Buford in the portal
- Thread starter wildcatglenn
- Start date
The writing was on the wall for him and Wohlabaugh after the staff brought in Ford and were publicly stating they wanted another O-Lineman.
Those 2 have had EVERY opportunity to earn a starting spot, but just couldn’t perform at a level needed to compete in the SEC.
Good luck Mr. Buford, hope you wear it out at your next school.
Those 2 have had EVERY opportunity to earn a starting spot, but just couldn’t perform at a level needed to compete in the SEC.
Good luck Mr. Buford, hope you wear it out at your next school.
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That's surprising to me. He should have seen a lot of snaps this fall, although not starting snaps. Also, I thought there were plenty of times that he outplayed Flax last year but the staff never seemed comfortable naming him a starter. I'm sure there are reasons for that. Obviously, the staff felt the RT position was not up to the standard they want and that's why they went out and got Ford. Wohlabaugh leaving is not a surprise. Didn't seem like he was even in the 2-deep so I can see him departing. I think Buford was being counted on this year with every opportunity to break into the starting lineup. I think he also was looked at the incumbent next year as a starting OG. I thought he played pretty solidly overall last year (better than Flax overall) and was a little surprised he didn't nail down the RT spot this spring. Coaches must see something they don't like/trust and, thus, the recruitment of Ford.
The fact that he couldnt snag a starting job last year when our tackle play was atrocious is all you need to know...
You can look at it that way, or we could say we had to bring in ford to start because our current players have yet to step up and soldify their position. Competition is good
Competition is good if you have depth. Competition leading to no depth is a problem. If Buford and others weren't developing, how much of that falls on the OL coach? It's not like some of the transfers weren't highly rated and physically gifted
Ford better pan out and stay healthy.
And now you're almost a bet to hit the portal for tackle next year. if Ford moves to LT next year....who is remaining to play RT next year. Nic Hall maybe and ???
Hall, Josh Jones, Malachi Wood, Austin Ramsey, maybe Paul Rodriquez although OG is his background. UK has 7-8 PWOs OL coming in of which maybe 3 are OTs, currently have 2 '24 OL commits, expecting 3 more. Portal would seem likely.
Agree.
But we will never NOT hit the portal. It would be stupid to ignore it. Even Bama takes players from the portal. It's just another important area to recruit.
People have to want to compete. If they don't, how are we going to get any better?
The way the portal has been working, you are going to get guys that are in the exact same situation as our guys but just at another school. It’s just going to be a matter of can you get the best of those guys to transfer to UK? So it may be a wash.
But if the line can get back to their reputation level and put a few of the current guys into the draft, that helps. But more and more NIL deals are going to be important also IMO.
But if the line can get back to their reputation level and put a few of the current guys into the draft, that helps. But more and more NIL deals are going to be important also IMO.
I think without a doubt UK will add one maybe two linemen. They will likely be depth pieces to replace the two they are losing.
Yup. It’s not a sign of weakness. If a player doesn’t work out they’ll transfer just like recruiting. UK is hosting a LB and a DB this week too. Need depth and players who can push starters.
UK has recruited OL just about as well the strong years (16-19), but Wolford didn’t do development and jury still out on Yenser. Not saying there weren’t individual misses but they landed HS recruits with buzz too. Similar to the “peak” years.
Jmo but must mean they were both behind flax and saw the new guy as pushing them down further.
Seems it would be much easier to keep your guys than having to constantly get portals especially if you're losing two for every one. So portal adds should be judicious and imo a noticable upgrade. Otherwise it's a waste of personnel resources.
All that said, let's hope one or both of these guys come back. You have to think that's at least possible given the lateness, although wohl seemed gone in his statement
I hate to lose those guys when it comes to depth, but...
the assumption you are making is that they would've stayed if there was no incoming transfer. What if the coaches hadn't gone after the transfer, and they still transferred? Then the depth is even worse.
I know there are some transfers who are big surprises to coaches, but my guess those are few and far between. A good coaching staff likely has a good feel for which kids are considering a transfer.
Yes but really safe assumption considering they're the same position as the guy brought in and announced transfer after. As far as assumptions go, I'd say it's about as safe as it gets.
O linemen of any quality are desperately needed nationwide. I'd bet both UK portal entries are gonna have several power 5 offers.
Good OL and DL are wanted by everyone. Teams are willing to take a bigger risk on guys in the trenches. WR and even RB teams want someone who has proven himself a little bit.
Totally agree but is a 3rd string OL at UK good enough to play a lot of snaps at another P5 school? Buford was running 2nd string but, as others have pointed out, could not unseat an underwhelming Flax (or Burton or Horsey or Eli). Wohlabaugh was evidently viewed as still being a 'project' for UK. Are there P5 teams out there, after Spring, who would feel that either of these guys is an upgrade and can be expected to play a lot of snaps this fall? You may be right but, as we've said all along, guys don't transfer to wait a year or two to be starters so I'd be surprised if a P5 team sees these two as instant starters unless maybe they had a season-ending injury at an OL position and need to plug in somebody. I'll be interested to see what happens.
Incoming OL transfers > than outgoing OL transfers.
UK is looking at a few other OL portal guys.
UK is looking at a few other OL portal guys.
Both Wohlabaugh and Burton had multiple offers out of HS but I look for both to resurface in the MAC. They're from that general area and it'd be a way for them to be near home.
He may or may not be, but UK has a reputation of big, physical OL, I understand 22 wasn't what everyone was hoping it would be but that was an exception now. Teams needing OL are willing to take a shot, maybe he just didn't mesh with the OL coach.
Buford to Michigan St, Wohlabaugh to WVU? I won't be surprised if the latter lands at Miami (OH), actually.
Here is what it boils down to
1. For 2023...Ford and Cox are the starters and Flax appears to stick around and he'll be depth. If Ford or Cox go down....you're passable with Flax as depth but if more than one goes down you're screwed
2. For 2024...this is the biggie to me. Ford takes a LT spot but you're almost resigned to have to go back to the portal for an OT or better hope like heck Nic Hall is ready. And even if Nic Hall can play in 2024....you've got serious depth issues at tackle. Maybe the ghost of Joshua Jones can play
Wohlbaugh, Buford and if you think of Goodwin...we'll lost almost all young tackles to portal. Malachi Woodis and Austin Ramsy are a not 2024 starters you can bank on being ready.
1. For 2023...Ford and Cox are the starters and Flax appears to stick around and he'll be depth. If Ford or Cox go down....you're passable with Flax as depth but if more than one goes down you're screwed
2. For 2024...this is the biggie to me. Ford takes a LT spot but you're almost resigned to have to go back to the portal for an OT or better hope like heck Nic Hall is ready. And even if Nic Hall can play in 2024....you've got serious depth issues at tackle. Maybe the ghost of Joshua Jones can play
Wohlbaugh, Buford and if you think of Goodwin...we'll lost almost all young tackles to portal. Malachi Woodis and Austin Ramsy are a not 2024 starters you can bank on being ready.
Those days are over for better or worse. It's now a focus on wide zone and athleticism. I personally don't like the change but is what it is
I'll give UK credit, they're trying to get the OL fixed. We can look at the portal work but a reminder that UK's bringing in something like 7 or 8 PWO OL prospects too, unprecedented in my time following UK football. I think maybe two even went thru Spring. Of course, common sense tells us those guys are projects but not everybody is a Young or DK and besides, OL can take awhile to develop. Wouldn't be surprised if they scour JUCOs too. Will it work? One way it won't work is if you don't pull out all the stops.
I know the narrative may be that Buford and Wohlabaugh weren't good enough and got beat out, but are we sure Yenser knows what he's doing? The amount of position shuffling tells me there's a chance Yenser isn't the best at knowing how to identify his best 5.
Cox went from RG (where he was good) to C (where he wasn't good) and is now back at RG
Wohlabaugh started at LT the first game - did poorly, played some key snaps at RT - looked not great and moved to backup G (where he maybe should have been to begin with)
Burton started at LG, wasn't amazing and is now at C
Buford looked good at tackle when he played, but didn't get many reps even though the guys in front of him weren't lighting the world on fire.
Horsey was a solid LG, moved to LT where he wasn't as good, and is now back at LG.
I know some of this was by necessity, but I think some of it could have been avoided. If Yenser had amazing pedigree, I'd give him the benefit of the doubt and blame it all on Scang and lack of ready-to-go personnel. But since the only big time football Yenser has coached was for some of the worst teams in P5, I'm a little more dubious.
Having said that - I certainly hope the line looks great this year and all the young guys develop into legit SEC linemen like we've been used to and Yenser coaches like a Schlarman clone.
Cox went from RG (where he was good) to C (where he wasn't good) and is now back at RG
Wohlabaugh started at LT the first game - did poorly, played some key snaps at RT - looked not great and moved to backup G (where he maybe should have been to begin with)
Burton started at LG, wasn't amazing and is now at C
Buford looked good at tackle when he played, but didn't get many reps even though the guys in front of him weren't lighting the world on fire.
Horsey was a solid LG, moved to LT where he wasn't as good, and is now back at LG.
I know some of this was by necessity, but I think some of it could have been avoided. If Yenser had amazing pedigree, I'd give him the benefit of the doubt and blame it all on Scang and lack of ready-to-go personnel. But since the only big time football Yenser has coached was for some of the worst teams in P5, I'm a little more dubious.
Having said that - I certainly hope the line looks great this year and all the young guys develop into legit SEC linemen like we've been used to and Yenser coaches like a Schlarman clone.
Was that the offensive blocking scheme the fired OC wanted to run? I thought Coen wanted a more physical OL. I guess that could be speculation by me too. But bottom line kids want to play and he saw that as a pretty steep hill to climb and is testing the water.
Yes but it's the one coen wants too. He modified his approach in his first stint based on the personnel. Drastic change and I wish wes stay inside zone but we'll see how it works out
Throw in Goodwin. Not saying who is at fault but the trend doesn't look good.
UK signed 9 O linemen in the 2019, 2020, 2021 classes. Only 2 are projected 2023 starters (Jager & Eli Cox). 5 out of 9 transferred.
Bad recruiting misses, bad coaching turnover, bad offensive scheme match-up to skills of the unit. The poor play of 2022 isn't really a mystery. Hope the portal additions and getting guys to their best positions fixes it enough to be decent in 2023.
But the days of our O line being raved about as maulers and being Joe Moore Award finalists are long gone I'm afraid.
Bad recruiting misses, bad coaching turnover, bad offensive scheme match-up to skills of the unit. The poor play of 2022 isn't really a mystery. Hope the portal additions and getting guys to their best positions fixes it enough to be decent in 2023.
But the days of our O line being raved about as maulers and being Joe Moore Award finalists are long gone I'm afraid.
Jmo but we don't factor this enough. We completely changed blocking schemes which meant most of our guys were instantly a bad fit. I think that's more the reason for turnover than just plain misses.
That said, as I noted since coen and stoops installed this the first time, I am not a fan. Yes it has potential to be really good but we were already really good running the ball in a different way.
Plus the inside zone let us continue to recruit the maulers where we had our reputation and pipeline and the bruising backs that ran that style. We didn't have top picks of all those guys, but we were definitely towards the top. Now we're just another kid on the block trying to completely rebuild and retool our recruiting connections for those two positions.
I hope it pans out but at the very least we're going to have 2-4 years of down OL play. We just finished year 1 of that. This year will be a bit better but imo will not be the bbw. The days are indeed over of grinding teams to a pulp in our 4 minute offense
This year is huge for Yenser IMO....He has 2 portal kids at tackles, Horsey back to guard and Eli Cox as well back to guard. Burton was a 4* recruit at Center. And Coen is back at OC. Great WR trio and a good QB transfer. We'll see if Ray Davis is a good RB....but he was at least decent at Vandy.
No excuses...his unit is the main question mark on the entire team. HE needs to show he can get a unit to perform.
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