I agree. Like you said Noteboom- while not having the pure brute strength of Saffold by any means- was improving. And they did stabilize the interior OL later in the season. I still think their biggest issue, as others (and you I think?) pointed out was the regression at OT by Havenstein and Whitworth. Assuming they still had one of the best OT tandems in the NFL was part of why Saffold was allowed to leave. That unforeseen error made the interior OL flux all the more glaring.
