What’s the rationale for believing that though?
If the OL is depleted and piecemeal, that will impact the rushing attack as much if not more than in the passing game.
Sounds like wishful thinking to me.
It might be. I'm absolutely open to the possibility I am trying to convince myself it's going to be ok.
However, there's also this possibility: If Allegretti is healthy, there is only one different player from the planned starting OL of Tunsil, Coleman, Allegretti, Cosmi and Conerly. There is a re-shuffle, but 4 of the original 5 players are there. The difference is Tunsil out, Paul in. And Coleman is at LT instead of LG.
Now, I'm not going to say that's not a HUGE drop off in overall quality going from Tunsil to Paul. I get they are different positions, but you lose a top 5 LT and end up with a serviceable guard as a replacement because the starting LG slides to LT.
However, I do think the OL of Coleman, Paul, Allegretti, Cosmi and Connerly, which is mostly what they planned on from a personnel perspective, can be fine. I would feel better with somebody better than Paul. But also if Allegretti comes back healthy, having him sandwiched between Colemand and Allegretti, he might be ok again.
The lynch pin is Allegretti. He has to be healthy. If he's not and you have to sub him out and CenterX (Right now I assume Gublin) in, then you have MASSIVE problems. But that hasn't happened in a real game yet. So we'll see.
But they do have some pretty good depth outside of center. I'm betting they bring back Trent Scott and Moreau when they IR Newton and Tunsil tomorrow. If they do that, then they have Wylie and Scott as swing tackles. And I wouldn't be surprised if they start really working to see if Wylie could be a starting LG because Humphries could also be a swing tackle with Scott.
I guess I don't see the OL in as much disarray as others. We need to see it be productive for sure. The Tunsil injury is crushing. However, I don't think all is lost yet.
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