Thoughts about the OL

[BigBlueManSouthCentralKY]

In the picture of all the OL Malicai Wood made our OL room look small. Looks like he is about 6-9 or 6-10. Did he play basketball in high school?

 

[BlueRaider22]

Style of play and team composition can really affect OL performance. If the defense, kicker, and PR/KR can all benefit the offense/OL, then maybe the bar won't be as high. Also, if Vandagriff/Wimsatt can run enough.....and can get the balls in the hands of Brown/Key and company, it'll help. Hopefully Hamden can mask whatever deficiencies we have.

 

[Jeff Sykes]

1. Supposedly, some whispers about 'concerns' from sources while JJ Weaver stated the OL was doing very well and the war between DL (our presumed strength) and OL have been very competitive. So, which is it? Wolford has proven he is a good coach and I believe, somewhere in that room, we have 7-8 SEC quality OL who will be able to be an above average SEC line this year. Which 7 or 8 will rise to the top is anyone's guess, I think, although there are a few that are clearly in that top tier.
2. We need to OL to perform close to prime BBW level as the RB room does NOT have 'the' guy that we know will carry 15+ times per game and pick up 85 yards, and the tough short yards and punch it in close to the goal line when everyone knows he's getting the ball.
3. Absolutely HAVE to play cleaner, i.e., very few penalties which wrecked multiple drives last year, and almost never completely miss an assignment, also a regular occurrence last year. If nothing else, I have faith that Wolf will not be very patient with a player who makes these mistakes and he'll find someone who won't.
4. With BVG's height and running ability (and what I assume will be more inside zone blocking), I'm guessing the OL will have an easier task than previous years.
5. I also expect BVG to be better at getting rid of the ball quicker to avoid standing in the pocket while the rush descends upon him. From what little I've seen of the offense in action, Hamden looks to be modifying the offense to fit the personnel and we won't see as many plays where every route is 10+ yards down the field (I hope).
6. We saw some improvement last year over 2022. With the same or a bit more improvement this year, certainly not a huge ask, I believe the OL will be pretty good. Not great and dominant but much closer to that level than we saw in 2022, for sure, and a noticeable improvement over last year.

I said it back when and I'll say it again. UK never needed to chuck the ball more. They just needed to be way more effective when they did. UK use to beat teams into submission. The other teams knew when they played UK they had batter have packed their lunch because it was going to be a war in the trenches. Now I have no idea if it was the QB's, WR's, or the the scheme itself that caused the problem with the passing game but that inside zone run game was just nasty.

 

[UKfan34]

I definitely hope Wolf coming back helps. And we DO have what's expected to be a very stout defense, so they are being challenged in practice. I think Chip Trayanum will be a solid 3rd down back capable of punching it in at the goal line. He's a big bodied back. I remember watching him punch in the game winner for Ohio State over Notre Dame last year. So I'm not too concerned about the short yardage situations from that perspective, but I want to know who's going to have that breakaway speed and be able to break of the longer runs. I'm hopeful one of the youngsters step up and prove to be the next Benny Snell or Chris Rodriguez, Heck, I'll take the next Boom Williams too.

Definitely. That is the question. I think Patterson, Demi, and the redshirt freshman are a really good duo but it is invaluable to have that RB that is going to get 1.5 yards no matter what. This makes the line look a lot better. We have had really good short yardage backs and I think this will be key against the big dogs (or big dawgs). When we've gotten close to them, Ga., we've been able to run a bit--and that is a brutal task against those defenses.