Speaking of Ereck Flowers, I still can't believe how many chances he kept getting, and then that contract. Somehow he was given time to start sucking less, and then given time to settle in at guard. Dat upside. Honestly I can see Andrew Thomas totally going down that path and still get every chance and then get overpaid.
As for Deiter's offseason training, good for him. Typically schools like Nebraska, Wisconsin, Iowa, etc. produce really good White OL, though some need more development in their early NFL years. Billy Price did that as well last offseason, I'm following and rooting for him because I think he can still become a good player. I don't follow the Bengals, but when Burrow went down I wanted to see what their fans thought about that O-line. Of course, they are concerned, but they unsurprisingly have different ideas on what kind of linemen will improve the team. They actually think Trey Hopkins is an above average center. The truth is, he's not as bad as the other sumos they have (which really means nothing since some of those are TERRIBLE). Classic example of fans overrating their own guys. Hopkins tore his ACL in the last game, and his rehab will likely extend well into next season. Hopefully Price pulls a Garett Boles and puts it all together in year 4, and runs away with and keeps the starting C job.
Sumos centers, IMO, are the WORST, and I actually dislike them more than black quarterbacks. Should be our position, just feel like the snapping, protection calling, etc. is best done by our guys. And for Burrow's sake he needs a real O-line to keep him from getting killed. The Bengals DWF do agree with that, but unfortunately you know they have different ideas than we do, which will not work. Mega-bust Michael Jordan (2nd year out of Ohio State) got pushed into Burrow's leg on the gruesome, season-ending play, and he ran into Jonah Williams' leg the next week, ending his season too. He got benched, and he deserves to be cut and discarded from the league. Even the DWFs hate him. From my brief visit lurking their community looks like they also believed in UDFA Steelers cast-off Fred Johnson (sumo) as a future franchise RT in the 19-20 offseason LOL. Dat upside again.