Our O-Line situation

[Rembrandt90]

The good news about the o line is they were so bad last year it would almost be hard to not at least be a little bit better. The bar was really that low.

I see this differently. Our OL underperformed last year, but not because the bar was low. On the contrary, the bar is high. Until last year, our OL has been one of the best in the SEC. Our 2022 OL underperformed because they lost Fortner, Rosenthal, and Kinnard to the NFL while also breaking in a new OC, a new OL coach, and a new system. That's a lot of change. Every company, organization, system, and team occasionally has to go through a rebuilding or reorganizing period. Not because the bar is low, but because it takes it takes a lot of effort and energy to keep the bar high.

The truth about our 2022 OL is that they lacked playing experience (except Horsey and Cox, who were asked to change positions) and were not familiar with the new offensive system.

Having said that, our OL roster includes former 4 star prospects like Flax, Burton, Bowles, Bingham, plus high 3 stars with nice offer sheets like Buford, Hall, and Keenum. In the past, Horsey, Eli Cox, and Marquez Cox have been recognized for their outstanding play. Josh Jones missed last season with an injury, but he is another player who had an impressive offer sheet including 6 SEC schools. With all this size and talent on hand, our OL should play well once they have more playing experience in Coach Coen's system. According to our coaches, the OL's play in spring practice showed some improvement, and Marques Cox was outstanding. Playing against our DL (one of the SEC's best) in practice is only going to help. So I am optimistic, because we have talented players and coaches with high standards. The bar at UK is high.

 

[screwduke1]

I see this differently. Our OL underperformed last year, but not because the bar was low. On the contrary, the bar is high. Until last year, our OL has been one of the best in the SEC. Our 2022 OL underperformed because they lost Fortner, Rosenthal, and Kinnard to the NFL while also breaking in a new OC, a new OL coach, and a new system. That's a lot of change. Every company, organization, system, and team occasionally has to go through a rebuilding or reorganizing period. Not because the bar is low, but because it takes it takes a lot of effort and energy to keep the bar high.

The truth about our 2022 OL is that they lacked playing experience (except Horsey and Cox, who were asked to change positions) and were not familiar with the new offensive system.

Having said that, our OL roster includes former 4 star prospects like Flax, Burton, Bowles, Bingham, plus high 3 stars with nice offer sheets like Buford, Hall, and Keenum. In the past, Horsey, Eli Cox, and Marquez Cox have been recognized for their outstanding play. Josh Jones missed last season with an injury, but he is another player who had an impressive offer sheet including 6 SEC schools. With all this size and talent on hand, our OL should play well once they have more playing experience in Coach Coen's system. According to our coaches, the OL's play in spring practice showed some improvement, and Marques Cox was outstanding. Playing against our DL (one of the SEC's best) in practice is only going to help. So I am optimistic, because we have talented players and coaches with high standards. The bar at UK is high.

I get your point and maybe I could have worded that better...but I mostly meant the line was so bad last year that the bar for improvement next year isnt exactly high compared to last year. They almost have to be better because it would be hard to be worse.

 

[Rembrandt90]

I get your point and maybe I could have worded that better...but I mostly meant the line was so bad last year that the bar for improvement next year isnt exactly high compared to last year. They almost have to be better because it would be hard to be worse.

But the bar for improvement next fall IS high.

 

[screwduke1]

But the bar for improvement next fall IS high.

Hopefully itll always be high. That would be good for the program for sure.

 

[Rembrandt90]

Hopefully itll always be high. That would be good for the program for sure.

Under Mark Stoops, the bar for UK's football program has always been high. It took from 2013-2015 to get a good start on building up his roster, and it took a little longer than that to stabilize his coaching staff. But if we listen to Stoops' own words, the goal has always been to get to the SEC Championship Game. He said that at the beginning. Now we are nationally ranked, which was very unusual before Stoops got here. He gets to bowl games every year and wins most of those. He is developing All Americans and putting UK players into the NFL draft at a pace that has not happened here before. All of our football facilities have been replaced or renovated. In the last five years, we are 40-23. From a practical standpoint, the bar could not be higher. We can ask for perfection, but reasonable folks like you understand that is not going to happen anywhere.

 

[RMP82]

I would go Cox Cox Burton Horsey Buford with Rodriguez, Flax, Bingham, Hall, Bowles, and Wohlabaugh rotating in. Ideally I would have someone else at Center but if Burton is doing well there, maybe roll with him.

 

[catben]

I would go Cox Cox Burton Horsey Buford with Rodriguez, Flax, Bingham, Hall, Bowles, and Wohlabaugh rotating in. Ideally I would have someone else at Center but if Burton is doing well there, maybe roll with him.

I would just add that Keenum looked really good in his time playing Center during the open practice. I don’t know if he’s ready for reps as a Freshman against SEC defenses, but he has the size and agility to be great here.

 

[mrschwump]

I would go Cox Cox Burton Horsey Buford with Rodriguez, Flax, Bingham, Hall, Bowles, and Wohlabaugh rotating in. Ideally I would have someone else at Center but if Burton is doing well there, maybe roll with him.

Figure Josh Jones here too although I'm not sure it'll be as an OT or OG, could be both.

 

[mrschwump]

I would just add that Keenum looked really good in his time playing Center during the open practice. I don’t know if he’s ready for reps as a Freshman against SEC defenses, but he has the size and agility to be great here.

Still think Scott Padgett's son Luke, a PWO OC in his second year, will get PT at some point.

 

[ganner918]

I was to told by a good source that Bufords issue and the reason he isn't playing is do to learning his assignments. Though it looked like he was better in his two starts he missed a lot of assignments

Stoops said, of the line generally last year, that the problem wasn't physical ability it was execution. Sounds like more experience, more time to learn assignments, more time to get comfortable with each other and react vs think will allow for a lot of improvement. I'm optimistic that our issues were more inexperience (individually and as a unit) vs anything else.

 

[Rembrandt90]

Still think Scott Padgett's son Luke, a PWO OC in his second year, will get PT at some point.

Luke Padgett has mainly practiced at C. He can play OG, but OG is already a deep position on our team. I have had a couple of opportunities to watch Padgett in scrimmages. He is a good player, with size and situational awareness. But it is not easy to see a path for him to get onto the field before mopup time unless we have multiple injuries in our interior line. Nothing against Luke.

 

[Rembrandt90]

Figure Josh Jones here too although I'm not sure it'll be as an OT or OG, could be both.

Most of our offensive linemen can play multiple positions. At 6'6" 340# and with long arms, Josh Jones is an OT. He was recruited as an OT. He is more or less a forgotten player because he missed 2022 with a knee injury, but half of the SEC tried to recruit him out of Central hs in Phenix City, AL. I am a little concerned that he put on too much weight while he sat last year. But if he gets in shape, Jones can contribute, maybe a lot.

 

[mrschwump]

Most of our offensive linemen can play multiple positions. At 6'6" 340# and with long arms, Josh Jones is an OT. He was recruited as an OT. He is more or less a forgotten player because he missed 2022 with a knee injury, but half of the SEC tried to recruit him out of Central hs in Phenix City, AL. I am a little concerned that he put on too much weight while he sat last year. But if he gets in shape, Jones can contribute, maybe a lot.

Saw a pic of him a few days ago, don't think he's 340 now, didn't look it at least.....carries it well if so.

 

[Rembrandt90]

Saw a pic of him a few days ago, don't think he's 340 now, didn't look it at least.....carries it well if so.

UK's official spring roster lists Josh Jones at 6'6" 343#. I don't know how accurate that is, but it is current and probably pretty close to accurate.

Darian Kinnard was 6' 4 1/2" 350# and he looked like he was chisled out of granite.

 

[JHB4UK]

Was just listening to a Spring CFB roundup report....said Ohio is also having problems at R tackle, Ryan Day said the play so far hasn't been "starter quality". Local media there expect them to heavily recruit the portal for O line.

Any UK fan who thinks we can solve our O line problem at RT after Spring is gonna be disappointed. UK is 1 of probably 80 or 90 teams who want to improve their O line before 2023 season kicks off.

We have to hope the solutions are already on.the roster and can be developed and coached up.

 

[catben]

Was just listening to a Spring CFB roundup report....said Ohio is also having problems at R tackle, Ryan Day said the play so far hasn't been "starter quality". Local media there expect them to heavily recruit the portal for O line.

Any UK fan who thinks we can solve our O line problem at RT after Spring is gonna be disappointed. UK is 1 of probably 80 or 90 teams who want to improve their O line before 2023 season kicks off.

We have to hope the solutions are already on.the roster and can be developed and coached up.

We have several young players that should be ready to make the jump from being on the bench to competing for actual playing time.

Our program has developed many Offensive Linemen during Coach Stoops tenure here. Was the loss of Coach Schlarman the biggest reason we have struggled to develop OT’s?

 

[mrschwump]

We have several young players that should be ready to make the jump from being on the bench to competing for actual playing time.

Our program has developed many Offensive Linemen during Coach Stoops tenure here. Was the loss of Coach Schlarman the biggest reason we have struggled to develop OT’s?

Shame that Nik Hall was a no-go this Spring. Was good to get Josh Jones back, maybe he can help.

 

[Rembrandt90]

We have several young players that should be ready to make the jump from being on the bench to competing for actual playing time.

Nik Hall missed spring practice with an injury. But Grant Bingham had a productive spring, and Josh Jones is back. The guy who really needs to take a step up is Buford, who finds himself at a crossroad. Depending on how he responds, Buford could become a starter or get buried on the depth chart.

Our program has developed many Offensive Linemen during Coach Stoops tenure here. Was the loss of Coach Schlarman the biggest reason we have struggled to develop OT’s?

The loss of the late Coach Schlarman is a factor, of course. He knew how to shape and develop strong young men, and everything he contributed is missed. But let's be realistic about this. Schlarman did not instantly produce great OLs. It took a couple of years because these kinds of things can't normally be accomplished overnight. Another factor is that college rosters are constantly cycling. Stallings and Stenberg, both lightly recruited, came out of nowhere and became All Americans, largely because of Schlarman but also because they were more talented than their internet prospect ratings. They were good SEC players, but they are gone. Fortner, lightly recruited, came out of nowhere and became a team leader who now starts in the NFL. Kinnard was a big recruiting win who became an All American, but is gone now. Sometimes a program needs a rebuilding season. Replacing star players like Fortner and Kinnard isn't always accomplished easily. Out of all the criticisms I have heard about our 2022 OL, the least mentioned was their overall lack of experience. Horsey and Cox had playing experience but were moved to new positions. Manning was a transfer from Auburn who started a handful of games there but found himself in a new offense that was not a fit for his tools. Flax was a new starter and Burton was a redshirt freshman. There were mistakes because all of them were learning on the job.

 

[rudd1]

-I was at a dinner party recently hosted by Luke Fortner's prof/mentor in the mechanical and aerospace engineering program...said he was the brightest/most gifted student he'd ever had.

 

[billoliver40]

With a left handed QB, our RT spot is prime territory to fill.

 

[Bereacat420]

With a left handed QB, our RT spot is prime territory to fill.

Who is the left handed qb?

 

[JHB4UK]

lol Leary throws and bats right

 

[Rembrandt90]

-I was at a dinner party recently hosted by Luke Fortner's prof/mentor in the mechanical and aerospace engineering program...said he was the brightest/most gifted student he'd ever had.

Fortner holds a Masters degree in aerospace engineering and an MBA. To have accomplished all of that while also playing football full time is impressive. He is definitely one of the smartest football players on the field that I have watched at UK. Along with Tom Ranieri and Jim Kovach.

 

[K_TIME]

Nik Hall missed spring practice with an injury. But Grant Bingham had a productive spring, and Josh Jones is back. The guy who really needs to take a step up is Buford, who finds himself at a crossroad. Depending on how he responds, Buford could become a starter or get buried on the depth chart.


The loss of the late Coach Schlarman is a factor, of course. He knew how to shape and develop strong young men, and everything he contributed is missed. But let's be realistic about this. Schlarman did not instantly produce great OLs. It took a couple of years because these kinds of things can't normally be accomplished overnight. Another factor is that college rosters are constantly cycling. Stallings and Stenberg, both lightly recruited, came out of nowhere and became All Americans, largely because of Schlarman but also because they were more talented than their internet prospect ratings.

Not really....Schlarman was able to take relatively young Oline and plug and play them after 1-2 years at Ky and they grew into really good Oline over time....but they could be playable early on in their career.

1. 2016....Bunchy Stallings (Sophmore) and BIg George Asofo (Sophmore) blocked for Benny/Boom in 2016 and was a really good run blocking Oline
2. 2017.....Stenberg as a Sophmore and later that year Drake Jackson Freshman had to play C (we could not snap the football) and we had a good Oline that year as well
3. 2018....Nassir Watkins as Fr, Kinnard as true Fr and Fortner as a Sophmore rotated in Oline for the Citrus Bowl and top 12 team
4. 2019...Kinnard was a Sophmore. Weird year when Bowden was QB but we were pretty dominate run blocking Oline down the stretch of that season.

I know I'm a pretty vocal critic of Yenser and I need to give him 2023 with Coen to see how much is him vs. Scangerello. But we can't change the narrative to you have to be a Jr/Sr to be a competent Oline. That world won't work year after year.

- You'll always to have 1-2 players in their Fr/So year to be able to play and be solid.
- And Yenser is the one who didn't try to rotate in the Oline and he played 5 dudes an entire game....so it's on him to slowly get game action to build depth.
- Schlarman maybe was an elite Olline and you'll never get anyone as good as him. TIme will tell for sure....but the Oline play in 2022 was atrocious and no excuse for that crap we saw. Horsey, Cox, Flax and Manning were all 3rd and 4th year collegiate players. And new positions, new schemes, etc...aside...Yenser didn't get his 2022 unit to perform.

 

[JHB4UK]

Stoops in his Spring closing presser yeaterday stated Jagger has won the starting C job, Eli Cox starting at G. Along with Horsey at G & M Cox at LT, as we all expect 4 out of 5 spots are in ink to start the 2023 season.

 

[mrschwump]

Anybody see/hear how the Luniewski brothers visit went last week? Think it was UNO, are they coming back for an OV? TIA.

 

[Rembrandt90]

Not really....Schlarman was able to take relatively young Oline and plug and play them after 1-2 years at Ky and they grew into really good Oline over time....but they could be playable early on in their career.

1. 2016....Bunchy Stallings (Sophmore) and BIg George Asofo (Sophmore) blocked for Benny/Boom in 2016 and was a really good run blocking Oline
2. 2017.....Stenberg as a Sophmore and later that year Drake Jackson Freshman had to play C (we could not snap the football) and we had a good Oline that year as well
3. 2018....Nassir Watkins as Fr, Kinnard as true Fr and Fortner as a Sophmore rotated in Oline for the Citrus Bowl and top 12 team
4. 2019...Kinnard was a Sophmore. Weird year when Bowden was QB but we were pretty dominate run blocking Oline down the stretch of that season.

I know I'm a pretty vocal critic of Yenser and I need to give him 2023 with Coen to see how much is him vs. Scangerello. But we can't change the narrative to you have to be a Jr/Sr to be a competent Oline. That world won't work year after year.

- You'll always to have 1-2 players in their Fr/So year to be able to play and be solid.
- And Yenser is the one who didn't try to rotate in the Oline and he played 5 dudes an entire game....so it's on him to slowly get game action to build depth.
- Schlarman maybe was an elite Olline and you'll never get anyone as good as him. TIme will tell for sure....but the Oline play in 2022 was atrocious and no excuse for that crap we saw. Horsey, Cox, Flax and Manning were all 3rd and 4th year collegiate players. And new positions, new schemes, etc...aside...Yenser didn't get his 2022 unit to perform.

Schlarman arrived here in 2013. I stand by what I posted.

 

[JHB4UK]

Oh hey look who is playing RT for Florida & delivering pancakes. Not that I'm bitter or frustrated or anything.