep Mangiro close to Laurent to help out with the line calls. However, this is what I expect to see, and I would understand if we do since it's what the players are most familiar with:

Palmer - Mahon - Mangiro/Laurent - Gaia - Nelson

FWIW, If it was up to me (which, thank God, it isn't):

I'd probably - based on what I have seen on the field this far - would start with (left to right):

Palmer.....Mahon/Dowrey....Laurent.....Mangiro....Nelson

and I would be ready to make a switch at LT right off the bat if Palmer is getting abused. Even if he isn't getting worked over, I would probably - for a series here and there, just to get him some rest - go with:

Nelson....Mangiro....Laurent....Dowrey or Gaia (if Dowrey, maybe flip-flop he and Mangiro since Dowrey is the better "puller")....Mahon


That's a lot of potential "switching around", which isn't ideal, but I think it at least is worth thinking about going a little "out of the box" with this line's makeup.

 

[BBG65]

Franklin addressed this in his press conference. He praised Laurent and said they'd have to make a decision whether to put Mangiro back at center or play him at guard.

 

[hagberg]

FWIW, If it was up to me (which, thank God, it isn't):

I'd probably - based on what I have seen on the field this far - would start with (left to right):

Palmer.....Mahon/Dowrey....Laurent.....Mangiro....Nelson

and I would be ready to make a switch at LT right off the bat if Palmer is getting abused. Even if he isn't getting worked over, I would probably - for a series here and there, just to get him some rest - go with:

Nelson....Mangiro....Laurent....Dowrey or Gaia (if Dowrey, maybe flip-flop he and Mangiro since Dowrey is the better "puller")....Mahon


That's a lot of potential "switching around", which isn't ideal, but I think it at least is worth thinking about going a little "out of the box" with this line's makeup.

I know what you mean about the "switcheroo" not being ideal. One way to lessen the impact would be to leave the interior alone and just rotate tackles:

AN - DD - WL - AM - BM
PP - DD - WL - AM - AN/BM

The one most affected, Nelson (switching from LT to RT), is also the one I believe who could handle it best. If necessary, use Gaia to spell the guards and tell Laurent to suck it up and play!