SoldierGriz said:
Where does this year's O-Line compare to the great O-lines in the past?
I know the Griz have potential gaps, or depth challenges at corner. They also have question marks at QB?
But, the O-line is the biggest question mark IMO. Why am I wrong?
I've been stewing on an O-line post so Soldier I'm with ya man, let's talk some some football.
1. Where does this O-line compare to great OL's of the past? They don't. At least not yet. Of the group only Villanueva has meaningful time under his belt. The entire rest of the OL is painfully inexperienced and hardly played a meaningful snap last season. Does this mean the talent isn't there? No, not necessarily, however we're going to see this team breaking in 4 new starters and one of whom (Jackson) missed spring ball from surgery.
2. I'd say that both the OL and CB's share the same concern - 1 returning starter with real experience and a whole bunch of new faces after that.
What I like about this O-line
- Of the guys they're bringing in many were highly regarded recruits. Lots of 2 star and I think even a few 3 star guys.
- The starting group will (at first) presumably consist of mostly sophomores and 1 junior. All of whom have had 3 years with Germer and Nicholson. While the design of the offense will have changed, most of these guys have been together and worked together for years.
- As we all know Bobby & Rosy are bringing back the more traditional use of the fullback and tight end. This will help these guys immensely. They won't be out on their own as much, they'll have far more assistance in run blocking and edge protection than they would have seen with a Stitt-run offense meerly due to having more help from TEs/FBs.
- Bobby and company know how to bring the best out of the OL and he's got all of the right guys to help do the work. DOLA will really look like it should and I would suspect this OL will carry a meaner edge than we've seen in the last 8ish years.
- If these guys can get things going this year... look out. We'll have a solid corps of the same OL for 2-3 years. That could be huge.
My concerns
- As mentioned before, experience. Last year the 2nd team OL got very little reps and there wasn't much in terms of injuries that brought up the younger guys to play a game or two. They mostly did ST duty, which is nice... but leaves a big leap for transitioning to a starter role.
- OT depth. Right now we've got basically 3 viable OT's. Beaver, Jackson, and Keintz. The interior has a little more depth and more guys to move around, but OT really concerns me if we see bouts of injuries or ineffectiveness.
- Will guys that were recruited for a more fast-paced offense and looked at more as pass blockers be able to adapt to a system that's going to be far more balanced? If some of these guys aren't the right "fit" for this offense it may not matter how long they've been here or how highly thought of they were as HS recruits.
