Grant Bingham (?)
- Thread starter jlkirk
- Start date
Just young. Rs Fr. His time will come. Big difference in SEC line play from 4A Johnson Central.
Doesn't seem like Yenser is developing any of these guys. I mean our main backup is a walkon that arrived after spring. Where's all of our scholarship OL?
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Saw Bingham’s name on the participant sheet yesterday but that might have been only on FG unit.
Dylan Ray is going to be a contributor for years to come. UK went after him in the portal. His dad played in the NFL too so he has the pedigree.
Hopefully Horsey is ok and only has to sit out 1-2 games. That can get some young guys more snaps
Dylan Ray is going to be a contributor for years to come. UK went after him in the portal. His dad played in the NFL too so he has the pedigree.
Hopefully Horsey is ok and only has to sit out 1-2 games. That can get some young guys more snaps
Bingham did not disappear. He is a RS freshman and he isn't in the playing rotation at this time. We have many players who were pretty highly rated recruits. On an 80 man team with competitive practices, some players play more than others.
GENERALLY on the OLine you want to “get old and stay old”
The more time kids have to workout and gain strength the better for the team. I’ll use Jager Burton as an example. He got tossed around quite a bit last season. 3 years in a college weight room is almost a requirement before being SEC ready.
Bingham (if he stays) will be a starter at UK.
Schlarman always rotate in younger guys…if not start them early
- Kinnard starteed end of his Fr year
- Drake Jackson took over center his redshirt freshman years
-Landon Young was a Second year starter
- Horsey had been starting since a sophomore
- Big George Asofi played in his second year
- Nassir Watkins was able to rotate in after his second year
It’s alarming that Yenser can’t seem to grow young players early to contribute solidly in their career
Best OLs are generally those with experience and that have played together for awhile. UK OL has experience but this is the first year together. If you want to see a major concern....look ahead to '24. UK has 5 seniors in the OL now plus Christman/Hall who have suffered significant injuries. '24 OL will require a major, major rebuild.
Yeah, it's hard to grow anything when you've been here less than 2 years.
Again, somebody trashing Yenser for not developing young guys.....by using the play of Dylan Ray, a young guy who Yenser developed to play this yr. Make it make sense! The doubletalk is confusing.
Ray showed up here at UK unheralded and balled out in camp passing guys on the depth chart. They were so comfortable with his play at LT that the coaches didn't hesitate to put him in for Horsey at LG. He played well yesterday.
Hall & Chrisman are young O linemen who would have played this yr if not for injuries.
I am hopeful for Bingham, and believe his time will come. But not this year.
BTW, Burton played well yesterday.
While it is a little early to look ahead at our 2024 OL (especially in the transfer portal era), it is good to know the following-
Juniors
Courtland Ford
Sophomores
Jaden Burton
Ben Christman
Dylan Ray
Paul Rodriguez
Freshmen
Grant Bingham (RS)
Nik Hall (RS)
Koby Keenum
Austin Ramsey
Malachi Wood
Commitments
Hayes Johnson
Jason Lafontant
Aba Selm
Nik Hall's career may or may not be under threat from the back injury, but Ben Christman will be back. As I have discussed before, I expect more offensive linemen to be added to our 2024 class in the fall. And we can be sure there will be more inbound transfers as well.
Bingham and Rodriguez both have the size. Thought one of them would be ready to be in the rotation by now at the guard positions. Bingham a reputation of being a physical player and has the size. What is he lacking? Strength, smarts or quickness? Same for Rodriguez. A big guy that is mean and dirty is usually in there.
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I'm pretty sure that we didn't have ANYTHING near the depth that we have back then when it comes to the quality of HS players coming in (obviously some don't pan out) and then the portal has completely changed the game.
I am skeptical about players willing to work out , put on weight, and wait their turn nowadays.NIL and the easy transfer portal make it easy for a player to look elsewhere instead of waiting their turn . It’s a different environment than it used to be.
Young and developing. Not quite ready for the two deep but that's a good goal for next year.
If you are not working worth a crap and nowhere on the 2 deep depth chart, the options who will want you in the portal is zero to none.
I can name a dozen UK guys who have left in recent years who downgraded BIGTIME. If they could find a scholarship AT ALL! much less any nil $$.
I don’t disagree. The transfer portal would have a far greater effect on kids that are not getting to play than the nil . But , bringing in NIL guys also makes it tougher for guys to “wait their turn” .
I’m no more alarmed at this point in Yenser’s tenure than I was in 2014 and 2015, Schlarman’s second and third seasons.
Several posters on this forum in those early years complained about the O-line quality, a few calling for Schlarman’s head!!
You list players who contributed earlier than their third season. Two of them (Young and Jackson) were among the Top 3 rated O-linemen signed by Uk since 1981, with Young scoring a covered 5th Star from Rivals (about 37 of those go out yearly) and Drake Jackson was consistently rated in the top 3 at center, nationally, for that 2016 class.
Young would have gotten true frosh snaps at Bama, etc. 5 Star kids play early, with the obvious rare exception of K. Goodwin.
Kinnard was a freakishly strong and mature beast when he arrived in 2018. Does Schlarman get credit for his development? Yes, but perhaps more for his recruitment of one so ready to play.
The others you list played fairly early out of sheer necessity, and did pretty well.
The legend of the “Big Blue Wall” began in earnest in 2017, with Schlarman having recruited and developed multiple O-line classes.
Yenser deserves some time. His line looked pretty good our first game. I think it will get even better.
Paul Rodriguez is on UK's two-deep chart for the second straight week.
Yeah, glad to see that. Stoops really bragged on Ray. Said he could play tackle and guard and his versatility is what they was looking for. Also happy he has several seasons left.
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