Battle at LT

[BearFan PHX]

If Braxton looked this good against the Buffalo starters on Friday, like he did in the game against the 2nd stringers on Sunday, then I agree with all of this. If he is playing himself into the job, then the battle for swing tackle is important, but Im not too worried about it.

I still need to see more to be completely sold. I also wonder whether Trapilo is really out of the LT competition. I know everyone is saying that, and it's probably true, but I wouldnt be shocked if Trapilo was back in the mix this week IF Braxton was uneven on Friday. It's become a narrative that Trapilo is out, and maybe he is. But I can imagine a world where they had Trapilo at the RT spot for this week, to light fires everywhere. If he's the swing tackle, then he still needs reps at LT too. If he's #3 to Benedet then he's fallen a long way in a short time.

I havent really heard too much either way about Friday, so I dunno.

But if Braxton looked as good as he did in the game in the scrimmages, then that's a really good sign, and maybe the competition is ending in Braxton's favor.

I dont know, but the coaches do. And i think they'll do the right thing. But something tells me it may not be over yet either.

[Mongo3451]

Multiple other things Thayer said was that Braxton is looking stronger as time goes and that he really needs to concentrate to sink his hips properly.  He also and said that Braxton has a footwork issue at times, when deciding which way the defender is going to try to defeat him.  Lastly, he said Braxton needs to really hit leg day in the gym and sky's the limit, because he has seen him do everything he had critiqued him for.  The tools are there, he just needs to lock in and work in the off-season.

[Mongo3451]

It all may be too much too little too late.  He could easily sign a contract and lazy out like Nate Davis.  It's up to Braxton.

[ASHKUM BEAR]

1 hour ago, Mongo3451 said:

Multiple other things Thayer said was that Braxton is looking stronger as time goes and that he really needs to concentrate to sink his hips properly.  He also and said that Braxton has a footwork issue at times, when deciding which way the defender is going to try to defeat him.  Lastly, he said Braxton needs to really hit leg day in the gym and sky's the limit, because he has seen him do everything he had critiqued him for.  The tools are there, he just needs to lock in and work in the off-season.

Theo Benedict was interviewed today, such a bright young talent that really gets it. He had to start fresh with the new coaching bc there was no tape on him.  He knows and understands what is asked and is making adjustments and that progress has shown enough that he is now LT1/2 - competing to be 1.

Some intersting comments: Thuney has really helped him with sharing his knowledge (hands,feet, and keep you head up).  He said Ozzy Trapilo is a 50 year old mind trapped in a 20 year body. Him and Kiran are draft/rookie brothers. 

[Stinger226]

As much as no one has leaped ahead to grab the starting job, we clearly have more depth than last year. It is already a win Not having Borom on the team anymore. The scheme and Caleb getting the ball out on time, makes it harder to sack him. Everything is headed in the right direction.

[Stinger226]

https://youtu.be/bjnwOM3k7Ds?si=Ssc-0r1sbmJxBVQ6

This is a good OL breakdown on Ozzy and slows it down to watch the other OL>

[BearFan PHX]

So here's some possibly interesting news.

It's been like 2 weeks now that we've heard Trapilo is exclusively taking reps at RT. Going into the KC game.

And the common wisdom was that Trapilo was now out of the running at LT. At the time I wondered if that was permanent, or something to motivate everyone as well as get him snaps at RT to be a swing tackle at least. And I said at the time that you give a guy snaps at LT too if you want to prepare him for swing tackle, so he would get at least that much action going forward?

So today there is an article in the Trib of an interview by Sean Hammond with Poles. Now, I don't know when this interview occurred, so if it's been sitting in the can for 3 weeks, then there is nothing here. But that's a long time for an interview to go unpublished? So Im wondering if it happened since the KC game?

The article says "As the season nears, Poles recently sat down with the Tribune to discuss the first training camp with Johnson as coach, the evolving relationship between Johnson and Williams and more." so that sounds like after camp closed to me, so after KC.

In the interview Poles is asked abut the competition at LT. and Poles says:

"you have Braxton, and you’re trying to evaluate a guy that’s coming back from a pretty significant injury. And then looking at last year’s tape as kind of the bar, can he get to that point and better? But he’s not quite there yet. He’s closing in on it.

But then the person he’s competing with (Trapilo) is a person that’s never played in the league versus Kiran, who didn’t have his first year, coming from a smaller school (Amegadjie missed most of the 2024 offseason after an injury at Yale). And then Theo enters the conversation, who from a length standpoint may not have everything but from a foot speed and toughness (standpoint) has a lot of things that you like."

So if that is current, that is VERY interesting. It says Trapilo is still right there, and needs more experience. And the description of Jones is just that he's still fighting to regain just where he was last year.

All this to conclude: Maybe Trapilo is still on the radar at LT, and maybe we will see him after the bye, or earlier if Braxton is awful.

Here's the whole interview:

https://archive.is/41r0X#selection-2239.101-2255.138

[Stinger226]

2 hours ago, BearFan PHX said:

So here's some possibly interesting news.

It's been like 2 weeks now that we've heard Trapilo is exclusively taking reps at RT. Going into the KC game.

And the common wisdom was that Trapilo was now out of the running at LT. At the time I wondered if that was permanent, or something to motivate everyone as well as get him snaps at RT to be a swing tackle at least. And I said at the time that you give a guy snaps at LT too if you want to prepare him for swing tackle, so he would get at least that much action going forward?

So today there is an article in the Trib of an interview by Sean Hammond with Poles. Now, I don't know when this interview occurred, so if it's been sitting in the can for 3 weeks, then there is nothing here. But that's a long time for an interview to go unpublished? So Im wondering if it happened since the KC game?

The article says "As the season nears, Poles recently sat down with the Tribune to discuss the first training camp with Johnson as coach, the evolving relationship between Johnson and Williams and more." so that sounds like after camp closed to me, so after KC.

In the interview Poles is asked abut the competition at LT. and Poles says:

"you have Braxton, and you’re trying to evaluate a guy that’s coming back from a pretty significant injury. And then looking at last year’s tape as kind of the bar, can he get to that point and better? But he’s not quite there yet. He’s closing in on it.

But then the person he’s competing with (Trapilo) is a person that’s never played in the league versus Kiran, who didn’t have his first year, coming from a smaller school (Amegadjie missed most of the 2024 offseason after an injury at Yale). And then Theo enters the conversation, who from a length standpoint may not have everything but from a foot speed and toughness (standpoint) has a lot of things that you like."

So if that is current, that is VERY interesting. It says Trapilo is still right there, and needs more experience. And the description of Jones is just that he's still fighting to regain just where he was last year.

All this to conclude: Maybe Trapilo is still on the radar at LT, and maybe we will see him after the bye, or earlier if Braxton is awful.

Here's the whole interview:

https://archive.is/41r0X#selection-2239.101-2255.138

I definitely think he could still play LT and think it was more of a mental rep to play him at RT where he is more comfortable to boost  his  confidence.  Usually stories are developed a week before they post them. I think it is pretty current in a time frame. BJ is very demanding and why all of this is still up in the air.