Elijah Wilkinson Appreciation Thread

[Draft Crazy]

Joins Attachou with the Bears.

 

[Draft Crazy]

So we trade the Bears Danny Trevathan for a player to be named five years ago.
We get Kyler Fuller and throw in Attachou and Wilkinson

For real it was time to move on from Wilkinson buy I wish him the best. I’ll be rooting for him. Good guy who showed us something as an undrafted free agent. We learned we don’t want to depend on him as a starter though. I think his injury last year really hurt him and perhaps a healthier season could turn him into decent depth.

He showed promise before his foot injury.

 

[Mingo]

I like Wilkinson, just not as a player - I certainly wouldn't get all @Jiddy about him.

 

[cdumler7]

I'll give him a wave good bye as he leaves. Not the worst player the Broncos have had, but seemed too loved by the coaching staff at times compared to his production on the field. Hoping they find someone that can actually be a long-term solution at the position and let them grow for a year behind James.

 

[Draft Crazy]

I'll give him a wave good bye as he leaves. Not the worst player the Broncos have had, but seemed too loved by the coaching staff at times compared to his production on the field. Hoping they find someone that can actually be a long-term solution at the position and let them grow for a year behind James.

This about sums it up how I feel about a lot of the “Elway” players in which happens with pretty well every team has these types.
Did Wilkinson deserve a roster spot? I think so as before his injury he was decent. Should we have depended on him as much as we did? Probably not. He should have been a back end OT not the starting RT or the “6th OL”...

I love Joe Jones as a person but another guy that is raved about and has become our special teams captain but a guy who really hasn’t been anywhere near a great special teams player...He is just another LB with very little upside who has been around for 4 years now.. and another guy I think Paton is moving on from as part of his plan to make us a better team.

 

[CEH]

Wilkinson was drafted to be a swing OT. A spot duty lineman. It was Elway's terrible FA pickups that forced Eli into starting duty. He was a trooper.

 

[fightinredantz]

Good luck to him, but it was time to move on.

 

[Draft Crazy]

Wilkinson was drafted to be a swing OT. A spot duty lineman. It was Elway's terrible FA pickups that forced Eli into starting duty. He was a trooper.

This....

Minus the drafted part since he was undrafted.
Wilkinson didn’t develop into what Elway put him in position to do but he made a good swing OT.

 

[Jiddy]

Is this scrub any good or what? I'm glad you guys at least put a decent stamp on ahchoo or whatever...So another like that would be nice.

 

[Orange Crush77]

Is this scrub any good or what? I'm glad you guys at least put a decent stamp on ahchoo or whatever...So another like that would be nice.

Um no, he’s terrible. i hate to be nasty about it, but he gets beaten like a drum on damn near every snap as far as pass protection

 

[megalodon30]

Is this scrub any good or what? I'm glad you guys at least put a decent stamp on ahchoo or whatever...So another like that would be nice.

He's absolutely terrible. If he starts at all at tackle this year, your QBs will get killed.

 

[Draft Crazy]

My take on Wilkinson is this.

If you depend on him as a spot starter and a guy who can back up multiple positions on the OL he will do the trick. I think Elijah Wilkinson belongs in the NFL, but I think he is limited. I don't think he is a guy you want to depend on as a week in and week out starter. I think he is a valuable guy to have on your roster as a versatile player who you can depend on if needed but you can't rely on him too much. I also think his foot injury from the previous year greatly impacted his play last year when we depended on him as a starter. He struggled last year and then went on IR when it was said to be that he never was fully healthy going into this year from his foot injury the year before. I think it was time for Denver to move on from him but I think he is a guy worth signing if you don't plan on depending on him too much. He has starting experience and he can backup at both OT positions.

He was bad last year but he was also unhealthy.

 

[megalodon30]

Addition by subtraction. Dude was an absolute turnstile. Worthless blocker. One of the worst lineman in football. Good riddance. Congrats to him on getting another paycheck, just glad it isn't in Denver.

 

[LGM]

Is this scrub any good or what? I'm glad you guys at least put a decent stamp on ahchoo or whatever...So another like that would be nice.

More of a vomit burp than a sneeze with this one.

 

[Orange Crush77]

He honestly has no business being a Tackle in the NFL. I believe he was at least serviceable as a G, definitely a better run blocker. No skill whatsoever as a pass protector. I’m glad he’s doing well as far as getting paid

 

[Draft Crazy]

Wilkinson was bad last year but he has proved prior to last year he can play OG and OT at the NFL level. He stands a better chance to survive in the NFL if a team depends on him as an OG moreso then an OT... But where he is valuable is that unlike most depth OL he can backup at all positions on the OL outside of C I suppose. You don't find many depth OL who can do that.. I am not going to say he can do it at a high level because he can't, but his versatility makes him valuable. We have seen Wilkinson play well at times.. My biggest concern would be that he hasn't played well since his foot injury and it was an issue last year going into the season and then he had a shin issue that landed him on IR. I don't think last year was a great reflection of what Wilkinson can do, but I think it also proved that he isn't starting material in the NFL. The fact that he can play both T spots and can start in a pinch due to his experience and honestly he can probably start as an OG in the NFL makes him a passible signing. Nothing to get excited about but he belongs in the NFL. I think Wilkinson will always be a liability if you are going to depend on him at OT and can probably start at the NFL level as an OG if in the right scheme. I believe our offensive scheme relies on our OG's to have quick feet and good agility where some OL schemes you can get by easier without that skillset. His best year was in 2018 while playing mostly OG for us. His worst year was last year when we plugged him into the starting role vacated by James opting out at RT... I think the worst thing for Wilkinson is that he has gotten worse and not better each year but I think some of that is also the fact that he really doesn't fit our scheme well in the Shurmur offense. His pass protection as an OT is pretty concerning. In conclusion if I am an NFL team I like the fact that I can bring in a guy like Wilkinson to give me versatility that is hard to find in OL, but I am going to be very careful about how much I depend on him... In the perfect world I would have him mostly playing OG but as an option that If an OT goes down during the game I at least have someone who has the experience and versatility of plugging in there for the time being.

 

[cdumler7]

I will add one more positive about him. He is loved by coaches. The guy will work hard and shows he is coachable. I know Munchak loved him before the injuries started setting in this last year, but I think it was based on just how much Wilkinson soaked in anything he said.

 

[LGM]

Wilkinson was bad last year but he has proved prior to last year he can play OG and OT at the NFL level. He stands a better chance to survive in the NFL if a team depends on him as an OG moreso then an OT... But where he is valuable is that unlike most depth OL he can backup at all positions on the OL outside of C I suppose. You don't find many depth OL who can do that.. I am not going to say he can do it at a high level because he can't, but his versatility makes him valuable. We have seen Wilkinson play well at times.. My biggest concern would be that he hasn't played well since his foot injury and it was an issue last year going into the season and then he had a shin issue that landed him on IR. I don't think last year was a great reflection of what Wilkinson can do, but I think it also proved that he isn't starting material in the NFL. The fact that he can play both T spots and can start in a pinch due to his experience and honestly he can probably start as an OG in the NFL makes him a passible signing. Nothing to get excited about but he belongs in the NFL. I think Wilkinson will always be a liability if you are going to depend on him at OT and can probably start at the NFL level as an OG if in the right scheme. I believe our offensive scheme relies on our OG's to have quick feet and good agility where some OL schemes you can get by easier without that skillset. His best year was in 2018 while playing mostly OG for us. His worst year was last year when we plugged him into the starting role vacated by James opting out at RT... I think the worst thing for Wilkinson is that he has gotten worse and not better each year but I think some of that is also the fact that he really doesn't fit our scheme well in the Shurmur offense. His pass protection as an OT is pretty concerning. In conclusion if I am an NFL team I like the fact that I can bring in a guy like Wilkinson to give me versatility that is hard to find in OL, but I am going to be very careful about how much I depend on him... In the perfect world I would have him mostly playing OG but as an option that If an OT goes down during the game I at least have someone who has the experience and versatility of plugging in there for the time being.

Tl;dr.

Cliff notes.

 

[Jiddy]

Welp. Guess I won't be ordering this guy's jersey.

Bears offseason continues to "impress."

 

[Draft Crazy]

Welp. Guess I won't be ordering this guy's jersey.

Bears offseason continues to "impress."

You can have Orange Crush’s Bronco Wilkinson jersey at half price.