Eli Cox is coming back for one more year!!!

[catben]

Great news!!!

From what Matt Jones was saying about Eli having to call the coverages at the line for Leary, no wonder he struggled some times this season!!!

Leary was NOT the QB we all thought he was going to be!!!

 

[Soupbean]

That is great news! Eli is a terrific athlete and its a shame he's had to shift around so much. I thought he was built for center but its such a difficult position and all the responsibility can take away from your natural aggression to block and be the force you should be. Would love to see someone like Keenum come on strong at the center spot and let Eli go out with a bank at tackle next year.

 

[K_TIME]

Interesting....I wonder if they bring in a Center and move him permanently to guard.

 

[kyleb740]

Please just play guard. Eli struggled with protection calls last year too so it has nothing to do with Leary. He is a guard and that is all.

 

[The-Hack]

Now if we can land the other Cox, for another year, that will be huge.

 

[screwduke1]

Now if we can land the other Cox, for another year, that will be huge.

Cox is big!

 

[mrschwump]

Great news!!!

From what Matt Jones was saying about Eli having to call the coverages at the line for Leary, no wonder he struggled some times this season!!!

Leary was NOT the QB we all thought he was going to be!!!

OCs routinely make coverage calls, nothing new there.

 

[catben]

OCs routinely make coverage calls, nothing new there.

Blocking assignments-yes

What coverage the defense is in-RARELY That SHOULD be ALL on the QB

 

[CB3UK]

This is great news. Bring in that C from Notre Dame and slide Eli over to G.

 

[YardCat]

This helps as Cox is an old dog and leader within the offensive line. If we can get the center from ND put Cox beside him and Burton on the other side we just need 2 Good Tackles

 

[LordEggForgotHisPassword]

Cox is big!

I've heard some of the wild ones say two Cox are better than one.

 

[seccats04]

I've heard some of the wild ones say two Cox are better than one.

Kentucky girls love Cox!

 

[gamecockcat]

Eli is NOT an SEC-caliber center, imo. His responsibility is to call out blocking assignments and, boy, did we look completely befuddled at times with complete whiffs, especially early in the season, a common occurrence. As a blocker, he got pushed around too much to be effective. Even against an undersized UofL DL, he got pushed 2-3 steps into the backfield on multiple plays. Was that because he had to think too much instead of just play? Maybe. I say slot him into his natural position of OG and someone else play C. Not sure that Ray won't take one of the G spots, though - either Eli or Burton's. He had a lot of snaps at OG and, for the most part, was solid although it appeared he was learning OTJ. Give him a year in the weight room and knowing the scheme better and he very well could be a starter at OG.

 

[dvillecatfan]

 

[kyleb740]

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Well this is absolutely HUGE for next year!!!!!!!

 

[screwduke1]

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Hell yes. Great news. Our best o lineman IMO.

 

[The-Hack]

We still have Big Cox!!!

 

[Cole World]

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2 Cox>none

 

[screwduke1]

I'm happy Marques is coming back but man 7 college football seasons is absurd lol

 

[The-Hack]

I'm happy Marques is coming back but man 7 college football seasons is absurd lol

Tell that to Joey Gatewood.

His diploma should look like a patchwork quilt.

He’s played for most P5 and G5 teams East of the Mississippi.

Bo McMillan went around left end for 56 yards to lead Centre over Harvard, C6-H0, in 1921. Joey Gatewood told me about it!

He scored against us Saturday for U of L on a reception. One of the better plays I’ve ever seen by a septuagenarian! (Or a Baptist!).

 

[Chad Rock]

Cox is big!

Huge news about Cox!

 

[screwduke1]

Huge news about Cox!

It's hard to not feel excited about Cox coming back. We will need Cox because the competition will be stiff.

 

[Chad Rock]

It's hard to not feel excited about Cox coming back. We will need Cox because the competition will be stiff.

I like that with both Cox coming back, we are erecting a rock solid foundation from which to pound opponent’s asses!

 

[mrschwump]

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GIGANTIC news!!!!!

 

[K_TIME]

Wow...Marques was the piece we needed.

LT - M Cox
LG - E Cox
C - I can live with Keenum or the Notre Dame kid if he's up for UK
RG - Burton (Coaches are in love with the dude)
RT - Flax and/or Ford

Now we need to get off Yenser and to an upgrade Oline to develop the kids.

 

[mrschwump]

Wow...Marques was the piece we needed.

LT - M Cox
LG - E Cox
C - I can live with Keenum or the Notre Dame kid if he's up for UK
RG - Burton (Coaches are in love with the dude)
RT - Flax and/or Ford

Now we need to get off Yenser and to an upgrade Oline to develop the kids.

You're missing Dylan Ray, the guy will play somewhere in the '24 OL. Getting M. Cox back is huge!

 

[K_TIME]

You're missing Dylan Ray, the guy will play somewhere in the '24 OL. Getting M. Cox back is huge!

He'll be a rotation piece....but I don't see him knocking out Cox or Burton at guard (I'd argue he is better than Burton but for some reason coaches love them some Jager)

 

[mrschwump]

He'll be a rotation piece....but I don't see him knocking out Cox or Burton at guard (I'd argue he is better than Burton but for some reason coaches love them some Jager)

Ray is a lot more than a rotation piece. He replaced Horsey when Horsey was injured then held Horsey off when he returned. On the Davis game winning run vs U6 he stood up his man then pushed him down. May be an OG or RT but he'll play. Good problem to have. At any rate, the Cox boys returning eases a lot of OL concerns for '24.

 

[pauled]

The Cox brothers!

 

[The-Hack]

I heard they are moving Cox back to guard and will use Reed Sheppard at Center. 😎

When’s Richie going to play?

 

[The-Hack]

I like that with both Cox coming back, we are erecting a rock solid foundation from which to pound opponent’s asses!

Well, I think we can legitimately claim more and bigger Cox on our offensive line than anyone can.

At any rate, how nice would it be to schedule a game with Oregon State for next year?

With this much Cox, we would hammer the Beavers.

 

[Caveman Catfan]

We still have Big Cox!!!

Don’t just dangle Big Cox and expect me to be impressed. It’s not enough just to have Big Cox. We need to learn how to use our Big Cox. You can’t just throw Big Cox out there and expect to be successful or please everyone. We need to slip our Big Cox into the right protection and pound it out on the turf for 40 minutes, at least. We also need to know when to pull our Big Cox.

 

[mrschwump]

Any chance Flax returns too?

 

[katwest]

Eli moving back to guard is a big deal, he is the strongest guy on the team, now he can play his natural position again without the pressures of getting the rest of the lines blocking assignments down.

 

[grevey35]

Great news!!!

From what Matt Jones was saying about Eli having to call the coverages at the line for Leary, no wonder he struggled some times this season!!!

Leary was NOT the QB we all thought he was going to be!!!

There was really no call for slamming Leary. You've got serious issues. You can't make one post that is not derogatory to at least one coach or player.

 

[catben]

There was really no call for slamming Leary. You've got serious issues. You can't make one post that is not derogatory to at least one coach or player.

This was what Cole Cubelic and Greg McElroy told Matt Jones on their ESPN show!!! They were saying it was NOT NORMAL for the QB to put that responsibility on the Center.

I was just relaying what they were saying about Leary to Matt Jones when he was a guest on their show. They were saying that he was NOT the QB to fit Coen's system. He was not good at going through his progressions either. ANYONE that knows football could see that also.

You are the one with a problem because you CAN'T handle ANY analysis that doesn't PUMP SUNSHINE. This team went 7-5 when our coaching staff was expecting WAY better. There was MANY reasons why this team didn't perform up to the expected level. When 2 FORMER ALL-SEC players that are WAY smarter than YOU tell WHY they think our season wasn't as good as we had hoped for, I will LISTEN!!!

So are you going to call into their show and lecture them on "slamming Leary"????

This is a MESSAGE BOARD for discussing the team, GOOD OR BAD. I LOVE the Cats and want what's BEST for the program. The win over the Cards was AWESOME. But I want to hear from EXPERTS why they think we didn't play better this season. And when they give their EXPERTISE on why, I again WILL listen.

If you don't like my posts, ignore them!!!

 

[K_TIME]

I don’t know about Leary and cox calling coverage…but the center does make line calls as far as slides and protection…but the center can’t see Dbs blitzes off edge pre snap…that has to be Qb

 

[Johnfarrel]

Please just play guard. Eli struggled with protection calls last year too so it has nothing to do with Leary. He is a guard and that is all.

Yes. I thought it was the job of the center to call coverages.

 

[bigblueinsanity]

Blocking assignments-yes

What coverage the defense is in-RARELY That SHOULD be ALL on the QB

I think people are getting the two confused. There is zero percent chance the center called or identified coverage. Literally no chance. That's a QB determination presnap based on safety alignment and post snap based on movement.

It's normal for centers to call blocking assignments and shift pass protection but pass pro can be shifted by QB too as potential blitzers move after the OL is set.

I'm glad that communication got better, because last year I complained that Eli at C didn't communicate at all. Not surprisingly we struggled with identification. This year was much, much better. Ya there were some misses but that happens over the course of a season. By and large they played well and at times played very well

 

[JHB4UK]

I think it is fair to say a lot of our offensive struggles were due to Leary having trouble operating a pro style scheme. Having to huddle and call complex plays/coverages was tough for him after 5 yrs in shotgun spread simple systems.

That's why I hope a portal QB who has some experience with a sophisticated offense come here. No thank you Will Rodgers.