Russell Okung a Bronco

[Rockinkuwait]

I'm guessing it is a better chance that the next year is picked up than not. If Okung plays as well as I believe the coaching staff thinks he will, $12 MM for a top notch LT is certainly reasonable.

I don't think they felt strongly on him to work out a deal that basically is 0$ guaranteed. I guess you could say 1 mil guaranteed as long as he shows up for rehab and if able, participates in the off-season stuff.

His first year salary/roster bonus isn't even guaranteed if he loses the job in camp. And after his major drop off in pass protection last year and injury history, that isn't even a given even. Those "surprise" cuts in camp, this has that feeling of one. Small chance yes, but that's the kind of player with the kind of contract. He needs to outplay his competition by a lot to keep that job, and based on last year, that could be tough. I know name recognition goes a LONG ways with offensive linemen and he has that, but his season last year was not good especially in pass protection.

Hope he turns his career around, but his following extension is basically making him top 5 pay (top 3 currently but will probably drop a tad by next year). That's a huge gamble, and I'd say very unlikely for him to see.

 

[Mingo]

We'll trade you Clady.

 

[Rockinkuwait]

We'll trade you Clady.

Honestly for a team with piles of cap room and a real need at LT, that's not a bad pickup. Sure you don't know what you are getting healthwise but his play when healthy hasn't been questioned. 2014 he was a top 5 left tackle and one of the best Bronco's. I fully understand why in their cap situation they can't risk it...

But 10 mil a year next two years, and 0 cap hit if you release him before the start of either year (for the team that trades for him).

If Cle trades Joe Thomas for a haul, or Jags/49ers/Titans etc type teams who could easily afford that, it may be worth a 7th if the owner doesn't care as much about cash paid out. Of course knowing Denver will release him, that could be a bad move (unless competing with another team for him as a FA and losing out).

 

[Mingo]

Maybe I have a grass is greener point of view, but in the comparative health risk of playing Clady or Okung - Clady is a much bigger health risk. The Broncos want to be a run first offense under Kubiak including the short passing game. They want to go deep off play action or in a roll out or reverse roll out at surprise moments. Okung's run blocking skills are very important to the Bronco's scheme.

The strategic reason the Broncos want to be able to run the football is because they will need to give the defense a breather on the clock between possessions. This was - by far - the most fundamental of the weaknesses the Bronco's offense demonstrated last season. If you can't run the ball - you find yourself passing on predictable downs and long yardage to go. When you establish the ability to run the ball the defense isn't able to predict when you will pass the ball and the edge in pass protection goes back to the Oline. Nothing saves the passer more sacks than a defense expecting the run.

I hear the Lions, Giants and a third team are interested in Clady. I've heard middle run for him in a trade, but I can't imagine that high of a draft pick - just for the rights to renegotiate guaranteed money with a guy coming off his 2nd serious leg injury.

 

[cdumler7]

Honestly for a team with piles of cap room and a real need at LT, that's not a bad pickup. Sure you don't know what you are getting healthwise but his play when healthy hasn't been questioned. 2014 he was a top 5 left tackle and one of the best Bronco's. I fully understand why in their cap situation they can't risk it...

But 10 mil a year next two years, and 0 cap hit if you release him before the start of either year (for the team that trades for him).

If Cle trades Joe Thomas for a haul, or Jags/49ers/Titans etc type teams who could easily afford that, it may be worth a 7th if the owner doesn't care as much about cash paid out. Of course knowing Denver will release him, that could be a bad move (unless competing with another team for him as a FA and losing out).

clady was not top-5 in 2014. He was a shell of himself. I would put that season with him being bottom half of the league for a LT. He wasn't fully healed

 

[primetime714]

I'm guessing it is a better chance that the next year is picked up than not. If Okung plays as well as I believe the coaching staff thinks he will, $12 MM for a top notch LT is certainly reasonable.

Yea, LT is one of the positions its ok to spend big on. We got all the other ones too except QB.

 

[Mingo]

Yea, LT is one of the positions its ok to spend big on. We got all the other ones too except QB.

Okung - has built his motivation into his contract. If he proves to be the LT the Broncos are looking for - he gets the big payday - the Broncos get a value. Here's a guy putting himself out there - that he can prove to the Broncos and the world - he is that kind of player.

 

[Rockinkuwait]

clady was not top-5 in 2014. He was a shell of himself. I would put that season with him being bottom half of the league for a LT. He wasn't fully healed

He wasn't his dominant self. I think PFF had him 19th but 5th the last 6 games of the year among LT's so you are right.

Okung ranked 56th according to PFF last year among tackles in pass protection. They aren't everything but Clady got a -2.9 overall grade in 2014 by PFF. Okung got a -8.3 in 2013 and even worse last year. Set career highs for sacks allowed, pressures allowed, QB hits allowed and worst pass blocking grade.

I can see why Denvers first option was trying to keep Clady at that price. And why they didn't commit anything to Okung.

 

[CEH]

Okung is an upgrade over Ryan Harris. Stevenson is an upgrade over Schofield. Schofield is a nice swing player.

 

[Rockinkuwait]

Okung is an upgrade over Ryan Harris. Stevenson is an upgrade over Schofield. Schofield is a nice swing player.

That's a big jump on Stephenson and not sure what you base that on... Ryan Harris beat him out easily when he came back from his PED suspension at RT a couple years ago. Harris came out that year for 10 snaps against the Broncos'. I just watched it again on NFL rewind... Stephenson had a couple holds and got beaten easily on 5 of the others. That's where Chiefs fans really quit booing Harris... They knew what his backup really looked like.

He was really bad last year in his limited time and his benching really solidified that O-line and got the offense back on track. When he came back due to injuries late in the year he picked up where he left off, 6 hurries allowed in his first game back to end the season (put him on pace to lead the league in hurries allowed had he played all year... and penalties too). He got benched for an out of position journeyman guard playing tackle who was bad in pass protection and couldn't get that spot back. He's shown pass protection is not his strong suit every time he has stepped on the field. They must like something about him, but it hasn't been his play on the field. He's consistently been a really weak swing tackle when he has gotten the opportunity to play though. PFF rankings aren't the end all, but he was graded 69th best tackle in 2015 (out of 77) and got that high mostly because he was an average run blocker. Had he played the entire season he could have had enough snaps to be the worst pass blocking tackle of 2015.

As for Okung, well he was about as bad last year as Ryan Harris (maybe slightly better run blocker), but with Harris you know that is the best he will ever be. With Okung you know he has ability and has played much better in the past and hope the downward fall the past two years aren't a trend but instead just really down seasons.

 

[cdumler7]

He wasn't his dominant self. I think PFF had him 19th but 5th the last 6 games of the year among LT's so you are right.

Okung ranked 56th according to PFF last year among tackles in pass protection. They aren't everything but Clady got a -2.9 overall grade in 2014 by PFF. Okung got a -8.3 in 2013 and even worse last year. Set career highs for sacks allowed, pressures allowed, QB hits allowed and worst pass blocking grade.

I can see why Denvers first option was trying to keep Clady at that price. And why they didn't commit anything to Okung.

I have been listening to OL players who actually played in the NFL that say PFF is a joke when it comes to grading OL players. They said that while they may do fine with some of the skill position players they show a huge lack of knowledge of what an OL player is actually doing on any given play. So when I hear OL players actually talk about Okung and how they impress them then to me I listen to that a little more than what PFF has to say.

Now I have actually went and watched every snap of Okung in quite a few games since we acquired him...Is he the best LT in the NFL...No. He has some major technique flaws that I have not seen improvement from when he was a rookie to now. I blame that on coaching. He relies way too heavily on his athleticism and reaches on blocks. Athletically speaking though I watched him on multiple occasions against elite pass rushers reach and miss yet still be able to recover and block them out of the play. If the Broncos can actually coach him up and he can stay healthy I can see him being huge.

As for Clady yes he got better as he got healthier but that was a whole major injury ago that he once again has to recover from. One major injury I'm not usually all that concerned about as plenty of players have actually come back better. Second major injury I expect a little bit of a step back but hey they can still be a decent talent. Third major injury and to me at that point they are just about done. Now if we had gotten a deal done with Clady I would have been happy as he still has huge potential if fully recovered but I would always have serious doubts of him being at what he used to be and that he can last an entire season without a serious injury. They do seem to pile on top of each other as you have to compensate body wise putting more stress on other body parts.

As for the sacks, hits, hurries for Okung. Remember Clady in 2014 had Manning who had a top-3 fastest release in the NFL. You don't have to block very long to look good for Manning. Okung was blocking for a QB that loved to run around and finished bottom half of the league in snap to release. So we are talking a guy required to block much longer, a QB he doesn't exactly know where he is going making it difficult to know which way to block a guy, and not exactly the greatest talent around him to help out. If I were you I would go watch his games if you can over the past couple of years and you can easily see Okung has been by far the best OL player for Seattle and the stats don't tell the whole tale.

 

[DownSetHutch]

Okung isUpgrade over Ryan Harris. Stevenson is an upgrade over Schofield. Schofield is a nice swing player.

CEH, love that new avatar!! That is some funny shit! Belated welcome to the Broncos board. (You've been here for a while, but anyways ...).

I have an especially strong hope for Mark "Dirty" Sanchez to do well for us - Bronco fan, USC fan - and I am feeling more and more confident that he could do well for us (lead). He is a winner, he leads well when the pressure gets higher, and he has the tools to run this offense. He is not ideally suited for it, but if he is who we end up with for the season, I will not be worried at all. I have given up on the repeat idea, (not completely), but for the most part. I think Sanchez could lead us into the playoffs and pull off a win or two. That would be awesome !! I would be cool with that.

But ideally, we pick up Colin Krapperdick - errr - Kaepernick, and I think he could run this offense well. He is made for this offense, and with our defense we could be dominant.

Oh wait, is this a Russell Okung thread? My bad....

 

[Mingo]

Okung's athleticism is why he better fits the Kubiak offense - than he does the Seahawk offense. In the zone blocking run game and short passing game - Okung can get to the 2nd level of the defense and still be effective - that is the block the springs the 40 yard run -and makes the run game dynamic.