OL and some facts

[Levibooty]

Our depth chart shows we have four OT Swindle, Asafo-Adjei, Meadows, and Mosier. All four played last Saturday against Florida. All four had problems with the quickness of Florida's DL. Our OL was responsible for three of our five penalties; one for holding, two for false starts one being on ST's punting.

That's a pretty clean game and a great improvement from last year. The OL is what it is and we have no options there other than to play on. For all the criticism Swindles gets he has shown marked improvement from last year regarding penalties even when performing at a new and more challenging position. For all the hype our fans laid on Asafo-Adjei he is still a true freshman starting against the best DL in college football. That is a daunting task for any young man and should never again be minimized by wishful and absurdly optimistic fans ---but it will.

The fact is our OL is all we have. There are no seasoned players or precocious young OT's waiting on the bench to plug in and try to solidify a leaky line.

Those are just the facts about our OL. Even though some fans were actually talking of our OL this year to be a strength, it is not. It has however improved and is playing with fewer penalties than last year. Now that reality has exposed our OL for what it is challenged by, (quick, long, strong, DL on the edge) it will be up to the coaches to maximize line play with tactics and strategy. Our coaches, Sclarman and Dawson mostly, must firmly grasp our OL limitations and stop relying on them to do that which they have yet been able to consistently do.

If Jordan Swindle or Asafo-Adjei were matched against Bud Dupree every week it would be a huge challenge for them just as it was for all the opposing OT's last year that faced Dupree, even highly regarded SEC OT's. The fact is---- in the SEC that is really close to being reality.

 

[ZZZZCat]

You also have to consider that GAA & Mosier are not true OT's, but more so OG's playing OT. We will get there. Wish Marcelys Jones would have worked out better, but we will reload every year.

 

[jnewc2]

Why is it that when the o-line plays terribly our response is 'Oh well, it is what it is. At least it's better than last year.'

It's kind of weird that we hold literally no other position on the team to that same ultra-low standard of 'Oh well, it is what it is. Let's ask the guys around them to play better.'

If we're going to hammer the WR's, QB's, RB's, LB's, DB's, we sure as heck need to hold our (largely inept) o-line to that same standard when they (clearly) don't play anything close to resembling a good game.

 

[Levibooty]

Why is it that when the o-line plays terribly our response is 'Oh well, it is what it is. At least it's better than last year.'

It's kind of weird that we hold literally no other position on the team to that same ultra-low standard of 'Oh well, it is what it is. Let's ask the guys around them to play better.'

If we're going to hammer the WR's, QB's, RB's, LB's, DB's, we sure as heck need to hold our (largely inept) o-line to that same standard when they (clearly) don't play anything close to resembling a good game.

Aside from you erroneous and presumptuous addition of "Oh Well" ( Those are your qouted words meant to mis-characterize another person's statement )

There are some big differences. OL in the SEC match their talent and ability against that of the best DL in the country. They do so in a very man-on-man physical effort. He is up against a very large, quick and powerful opposing player on every play. That is quite different than a QB who is handing the ball off or throwing the ball to a specific target. Like a golfer, a QB is capable of hitting the mark repeatedly or he is not. He is not pitting his physicality against an opposing player, he is competing to improve his performance like a golfer or a rifleman. His job on pass plays is maintaining his focus and delivering the ball on target, he does or he doesn't. The OL is confronted face to face with a hands on opposing player trying to defeat him on every play.

Also the OL are rotated a bit so it is not as easy to point to one individual and say he is at fault. All four of our OT's were beaten regularly against UF. That is a position and depth problem. If one OL gets beat and a sack results it reflects badly on the OL as a whole especially when people are rotated with the same results. Fact is the OL have to play in concert with each other and that is why it takes years to develop the chemistry an OL needs.

 

[TBCat]

You also have to consider that GAA & Mosier are not true OT's, but more so OG's playing OT. We will get there. Wish Marcelys Jones would have worked out better, but we will reload every year.

I was about to point that out as well. GAA is more of a guard that is playing tackle. Having him in there improves our run blocking a lot but he is a little out of position. Still he can play the spot but we have to help him with chip blocks.

 

[hmt5000]

I was about to point that out as well. GAA is more of a guard that is playing tackle. Having him in there improves our run blocking a lot but he is a little out of position. Still he can play the spot but we have to help him with chip blocks.

i was also gonna trumpet that. gaa will play on sunday's but it will at guard. i kept saying that losing krok was gonna hurt us the next couple of years but it was overlooked. leavitt will shore up the LT spot next year but we still need one of these young guys to take over that RT spot and let gaa move to guard.

 

[CatDaddy4daWin]

This group continues to grow and they have been better, other than Florida. I'm curious to see how they rebound at Missouri. If they can give up 3 or less sacks I'd call that a success. Open holes for the RB's I'd call that a success.

It along with the dline are the only groups where you can't just plug guys and expect greatness. It takes time in the weight room, in the film room, in practice. Most OL guys take 3 years to make a really big difference. Consider that when getting on Big George. He's learning as he goes. But the talent is there and will only get better as the year goes on.

 

[Tskware]

I have asked this before and got no reply - is switching West to OT not an option? Maybe swap with GAA? I would think a 5th year senior would be able to at least help out, almost anything is better than seeing a parade of Def ends into our backfield

 

[Levibooty]

I have asked this before and got no reply - is switching West to OT not an option? Maybe swap with GAA? I would think a 5th year senior would be able to at least help out, almost anything is better than seeing a parade of Def ends into our backfield

Not really. OT requires a more athletic big guy than OG. Lateral quickness is essential to combat an edge rusher and long arms are standard as well so as to be able to keep the DL off your body so he can't just shove to the side. They are definately different job descriptions and talents.

 

[Comebakatz3]

Losing both Krok and Richardson really hurt us. Both could be tackles for this team this year. We'd be 2 deep at RT and then GAA would be playing inside. Hurts to lose both those guys.

 

[Gary4UK]

Seems like you're judging the offensive line after just one bad game..... They have 9 more games to go... We'll see how they stack up then... Like the coaches say, they will improve and they will get better.... They happened to play against one of the better D-lines... Regardless of their youth they were in the game.... I choose to wait and see what happens, that way you don't have to eat crow....