wags said:
Yikes!!! Pitts is a better tackle than guard.
Therefore he is the best tackle on the team? That doesn't necessarily follow.
The goal is to field the synergistically best o-line we can, not put Pitts at his best position. Wand/Pitts is a solid, young, healthy left side. Pitts/(Brown or McKinney) is not as good. We can use our free agent picks to shore up the center and RT positions and get the line fixed quicker by going back to our 2004 left side rather than create an additional requirement for a left guard.
A brief summary of many threads that list my points why Wand will surprise people next season:
1) Wand has the speed, quickness and agility to play left tackle in the (assumed) Texans scheme. His weakness is in technique, and the new staff is capable of teaching that.
2) Wand is one of the best run blockers on the team, and the running game is a very important part of our offense. Just because run blocking gets ignored on most discussions about the o-line on this board doesnt make it any less important.
3) Pitts made vast strides between his first and second year at left tackle Wand could easily do the same. If Pitts was not given a chance to play and improve his second year, he might not even be on the team any more, much less be the popular choice for best lineman on the team.
4) I trust the new coaches are better than the old ones, and will teach a coordinated team offense, not a bunch of one-on-one stuff. Wand played one-on-one in pass protection against all defensive ends last year, which was very poor scheming by the coaches. They certainly didnt require the same from Pitts this year, even though they were playing a stunted pass offense. For instance, the only two people Ive seen go one on one with Freeney game after game were Pace and Wand. And Seth Wand is no Orlando Pace.
5) A lot of the perception of Wand comes from the stuff posted last year, like replace the LT and the line will be good and the o-line is the root of all our problems. Well this past year has shown the fallacy of the first statement, and we as fans have realized this past season that not all sacks are directly applicable to the o-line.
6) Wands strengths when he came to the team included a hard work ethic and the willingness to learn. With a good coaching staff these can be leveraged to fix his weaknesses: he does work out like a maniac (recall last off-season Capers had to kick him out of the weight room after marathon sessions because Capers was afraid he was going to hurt himself). Also, the new coaches can use his willingness to learn to teach him to fix his technique. After all we condemn other players for not putting in the time and not fixing their bad habits. Shouldnt we credit the players who do?
7) He has something to prove. Nothing like a PO'd attitude to get your game up.
Thats my reasoning.