When is it time to be skeptical of Yenser?

[K_TIME]

It feels like the consensus is the Oline issues are losing 3 good OL from last year and Wolford for not playing in and rotating more guys in last year.

1. Outside of Flax...who else could have held up last year?. Q Wilson, ...nope. Jager..no way you don't RS him, etc.. Did Wolfrod have any options to play last year?
2. I get Horsey to tackle from guard....but he can't run block for squat out there as he's not a tackles. But an adequate pass blocker. I'm not seeing good play from Jager Burton a bit. It feels like that left side will be a mess all year round. We got more tackles for loss than positive run plays to the left side....this is Youngstown St we can't move off the ball.
3. It appears Goodwin is not really even close to playing. Feels like Wohlbaugh is not much closer. Buford has 100% fell off face of earth.

I'll give him halfway point of year to make a legit opinion of Yenser.....but he looks like a deer in headlight at OLine right now. His unit looks confused a ton and not well developed a bit.

 

[point1zerorock]

Next year or the year after. Like you said, we were set back by the lack of rotation last year. Now we’re stuck trying to rotate for depth or not for starters to gel. May take longer than your expecting to iron out.

 

[maroon79]

He would be on a short leash if I were the HC

 

[ncaaky]

Next year or the year after. Like you said, we were set back by the lack of rotation last year. Now we’re stuck trying to rotate for depth or not for starters to gel. May take longer than your expecting to iron out.

We are a quarter of the way through the season, with two of the game against cupcakes, and the backups have not played a meaningful snap.

He is doing the same thing as last season. He has not rotated any players yet except for filling in for injured players.

 

[sieken]

Man, everyone wanted to fire Schlarman his first couple of years as well. Give it time. He’s basically training a whole new unit. Unit chemistry is critical on the OLine, more so than any other unit, they will get there.

 

[point1zerorock]

We are a quarter of the way through the season, with two of the game against cupcakes, and the backups have not played a meaningful snap.

He is doing the same thing as last season. He has not rotated any players yet except for filling in for injured players.

I know. Read my entire post. He’s having to make a difficult decision - an either/or. He can either try to rotate “or” give the starters the much needed reps to try to gel. Obviously trying the latter for now. But this was a problem he inherited because Wolford did not rotate last year. It’s a catch 22. I think he deserves this year and likely next to rebuild it the Schlarman way.

 

[bigblueinsanity]

Imo yenser is doing a great job. No returning starters at their position. flax and horsey looked awful (in these positions) last year but now serviceable. Flax actually looked good the last 6 quarters.

I'm all in. Young Man has an incredible future in coaching.

 

[maroon79]

Several should have gotten a little time in the 4th

 

[JHB4UK]

We've started diff 5 O linemen every game this yr trying to find best combination. Never heard, was Manning out for injury or just coaches decision?

 

[maroon79]

I only have made up internet rumor lies for ya man. Idk

 

[blue cincy]

He would be on a short leash if I were the HC

Not sure I would put a short leash on a guy coming in to your starting left tackle leaving for NFL draft. So you have been here and have put together a line with what you have. So you would pull the chain on a guy that has not implemented a system. I guess we should have pulled the chain and gotten rid of A Stewart for D line as well. Oh wait, our D Line is much improved. Maybe the AD should have fired Stoops after 6 games into year one. Oh wait, he had time to implement his system and get his players. Come on guys. Maybe we should look at Woffard down at BAMA. Their line play is worse than ours with 5 stars across the board. Maybe just maybe it takes longer than a summer and 3 games to get what is needed on the field. Heck Manning did not play today. Q Wilson took over that spot. Flax (falling down every 4th play got hurt) but came back. I guess if we lose Horsey and Flax and have to put in Big Dave and Goodwin then we should fire Yenser for not having 8 deep at the tackle position.

 

[blue cincy]

We've started diff 5 O linemen every game this yr trying to find best combination. Never heard, was Manning out for injury or just coaches decision?

I heard Injury (minor) just to rest the banged up player.

 

[Ed323232]

It feels like the consensus is the Oline issues are losing 3 good OL from last year and Wolford for not playing in and rotating more guys in last year.

1. Outside of Flax...who else could have held up last year?. Q Wilson, ...nope. Jager..no way you don't RS him, etc.. Did Wolfrod have any options to play last year?
2. I get Horsey to tackle from guard....but he can't run block for squat out there as he's not a tackles. But an adequate pass blocker. I'm not seeing good play from Jager Burton a bit. It feels like that left side will be a mess all year round. We got more tackles for loss than positive run plays to the left side....this is Youngstown St we can't move off the ball.
3. It appears Goodwin is not really even close to playing. Feels like Wohlbaugh is not much closer. Buford has 100% fell off face of earth.

I'll give him halfway point of year to make a legit opinion of Yenser.....but he looks like a deer in headlight at OLine right now. His unit looks confused a ton and not well developed a bit.

Did you watch the second half of the Florida game?

 

[Ed323232]

We are a quarter of the way through the season, with two of the game against cupcakes, and the backups have not played a meaningful snap.

He is doing the same thing as last season. He has not rotated any players yet except for filling in for injured players.

Offensive lines are not like other units. They need to play together. You don’t sub in a guy for a play or two here and there. The starters need every play together they can get.

 

[ncaaky]

Offensive lines are not like other units. They need to play together. You don’t sub in a guy for a play or two here and there. The starters need every play together they can get.

That is a big myth. Each player on the line has their specific duty on each play. If a player breaks down or gets beat the play goes bad.

 

[Ed323232]

That is a big myth. Each player on the line has their specific duty on each play. If a player breaks down or gets beat the play goes bad.

Each player on the field has a specific duty on each play. The line works in unison.

 

[bigbluedon]

He would be on a short leash if I were the HC

After 3 games? Geez. You and K time are some kind of negative.

 

[blue cincy]

That is a big myth. Each player on the line has their specific duty on each play. If a player breaks down or gets beat the play goes bad.

In Zone blocking actually each guys has reads just like a QB. If one guy does not read a defense correctly then you can have issues. We got used to Jackson calling out all 5 guys reads, we got used to Fortner with 3 other guys that could also read multiple positions and help out. Flax / Burton and Horsey are having issues with reads. Levis is causing some of that as well. He helps with reads. Backs are making mistakes, WR are missing blocks. Heck our TE position is solid blocking unit on 98% of the plays. Plus we are not running what we will be when we are in SEC play and not running base wide zone runs and such. Just like our DC is making adjustments at half our OC (probably being directed to keep it vanilla) until we get to Ole Miss. That is when we should see more of a scripted offense and adjusted plays.

 

[yoshukai]

It feels like the consensus is the Oline issues are losing 3 good OL from last year and Wolford for not playing in and rotating more guys in last year.

1. Outside of Flax...who else could have held up last year?. Q Wilson, ...nope. Jager..no way you don't RS him, etc.. Did Wolfrod have any options to play last year?
2. I get Horsey to tackle from guard....but he can't run block for squat out there as he's not a tackles. But an adequate pass blocker. I'm not seeing good play from Jager Burton a bit. It feels like that left side will be a mess all year round. We got more tackles for loss than positive run plays to the left side....this is Youngstown St we can't move off the ball.
3. It appears Goodwin is not really even close to playing. Feels like Wohlbaugh is not much closer. Buford has 100% fell off face of earth.

I'll give him halfway point of year to make a legit opinion of Yenser.....but he looks like a deer in headlight at OLine right now. His unit looks confused a ton and not well developed a bit.

I also wonder about us trying to implement the wide zone running scheme. We finally pretty much abandoned it last year (thank god) . Is coach Scan trying to force it again? Just seems like our team does much better running inside zone. But I’m certainly no expert.

 

[gamecockcat]

Think a lot of OL on the team are more inside than outside zone guys. No short leash. Yenser has the knowledge. Just has to teach it so the guys will quit missing assignments. Seems on almost every stunt by the DL, our guys are too eager to follow the player that lined up opposite rather than being a little patient and waiting until the the guy who should be blocked comes to you. Saw a bunch of plays where OL looked at his guy stunting and followed rather than hold his ground and read the play correctly. That's fixable but we need it fixed sooner rather than later.

 

[FltDoc]

Am amazed at how many Defensive guys go unblocked… many times with an O-lineman running right past…

not a good look…

 

[The-Hack]

I think Crod’s absence has hurt our line play.

Try twists and stunts against a back that will hit the hole left with his speed and power.

Crod will force defensive fronts to be more reactive instead of them forcing the action on our linemen.

 

[maroon79]

After 3 games? Geez. You and K time are some kind of negative.

prob so, I might have been too tough originally, but they have not looked good especially in stunts and blitzes

 

[fabcat]

Man, everyone wanted to fire Schlarman his first couple of years as well. Give it time. He’s basically training a whole new unit. Unit chemistry is critical on the OLine, more so than any other unit, they will get there.

Yeah people seem to forget that. Schlarman was considered a bust. Terrible Oline coach.

 

[TBCat]

I haven't seen enough yet to feel like he's either bad or a bad fit. Keep in mind we thought Schlarman was bad the first 3 years or so. Right now things are really out of sorts. Yenser is making some decisions that might turn out well but so far they aren't working. The biggest mistake right now is that he's going with the strategy of just get the best 5 out there irregardless of position. That's a philosophy that a lot of coaches use and I understand why they are doing it but it can back fire big time as well. I think that's what's happening right now. Cox was a All SEC level guard last year. Now he's playing center and not doing well at all. So this move makes us weak at two spots now instead of one. Same with Horsey.

At some point I think they have to break with the idea of going with the best 5 and start building for specific roles. That's what Schlarman ended up doing and it worked. Schlarman tried to move people around at times and it didn't work then either. I remember us taking a starting guard and moving him to center and he basically cost us the Florida game by himself. After that experiment failed we looked at who was the best center not getting the best 5 on the field. That ended up being Drake Jackson.

I get the best 5 approach but I don't agree with it all the time. Sometimes you need to build for a position. Anchor a couple spots in and the build around them. If the best LT isn't one of your best 5, then so be it.

 

[mrschwump]

Too early to tell after only 3 games with new guys but I do know the OL's going to be the difference between 7 wins and 10 wins. Really thought we'd see others, read Goodwin/Young, mixed in by now. Hell, I was hoping to see Nik Hall and Grant Bingham for a series or 2 yesterday.

 

[maroon79]

I think most of us understand the grand scheme l, but don’t understand why there haven’t been more subs. Just my guess on what everyone is thinking

I mean sun early in the season so when you get to SEC they at least have a few plays right?

 

[K_TIME]

Yeah people seem to forget that. Schlarman was considered a bust. Terrible Oline coach.

1. Who ever said Schlarman was a bust? I am sure after first year of winning 2 games some wanted to replace the entire coaching staff (including Stoops) but that was never majority thought from what I could tell. Also, Schlarman had Kevin Mitchell (2 star) and Jordan Swindle (low 3 star) at tackles, Zack West (3 star) and Eatman-Nared (2 star) at guards and Toth (2 star) at Center. Not really in same ballpark of talent from 2022 to 2013.

2. I'm not clamoring to fire Yenser...just atating not impressed with the job he's done extremely early thus far. is all.

3. If Wolford gets crap for not rotating guys last year (and I'd still argue who was he supposed to rotate last year if the same guys are nor ready this year and a year older)....why isn't Yenser rotating and getting same criticism? Outside of Wohlbaugh playing a series when Flax got rolled under...I never saw anyone play until last meaningless series of game? Never rotated in Goodwin. Buford, John Young, etc...nothing.

4. Flax is solid run blocker (he's still a work in progress at pass protection)....but Jager Burton looks pretty bad, Wohlbaugh was a mess in Miami OH game, John Yoiung, Buford, etc...are all vanished.... won't get into Goodwin.

Maybe it is just hard to learn outside zone scheme......maybe it is similar thing we went thru last year trying to go outside zone and we had to revert back to some inside zone. But that Oline looks brutal and Youngstown St. Maybe Youngstown isn't a bad D vs. the run. I don't know....but this unit will make the difference in 10-2 and 8-4 (which is what I predict for this year's team if the Oline is who I think they are).

 

[CatPatrick13]

That is a big myth. Each player on the line has their specific duty on each play. If a player breaks down or gets beat the play goes bad.

That duty, is moving all over the DL and picking up blitzes is not easy. Communication is key to an OL unit. It just doesn't become efficient overnight.

 

[bigbluemist]

I think we fire Stoops since he hired Yenser! 🙄🙄🙄

 

[billoliver40]

Whatever the scheme is, it's up to the players to learn it.
It takes time for an o line to gel... but I wouldnt be shocked if it takes almost the entire year to pull a consistent one together. Until then, we hope for improvement each game.

 

[NavyCat88]

Long post--sorry.

I'll take a page from Kentucky native and Georgetown College alumnus....the outstanding Wofford College Head Coach - Mike Ayers. I know Mike because we're both Kentuckians living in upstate SC. He spotted me at the gym with a Bengals t-shirt, and we struck up a conversation and have gotten to know each other pretty well since that time.

Anyway, Coach Ayers was at the helm of tiny Wofford College (1,800 students), yet from 1998 to 2017 he compiled a record of 218-160-2 in the tough D1/FCS Southern Conference (SOCON - facing former members/current FBS teams App state, Geo Southern, & Marshall) with titles in 2003, 2007, 2010, 2012, and 2017. Ayers was 5x SOCON COY and FCS COY (Eddie Robinson award) once.

One thing about Ayers' teams....his Terriers were toughest kids on the block (just like Stoops' Cats) and they ran a triple option offense like a Swiss watch. We all know the TO starts and ends with OL. Ayers rotated players beginning with the first game of the season (at all positions). He did this to such an extent that (at the start of each season) it was commonplace to face a Wofford team with 22 lettermen as opening-day O & D starters. They may not be returning STARTERS and often were not....but they had reps and sets sufficient for Ayers' teams to reload with seasoned lettermen.

For UK this year, it's dicey because we need a functional first-team OL to win near-term games. However, I think the OL rotation is a must-have to (1) develop depth on the OL, (2) keep us fresh as an OL as tough games wear on, (3) get enough game time for good freshmen & sophs (so they don't go looking at the transfer portal due to lack of playing time), and (4) allow us to "reload" every year,. That is partly why we remember Coach Schlarman as legendary in his building of the Big Blue Wall.

As soon as we find our best mix of OL starters.....I'd like to see us get them functional and then take a chance by working in the rotation. It is like planting our seed corn for good harvests in the future.

Atlanta or bust!

GBB!

 

[TucsonCat]

Wolford may have been an ahole, but I hope that doesn't gloss over the reason we are in this mess.

It's the third game of the season.
They've had two full games of reps.
Spring practice. Fall Practice. Bowl game prep.
And we were getting absolutely stuffed by an FCS team.

I have a hard time believing if these guys had gotten a couple series against Vandy and South Carolina last year, everything would be different.

Fact is, the Big Blue Wall started crumbling couple years ago.
1. Landon left before Wolford took over. And there was no replacement who had been cycled then either. We had to get Dare from Portal or we would've been like this last year.
2. Drake left at the same time. And there was no replacement for him. We had to move Fortner over to center.
3. Fortner was replaced at guard Eli Cox coming off a season ending knee surgery.
4. Darrian Kinnard should've gone pro after 2020. We had no seasoned backup for him. Probably begged him to stay.
5. And then this year, Fotner gets drafted, and there's no upperclassmen for him. We have to move Cox over.
6. Cox is replaced by redshirt freshman Burton.
7. We start another redshirt freshman at Left Tackle.
8. No guard ready to step up so we get Manning from Auburn.

For whatever reason, we fell down recruiting the next group.
2018. Our super seniors. 4 recruited. Kinnard was a stud. But now Horsey is out of position. Nick Lewis and Quentin Wilson do nothing.
2019, we only recruited 2 lineman. Only Cox contributed. Is Jake Pope on the team. There's our seniors.
2020. Our juniors. Flax. Reubens Adams. Deondre Bufotd. Joshua Jones. Josh Young. I'm just now learning 3 of those names.

How many of those are contributing now, 11 recruits who should be filling in that line and 3 are contributing. The others are all passed over. I don't even think they're backups.

How is that Wolford's fault? But give him this. At least he made last years line serviceable. Yinzer not to blame, but he ain't pulling miracles either.

 

[BigBlueManSouthCentralKY]

Not sure how much is coaching so far. I do think some of it may be a lot of our linemen are either slow or non athletic or not quite big, strong and mean enough. That combination is what we are used to. Big, strong, most of them athletic, one or two dirty ones with some quickness to go with all those attributes.

 

[sieken]

Bama recruits better than anyone in the nation. They're line was very suspect last year, even with all of those stud athletes.

Our guys need time, simple reps isn't quite enough. There isn't nearly the repercussions in practice that there is in the game. Once these guys get comfortable in their roles and don't have to think about what they're doing, this will end up being a good unit.

 

[bigblueinsanity]

If Wolford gets crap for not rotating guys last year (and I'd still argue who was he supposed to rotate last year if the same guys are nor ready this year and a year older)....why isn't Yenser rotating and getting same criticism?

Because last year we had an incredible group of veterans but desperately needed younger guys to get reps.

This year everyone is new at their position. Literally everyone. These guys need reps together and in a major way. Once they gel, we'll see a rotation pick up. We've already rotated in one interior guy and one tackle. For most programs that's all that ever happens.

Part of the perceived OL performance is actually the qbs fault. He holds the ball too long, bails on pockets too soon, and doesn't account for blitzers presnap. He's better at these things this year but he still has a long way to go.

 

[bigblueinsanity]

More proof the OL is playing much better than people think

 

[Eccain01]

It feels like the consensus is the Oline issues are losing 3 good OL from last year and Wolford for not playing in and rotating more guys in last year.

1. Outside of Flax...who else could have held up last year?. Q Wilson, ...nope. Jager..no way you don't RS him, etc.. Did Wolfrod have any options to play last year?
2. I get Horsey to tackle from guard....but he can't run block for squat out there as he's not a tackles. But an adequate pass blocker. I'm not seeing good play from Jager Burton a bit. It feels like that left side will be a mess all year round. We got more tackles for loss than positive run plays to the left side....this is Youngstown St we can't move off the ball.
3. It appears Goodwin is not really even close to playing. Feels like Wohlbaugh is not much closer. Buford has 100% fell off face of earth.

I'll give him halfway point of year to make a legit opinion of Yenser.....but he looks like a deer in headlight at OLine right now. His unit looks confused a ton and not well developed a bit.

Don’t know if you can blame him for the guys that were recruited before him are apparently not anywhere near ready to play

 

[sieken]

View embedded media

More proof the OL is playing much better than people think

Burton is missing assignments, Wohlbalaugh isn’t showing great assignment recognition yet(IMO). Those are very fixable and have no doubt they will be. Burton came in with a rep for being very athletic, that is what makes me believe he’s just thinking too much out there.

 

[3632]

I would hope for us to be better than what we are but there's a reality that you can't come into every season with experience and ability. It feels like the lazy thing is to blame Yenzer for it 3 games into the season. If they haven't shown growth by the end then have at it. It also feels lazy to lay it all on Wolford since he is gone. I mean, at the end of the day, if Stoops wanted more rotation last year for the program all he has to do is walk into his office or the weekly staff meeting and say 'we need to get more guys in'. There's just a reality that some years are going to be different.