Watched Richardson and Cottom in the Senior Bowl last night.
 

I got to say I was not sure what to expect with Richardson. He played LT the whole time. And most of that time he was lined up against Ellis from Virginia Tech. I thought he did a pretty fair job against Ellis, considering I saw Ellis simply destroy the Boston College offensive line a few weeks ago on a VT/BC replay on ESPNU. He contained him pretty well on the pass rush. But where Richardson really stood out IMO was on the run blocking. He had a push on the defensive line... or got a block on the second level nearly every single time. The only times he really didn't make positive contact in the running game was quick plays to the right side where he had to run across the field and try and get to a LB who was already in pursuit. I think he has a chance to help this team, and looks like a very good pick for the 6th round.

Cottom was lined up on the right side most of the time. He did a nice job of sealing the running lanes by blocking his man to the outside. And on straight ahead blocking, he held his own at the very least, and had a bit of a push on most of those plays. He also caught a TD pass on a crossing route. Looked pretty fast getting off of the line on passing plays, and on the TD reception.

Those were the only two players I know of that were in the game that are on our roster now. And from what I saw, I would give them both a :thumb:'s up.

Appreciate the info. Thanks.

I saw Cottam's reception. He's never going to be a star in the NFL but he should be a great weapon for a long time.

Richardson I thought performed lousy at the Senior Bowl, but you're right on the runblocking. Dude just bowls DEs over.

I saw Ellis work over Cherilus just as bad if not worse than he did Richardson. And again, Richardson was LT in the Senior Bowl. The speed rush was pretty tough for him, but he excelled at the run blocking. I can see where he would be pretty good as a RG.

sounds like richardson could be a right tackle or guard

It's been a while since I saw it, but I do remember Richardson getting smoked for a sack.

But Richardson's not an LT by trade. His skill set makes him a solid-to-potentially-great RT.

Maybe. The speed rush might worry me a bit from the right side as well on the RT gig.

Most definitely. I'm glad to hear he looked good in the game run-blocking, some reports said he lacked the nastiness to excel at it.

Thanks for the info, Coogs

Herm said Richardson is a RT (810 interview--probably available via podcast on 810's website), so I wouldn't worry about him on the left side of the line.

They needed a RT more than a LT.

So does that mean that McIntosh is done?

Albert/Waters/Smith/Niswanger/Richardson

I don't think Albert is the day 1 LT. I could be wrong, but I think that he or Richardson will be at guard, and this is assuming that Richardson starts the opening game, which is far from a certainty. If he's on the bench, I'd guess that Albert might start at RT, at least at the beginning of the season, to get his feet wet.

Albert/Waters/Niswanger/Taylor/Richardson

:thumb:

Two rookie "tackles" week one against the Pats? What's the record for # of sacks given up in a single game?