Both recent transfers earned starting spots at Syracuse and Cincinnati respectively. Just find it interesting since we’re short on that position, don’t know if anyone has any info on why they transferred.
Wohlabaugh and Buford
- Thread starter bluecoon1
- Start date
I honestly didn't understand either transfer. Wohlabaugh looked completely lost in his lone start but he's a young guy and, with the right coaching and system, I believe he could've earned PT at some point in his career. Staff was high on him until they weren't but that's not a 'forever' type of thing, imo.
Buford looked better than Flax did last year in many instances. Not sure RT was his natural position (always thought he was more of an OG) but I believe he would have played a lot this year, if not start.
Syracuse should not EVER have a better OL than UK so not sure that starting at Syracuse would translate to more PT for Wohlabaugh. Buford starting at UC is not a big drop although I expect the Bearcats to slide now that their coach is at Wisky. Good for both of them. Buford would almost certainly have played more than Wohlabaugh this year but no telling if Wohlabaugh would have blossomed into an SEC OT and started a couple of years.
Buford looked better than Flax did last year in many instances. Not sure RT was his natural position (always thought he was more of an OG) but I believe he would have played a lot this year, if not start.
Syracuse should not EVER have a better OL than UK so not sure that starting at Syracuse would translate to more PT for Wohlabaugh. Buford starting at UC is not a big drop although I expect the Bearcats to slide now that their coach is at Wisky. Good for both of them. Buford would almost certainly have played more than Wohlabaugh this year but no telling if Wohlabaugh would have blossomed into an SEC OT and started a couple of years.
I believe they where both listed down on the depth charts. Just because they start at Syracuse or Cinn. doesn't mean they would stay here. I know the Bearcats have been really good but maybe their current OL talent is not up to standards. Just a guess on that I don't follow either school.
What they're getting, PT. Cincy/Syracuse should not be confused with SEC level football.
I don’t think Wohlabaugh was the only one confused by last years scheme and I agree with the Buford/Flax situation and had a hard time understanding it.
Juat because they went to Syracuse and Cincinnati doesn't mean those schools have a better o line than UK. It just means the guys felt they would start or get more reps at those schools, it doesn't have any bearing on who has the better o line. You could look at it like this, they are both starters on those teams and couldn't start for UK. One bad year from our line and I'm not ready to start questioning coaches and players
They have proven to be stout year in and year out. We will see the normal Big Blue Wall back this year, have faith.
They have proven to be stout year in and year out. We will see the normal Big Blue Wall back this year, have faith.
If you are going to recruit the portal, you have to expect to lose some guys, especially the ones that get pushed down the depth chart.
IMO it’s just the nature of today’s landscape in college football. Guys want to play and will seek out opportunities. That they are starting to me just means UK is doing something right. Other schools are going to seek portal guys from top programs. We took guys from NC State, USC and Alabama.
Both young men were recruited and signed to play Eddie Gran drive blocking O line. Guys leaving because of scheme changed happens all the time around CFB. Just because they didn't work out in our Shanahan/McVey system doesn't mean they can't be good CFB O linemen.
Bingo!
They won't have to play against future NFL lineman every week at those two schools.
I wouldn't go that far. Syracuse and Cincinnati play against some NFL quality players on their schedule. I get what you are saying, it's not SEC caliber week in and week out, but they will face some very good defenses on their schedule. Syracuse plays Clemson, UNC, and FSU just to name a few.
Cincinnati plays Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, BYU, Baylor.
Cincinnati plays Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, BYU, Baylor.
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I think the entire offensive line was confused all season.
And from what i understand, the Oline coach was as well....
Wohlabaugh and Buford are gone. They had their reasons. Coach Coen is back. Our season opener is 3 days away. That's the story now.
I don't think last year's performance of the Oline can be ruled out as one of several in the of the overall collection of factors Sometimes things just don't go right and its ok to move on. Even if everyone else thinks they are fixed, sometimes the bad mojo remains, at least in the mind of the player.
Since players are human, perhaps there is an element of truth to this. But Mark Stoops understands athletes' psychology too. He fired the OC and brought Coach Coen back. Aside from Flax, who is being challenged by an incoming transfer from SoCal, there literally isn't another starter on our OL playing the same position he played last year. I guess Stoops could have fired Yenser, but Coen obviously didn't want that. So as far as it goes, Stoops has done about all he can do to improve the psychology for the OL. They have had a very positive offseason too.
If all this isn't enough for our OL to improve significantly, then I think Yenser has to go. This is JMO, of course. But what has Yenser contributed to our 2024 recruiting class? Granted, he was primary recruiter for Keenum and Ramsey in our 2023 class, amd I'm not minimizing that. But I see 2024 as the litmus test for Yenser. He may yet be a smashing success here. But it better happen now. Again, JMO.
It's odd that most head coaches get 3 or 4 year to prove themselves, but a OL coach that's been here about a year and a half is expected to preform, like he inherited any talent.
It’s the new college football. You commit to a school but don’t play enough or get enough NIL money, you go to another school.
I doubt they will play against many NFL defensive lineman. Maybe a couple of games. Big 12 plays very little defense.
Fair enough, but there are situations where one component of a team isn't performing like the other components are. Yenser inherited a retooling job, no question. But teaching is a big part of the job. It was evidently Yenser's decision to move Eli Cox, a successful RG, to C. Nothing necessarily wrong with the idea if it had worked. But it failed. I won't blame Yenser for moving Horsey to LG because that was a solution of last resort. Several young backups with upside such as Wohlabaugh, Buford, and Bingham had a wasted season and two of them left through the portal. Frankly, we will be lucky if Bingham doesn't leave. We can attribute all of this to small sample or whatever. Under most circumstances, I tend to agree that an OL coach needs more than 18 months. What concerns me in this case is OL recruiting. We can't get a commitment from a competitively recruited OT. With the recent history of the BBW and Joe Moore Trophy rankings, this feels odd to me. But our 2023 season will be the story. I don't want to jump to a conclusion on Yenser too impulsively, and I agree he didn't have enough experience to work with in 2022. But this is the SEC, and the OL problem will have to be solved one way or another. When I attend the game on Saturday, our OL will be the first component of the team that I zoom in on. I doubt I will be alone.
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Agree with your thoughts. Also, Scang didn't help the situation, at least as far as I can tell. Many people around the program have emphasized that the scheme this year is simplified, the verbiage to call a play less, etc. Way too many plays last year saw an OL completely go the wrong way or misread who he was supposed to block or fire off like a running play only to discover the play called was a pass. In retrospect, Scang seemed like a professor who designed stuff that worked beautifully in a lab setting (and could have worked on the field if 1/3 of the team wasn't confused as to their role) but, in practice, just never jelled. An enormous number of plays where the team wasn't 'all on the same page' and it showed in our output. I think Coen at the helm will make a big difference. He'll adjust mid-game which Scang rarely seemed to do. He'll have a set of bread-and-butter plays that we'll be able to execute 95% of the time. He'll be much better in the red zone. Just a night-and-day situation is what I'm expecting. We may find that the OL (and Yenser) is much better this year if only because everyone on the field knows what they're supposed to do and aren't trying to figure it out when the ball is snapped.
Yenser's shortcomings, thus far, regarding recruiting are a concern and I would hope, with some success on the field, they will be fixed.
Always been a proponent of "one game at a time" or "one season at a time" but if you look ahead you go...."Whoa!" OL will draw a huge focus but consider this: UK loses at least 5 seniors plus 2 more OL recovering from potential career threatening injuries. At this time, Burton will be the only returning starter in '24. All the more reason the recruiting needs to pick up but also UK will need to be very, very busy in the portal. Regardless, the '24 OL will be a great challenge.
Sometimes you don’t need much time to figure out something’s not working! And our O line definitely wasn’t last year. Couldn’t let that go into year 2.
Hindsight being perfect, we should have known on game one last season we had problems. But since it was a win WITHOUT CRod we just shrugged and passed it off to growing pains.
Turns out it was a pain that grew.
Turns out it was a pain that grew.
For sure it will.....We'll be going to portal for at least 1 more offensive tackle...and probably 2 tackles in the end. I think Jager/Keenum will be fine at Center. The guards could be Cox (if he takes a Covid), with Rodriguez and Christman being ready to promote to starters.
But as you look at it....we'll probably need a portal transfer if Bingham does not pan out at guard.
In the end, Yenser just looks like he is not done much in recruiting 2 cycles and coaching in 1 cycle. He needs to show some stuff...or he'll be killing the other problems areas we've fixed at OC and RB coaches.
The Cuse have three new transfers projected to start on the line, including DW. Looks like they needed real help.
I have yet to find a single UK football fan who disagrees with that.
Most people here know that I am a little bit compulsive when it comes to UK football. LOL. At games, I often zoom in on a specific player or a specific part of the team to watch closely. It is not unusual for me to watch a replay at home so I can make my evaluation of a certain aspect of our game. In 2021, I was an analytical observer of Coach Coen and his offense, especially ways in which he cleverly got the football into Wandale Robinson's hands with room to run after a catch. He never made it complicated, but he understood how to exploit Wandale's speed and quickness in mismatches. Creating skill mismatches is Coen's special talent. I felt like Scan didn't understand as well how to do that. Scan was a very rigid, doctrinaire coordinator. But Coen is a master of the tactical mismatch and will do whatever it takes. Coen's players are well prepared. This year, Coen has a bunch of quick skill players that he can put into mismatches. I doubt he will show very much of his playbook before week #4 at the earliest, maybe even as late as week #6 if all goes well in the meantime. But he doesn't have to, because he wins by letting our talent win. I still remember how hard Coen attacked GA's defense over and over in 2021. He is a nice guy, but he is also a lion. So glad he is back!
