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[QUOTE="RF2044, post: 3400816, member: 40"]
I don't think that the staff was "surprised" by the OL at all.  Privately, they were quite concerned about it after spring practice last year.  They were hoping that the group would get healthy, and the transfer would be able to provide better play than what he did.  Instead, we had guys injured throughout preseason camp, we had to shuffle players around which prevented them from settling in or developing any semblance of chemistry, and Alexander flopped, then quit.

Devito also started out poorly.  But the positive aspect of being thrown to the wolves is you take your lumps and learn.  He got better as the season went on in terms of decision making and not throwing picks.  And I agree that by the time the line gelled after the personnel changes, Devito was better.

The hope is that he'll take the hard knock lessons from last year and build upon it by working hard this offseason, that returning 4 OL will go a long way towards sustaining the improvement that unit displayed over the last 1/3 of last year, and that the re-emergence of the running game that coincided with the OL's improvement will also benefit Devito.

I agree that the coaching was an issue.  Happy Martin has been replaced.
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