In 2013 Wharton will.....?

[fredtoast]

I say he starts at RT while the guy we draft in the third or fourth round gets up to speed.

[Ben zoo 2]

A distinct possibilit, Fred. I don't remember whartons contract details and dont feel like looking it up now. Then I'll vote.

[Carolinabengalfanguy]

Well we have

Andrew Whitworth: Declining, but should hold down the LT spot for a couple more years

Clint Boling: Only in his third season and has improved from his rookie to sophomore campaigns. Idk if he's better than Wharton, but he may be the better option considering his youth and improvement over the last year. Maybe he could play C?

Travelle Wharton: Getting up there in age and coming off a season ending injury. He was a pretty powerful run blocker before I think keeping him depends on what we have after the draft and FA.

Kyle Cook: Has regressed although never great he was a solid C for us the past few years. He could be upgraded, but it wouldn't be the end of the world if we focused elsewhere and let him try to get back to his old ordinary level of play.

Robinson: Young undrafted rookie, idk if he is the answer either.

Kevin Zeitler: Perfectly fine hopefully he gets better and becomes an all pro.

Andre Smith: one of the better RT in the league we just need to resign him.

Honestly the Alabama or Wisconsin kid should shore up our line assuming we keep Dre which we definitely should.

[phil413]

Coming off an injury and being a cut possibility, I'm not on board with naming him the starter. In the event they let Smith go, one of the top 3 selections need to be used on a tackle or maybe Zeitler plays well enough, but I'd be shocked if they plan to start Wharton. With Brown not liking to pay people to sit at home, I think Wharton comes back so they have actual depth...and if he wins a job so be it.

[Slappy from New Haven]

I voted released. he isn't that good. Stay young and move forward. This was Boling's first year as a starter

[Aquapod770]

He should be kept for depth...if he is starting over Boling, we are gonna have problems.

[TheLeonardLeap]

I don't know if you guys remember this.. but before Wharton even got hurt last year, they were saying Boling was actually pushing him for the starting job. Now Boling has an entire year of experience under his belt, and (presumably) developed his body a little bit more. If he was able to push him for the starting job then, I don't think it'll be much more of a competition now that Boling is better, and Wharton is coming off an injury. That's a + to Boling and a - to Wharton from their previous positions.

So I don't think he'll be starting.

Now as for being kept for depth, the guy will count for $3.7m against the cap next year. $2.7m of that is base salary. Cling Boling will count $675,000 against the cap ($555,000 base salary) while Kevin Zeitler will count $1.7m against the cap ($732,000 base salary). That means a backup guard would cost $1.3m more against the cap and $1.4m more in base salary than both of the starting guards COMBINED.

So I don't think he'll be retained as depth.

[bradfritz21]

Originally Posted by fredtoast

I say he starts at RT while the guy we draft in the third or fourth round gets up to speed.

Who says that Dre's going to leave? You don't think we'll pay him a lot to keep him?

You think he'll have teams knocking down his door to sign him? He'se been great lately, but still not enough of a sample for teams to spend big money, especially because I don't think that anyone has forgotten the time from the end of the college season to the combine.

[bengalfan74]

I don't think Wharton will fit into our plans.

[Night's Watch]

Wharton is a veteran and makes more money than Boling..........meaning he will start and boling will move back to depth. It is the way we do things round here!

[Bengal4ever68]

Whitworth
Wharton
Barrett Jones
Kevin Zeitler
Andre Smith


OR

Whitworth
JC Tretter
Jones
Kevin Zeitler
Andre Smith

[yellowxdiscipline]

We'll keep him.

[D's Nuts and Bolts]

Originally Posted by TheLeonardLeap

I don't know if you guys remember this.. but before Wharton even got hurt last year, they were saying Boling was actually pushing him for the starting job. Now Boling has an entire year of experience under his belt, and (presumably) developed his body a little bit more. If he was able to push him for the starting job then, I don't think it'll be much more of a competition now that Boling is better, and Wharton is coming off an injury. That's a + to Boling and a - to Wharton from their previous positions.

So I don't think he'll be starting.

Now as for being kept for depth, the guy will count for $3.7m against the cap next year. $2.7m of that is base salary. Cling Boling will count $675,000 against the cap ($555,000 base salary) while Kevin Zeitler will count $1.7m against the cap ($732,000 base salary). That means a backup guard would cost $1.3m more against the cap and $1.4m more in base salary than both of the starting guards COMBINED.

So I don't think he'll be retained as depth.

I don't know we paid Geathers 4.2mil with a 6.2mil cap hit in 2012. Obviously he has been around much longer and I will say he played ok this year, but last offseason I was wondering if they would keep him.

Wharton will be here we really don't have a lot of good depth on the Oline and with the injuries that happend last year at G and C it's nice to have a vet. Boling and Z's numbers are so low because they're on their rookie deals.

[Natikid873]

I'm not sure if Wharton has RT experience so no on the 4th option.
Just let them battle it out during camp and start the better.

[Luvnit2]

Originally Posted by fredtoast

I say he starts at RT while the guy we draft in the third or fourth round gets up to speed.

I think he will battle it out with Boling at LG and win the starting LG position. Wharton is a great run blocker. Our weakness of our OL is run blocking so I see Wharton winning the job unless Boling gest stronger again in the off season.

[fredtoast]

Originally Posted by Night's Watch

Wharton is a veteran and makes more money than Boling..........meaning he will start and boling will move back to depth. It is the way we do things round here!

I guess that is why Sims starts over Atkins, Tate is our #2 WR, and Clements and Jason Allen are starters in our defensive backfield.

[Carolinabengalfanguy]

I would say a lineman can play pretty well up until around the ages (34-36) or so.

Our significant linemen assuming we bring everyone back:

Travelle Wharton: 32 - 2 to 4 years left
Andrew Whitworth: 31 - 3-5 years left
Kyle Cook: 30 - 4-6 years left
Dennis Roland: 30 - doesn't matter
Anthony Collins: 27 - 7 to 9 years left might could be Whit's stopgap to replacement.
Andre Smith: 26 - 8 to 10 years left
Clint Boling: 24 - 10 to 12 years left
Kevin Zeitler: 23 - 11 to 13 years left
Trevor Robinson: We'll see consensus seems to favor drafting a good C

Of course injuries and sucking and wanting more money and all that can change how long a guy is on a team, but ideally if we can hang on to these young guys we have a solid line for a long time. I think starting next year we seriously have to look for a new Lt to groom under Whit. If we start looking then then we have a couple of year window to acquire a good young player in a great spot in the draft. Boling, Zeit, and Smith could anchor the line for another decade for Dalton (assuming everything goes to plan, which we can expect to probably not happen.

After studying we may be better off cutting out losses with Wharton who is old, coming off injury, and 2nd on the depth chart. Then again if we don't need the money then I'm all for keeping a strong backup for multiple positions.

Whit is still good and our line leader the only position under question is center where I'd like to improve with a young draftee, but its not absolutely essential.


What do y'all think Clint Boling could do at Center?

[Ron Mexico]

Only because of $$$$,....he will start at LG.

[Samhain]

Originally Posted by fredtoast

I say he starts at RT while the guy we draft in the third or fourth round gets up to speed.

has Wharton played RT at some point in his career? You really think he'd get the RT job over Collins if Andre walked?

[Joelist]

Considering how Boling got dominated at LG the last couple of regular season games and in the playoff game, I would not call him a lock to start. Teams started exploiting his lack of power and it caused problems.

[renorvis]

Boling will continue to get better and will keep his job. Offensive line play is about continuity and being on one accord. You do not get that by trying to shuffle pieces every year. Boling started every game this year and did well. So why would we move him in favor of Wharton who didn't play last year and has no continuity with our current unit? So what if a few games in 2012 Boling took Wharton's job, would we be having this conversation?

[Luvnit2]

Originally Posted by Joelist

Considering how Boling got dominated at LG the last couple of regular season games and in the playoff game, I would not call him a lock to start. Teams started exploiting his lack of power and it caused problems.

You ar 100% correct.

[Jasonew6]

Backup.

[bfine32]

Originally Posted by renorvis

Boling will continue to get better and will keep his job. Offensive line play is about continuity and being on one accord. You do not get that by trying to shuffle pieces every year.

So you're saying we shoulda kept Livings?

[hacker]

Originally Posted by bengalfan74

I don't think Wharton will fit into our plans.

If Wharton isn't 100% healthy and ready to go when camp opens he will be released