Stays the same as now UK coaches will be evaluating five 4*, thirteen 3*, and maybe Juco standout Tate Leavitt for starting positions! First time I remember CATS having this many SEC type players on roster!
CATS offensive line 2016:
- Thread starter Oldtrainer
- Start date
By no later than the 2017 season if not sooner we will have an OL that will be in the upper quartile of the SEC. There are some guys that are not being talked about that much that pretty good - Ramsay Meyers being one of them. Other guys will be coming off their redshirts - Richardson, Larubbio, etc - so I'm looking forward to seeing what they can do.
Schlarman has 3 big questions to answer for 2016. Will he develop GAA at right tackle, or move him inside to right guard which is his true position and his NFL position? With Toth being a senior, does he redshirt Drake Jackson? Can they sign a juco capable of handling the starting left tackle job? These are just guesses. Developing GAA as a tackle depends on whether he beats out Meadows and Mosier for the starting right tackle job in August. I think he beats out Mosier, but not as sure about Meadows even though it looked good for GAA in April. If someone else starts at right tackle, then GAA moves inside to right guard and might be able to push Ramsey Meyers over to left guard. But if GAA wins the right tackle job, he stays there for a year or 2 until they eventually move him inside. Unless Toth gets hurt, he is our 2016 starting center. If we had a void to fill at guard, Jackson could play guard as a true freshman and then slide over to center in 2017. But guard is a stacked position now, so I think Jackson redshirts in 2016. I am 90% sure Landon Young will also get a redshirt. This is speculation, but I think Tate Leavitt will sign with Kentucky, Oklahoma, or Auburn. If we get Leavitt, he will start at left tackle in 2016. The right tackle will be Meadows or GAA. The left guard will be Meyers or Jones. The right guard will be Meyers or GAA. Toth will be the center. If we don't get Leavitt or another juco left tackle who is ready to play, then the whole tackle picture will have to be clarified out of chaos next April. Might even see something drastic done out of desperation and necessity, such as Toth moving outside. A whole lot is riding on 2 questions. Can they sign Leavitt? Will they develop GAA as a right tackle or right guard?
Thanks for the in depth analysis. Sounds like Leavitt would be a big piece of the jigsaw puzzle and solve a lot of problems. You would think he would like he would see a huge opportunity to step in and play with some very good talent around him, but then those other schools after him aren't too shabby.
Yes. That plus the fact that Swindle will graduate, and no other left tackles are currently in our program unless LaRubbio, Stenberg, or Livingston undergoes more rapid physical improvement than any UK tackle since Garry Williams. I believe Landon Young is the eventual answer, but I will be very surprised if a Young is physically ready for the starting left tackle job before 2017. That's why Stoops is recruiting Leavitt.
More so IMO I think his injuries & general health were taking him out of the rotation such that he wasn't going to be of help anytime soon - meaning 2016 for sure & maybe 2017. But yes, not having him ready to play some this year & start next hurts.
UK has offered at least 3 JUCO LTs, Leavitt, Malcolm Pridgeon and Dmitri Moore. Pridgeon has numerous offers but some think he's either committed to or will commit to Rutgers. Moore is a new comer. So far his offers are in the Iowa St, Kansas St, Miss St, Cincy range. But there's no question Leavitt is who UK wants. He just picked up an Auburn offer. Don't think he's taken visits yet, his UK visit was unofficial. He's from Ohio and so think that gives UK the inside track. Fingers crossed.
Don't underestimate Meadows. He was progressing pretty well last year then had some injuries.
If this OL develops like it should, and we can keep some decent skilled offensive RBs and WRs, we could become a team that is difficult to get off the field...a team that can control possession by running and/or passing. That would help our defensive rotation as much as anything. And it looks like we're building a decent D at the same time.
I like Meadows as a right tackle and probably a future starter, but he will never be an SEC left tackle.
Didn't mean to imply that he was a future LT. You're right, Meadows is a RT but he has a nice future if he can stay healthy.
I think the quality of the players Stoops is signing is such that just about all of them can play solid SEC football if they can stay healthy. Meadows has a lot of upside. We don't have many tackles, so he is going to play.
The only problem is that offensive linemen are notoriously slow to develop. It will take some time before they truly show their full potential. Juco players definitely can help with that.
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