Beachum, Adams, Gilbert

[Wingman]

Really? He was with the eagles who released him. We picked him up and converted him to tackle and you think he has a chance to beat out Beachum? In all seriousness why do you think this is a possibility? I'm just curious at this point.

He has had an entire off-season to transition and develop as a player. He gained about 48lbs of lean muscle mass and has been working at playing the position of tackle. He is quick and has demonstrated tremendous push when run blocking. He is now focusing on the reset and getting lower in his stance. The guys that think he will be real good at this are Tunch and Wolf. Tunch has been retained by the team again to work with the linemen. The guy we have now is vastly different from the guy the eagles released. My hope for this new kid is not because I do not like Beachum as he was originally chosen to upgrade an interior position. Beachum is an over-achiever who should not be able to play left tackle as well as he does because of size issues. I would suggest to you that Beachum would be an upgrade over Foster in a big way and with him in the line with a good left tackle we would have a great line instead of a good one.

I do not dislike Beachum in anyway he is a good player and can actually play every position on the line. I am just hoping the team can improve what is already good.

 

[obxsteeler]

He maybe just that and if so it would be great. The knock on him is he doesn't have the specific size desired for the position but might be even better inside where his size is not as limiting. Point is if Alejandro turns out to win the position and gets ahead of Beachum and he is moved to guard we have upgraded two positions. Further there would now be two viable left tackles on the team and few teams have that kind of luxury. I think the last time we had a guard that could play left tackle well it was Alan Faneca. And if Beachum could bring that to the interior we would have a line that was very hard to beat.

Not sure why his size doesn't limit him more at guard. LT's normally block the best pass rusher's who are 3-4 lb's or 4-3 de's. Most are lighter than Beachum. If he moves inside he's dealing with 3-4 de's and nt's or 4-3 dt's, most of whom are bigger. As I recall Faneca only played LT in an emergency. He was a pulling roadgrader guard who's weakest part may have been his pass protection. Probably good it's not our call and great we have Munchak to make it.

 

[Wingman]

He has a smaller area to pass protect as he has other players on each side of him. Most tackles have very large wingspans that allow them to push speed guys wide of the pocket. Beachum is not a plodder and would be very good at pulling. I think he would be much better than Foster. It will be interesting to see how all this works out.

 

[SteelChip]

Really? He was with the eagles who released him. We picked him up and converted him to tackle and you think he has a chance to beat out Beachum? In all seriousness why do you think this is a possibility? I'm just curious at this point.

That's a good point SW but there may be a glimmer there somewhere.

6-foot-9 Villanueva had quite a resume at West Point, where he played multiple positions on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball.

Originally recruited as a tight end, Villanueva was moved to defensive lineman his freshman year, though spent most of his time on special teams. In his sophomore year Villanueva was moved to offensive line, and by his junior year he was a full-time starter at left tackle.

But his senior year saw more changes. Coaches converted Alejandro Villanueva to a 290-pound wide receiver, with the Army football program billing him as one of the biggest players in college football.

“Already touted as the tallest football player in the country, Villanueva completed the transformation from being an offensive lineman for the past two years, to running routes on the field with the starting offense last Saturday night,” the college noted.

Two things I see. He is obviously a talented athlete with experience at Tackle and it's possible the Eagles had him slotted at the wrong position (DL). I like his story and hope he does well but have to agree with you...he's a long shot at best. Good Luck Ali