Golden Nuggets: Another look at offensive line failures

Good morning! It’s been another slow day in the offseason, but I was able to find an interesting ESPN article with former San Francisco 49ers player and offensive line coach Howard Mudd. In the article, Mudd gives an alternate reason why offensive lines have been sub-par as of late: The collective bargaining agreement and it’s insistence on keeping players and coaches away from each other.

The CBA has really hamstrung a lot of coaching practices for all positions. For instance, with the Greenbay Packers, the one-on-one tutelage Aaron Rodgers got two of his first three years in head coach Mike McCarthy’s ‘Quarterback School’ wouldn’t have been possible under the current CBA. Once McCarthy was hired, he spent several hours every day in the offseason tweaking Rodgers’ mechanics in preparation for an eventual starting role.

That current lack of coaching is similar to what Mudd is referring to in the CBA for O-linemen. Well that and obviously bad coaching—look no further than the 49ers O-line last year to prove that theory. It’s a pretty interesting read.

Let’s get to the links:

Former Browns and long-time NFL coach Howard Mudd: Offensive line play in the NFL is poor (Grossi)

Ranking top-25 49ers: No. 19 Blaine Gabbert (Biderman)

49ers: Former Oregon Ducks Buckner, Armstead reunited (Inman)

What a horrible night to have a curse...