Let's talk about our offensive line

ghost2

Retired staff
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Going forward, I think this unit will be much improved from a year ago, and may actually be one of the strengths of the team. Here's why I think this:

1) Experience - we should have four seniors in the two-deep in Darling, Linder, McDermott, and Odogwu. St. Louis and Gauthier will be juniors. Brown, though a RSoph, will be three years removed from HS and in his second year in our S&C program.

2) Depth - Finally we have some legitimate options at tackle, guard, and center. At tackle: McDermott, Brown, St. Louis, Milo, and a healthy Odogwu. We can finally move Darling back to guard (his $$$ position.) Gauthier was a mauler at center late in the year. Donaldson and Gaynor will play early - getting Donaldson in early is huge.

3) Health (for now) - getting Odogwu and McDermott healthy significantly upgrades our OL. Of course this will change, but going into spring with a fully healed OL is a big deal.

4) Talent - Believe it or not I actually think there's legitimate talent RIGHT NOW on the OL, with more on the way. Darling can/should be an NFL guard. St. Louis was pressed into action too soon, but came on strong late in the year and started to show why he was highly recruited. McDermott - when healthy - is talented. Odogwu was our best RT at the time before he got hurt. Milo was a 4* recruit out of HS and is just starting to flash some two-deep ability. And of course we just got a HUGE infusion of young talent in the 2017 signing class. Donaldson and Gaynor should both play this year. Herbert may play in 2017, but ideally he should redshirt, get in shape, and be ready to take a starting tackle spot in two years. Hillery and Dysktra will get bigger and stronger and should provide meaningful depth down the road.

We're still missing that "franchise LT" IMO. Herbert might be that guy, but not this year. I think we can roll with the guys we have in 2017 though.

I honestly believe this group has the potentially to be the best OL we've fielded in a while. With a new QB, we're going to need them to be!
 
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I would love some insight into how George Brown has looked to this point in time. He may have the skillset to be a legit LT, but he's just a huge mystery to me. If he can hold down the LT spot, that could be huge for our OL.
 
I love what we have at oline.
We complained about offensive tackles and oline in general and look who the staff brought in...

Donaldson
Herbert
George brown
Zalontae hillery

Got some tough guard prospects
especially in gaynor and then dykstra

I'm encouraged
 
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Tackle: McDermott, St. Louis, Brown, Dogflu, Johnson, Herbert, Hillery

Guard: Darling, Donaldson, Milo, Jones, Fines, Mahoney, Dykstra

Center: Gauthier, Linder, Gaynor


players in bold will redshirt imo
 
I know [MENTION=2]DMoney[/MENTION] is really high on Gaynor and thinks he'll play this year.
 
I think the BIG UGLIES starting to look real ugly look at this guy 26_4836789.jpg
 
I love Darling moving back inside to his natural spot. That part of the equation is highly underrated.


Kid is a mauler at G. It's unfair to even grade his reps at T.
 
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I will believe it when I see it. We cant run on anybody with a pulse and its been that way for awhile. We will be depending on the same guys it seems. I hope it changes but Im not willing to put money on it.
 
I will believe it when I see it. We cant run on anybody with a pulse and its been that way for awhile. We will be depending on the same guys it seems. I hope it changes but Im not willing to put money on it.
Nc state had one of the best run stopping Dlines in the country and we had no problem runnnng on them... fsu we would have had well over 100 yards if mark walton's run did not get called back
 
I think we're in great shape for this year. Plenty of upperclassman with experience and talented young guys pushing them.

My fear is next year. We'll have 4 maybe 5 Junior/Seniors as starters this year. Next year we'll need 2 or 3 True Soph/Freshman to start. Getting this years class of OL to develop quickly is crucial.
 
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As long as mcdermott is on the field we will be in trouble. Any DC will sniff out the weakest spot and dominate his *** as usual. Darling at LG & Donaldson at RG day 1...mcdermott should be scout team ONLY.
 
As long as mcdermott is on the field we will be in trouble. Any DC will sniff out the weakest spot and dominate his *** as usual. Darling at LG & Donaldson at RG day 1...mcdermott should be scout team ONLY.
 
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We don't have any returning OL who has shown they can pass block worth a **** at OT. St Louis was an extreme disappointment. He might not make the two deep this year. Darling is a decent run blocker. He has to play OG. I see nothing so far to indicate NFL potential. So far, that is just wishful thinking. When healthy, I think Linder can be a very good college OC. McDermott is just OK. He is another player that is better at OG than OT. Odogwu is coming off a bad injury and is a liability in pass protection at OT.

If this OL can improve to solidly mediocre, however, and the QB is pretty good, we will score enough points to win most games.

This is my best guess currently at how the two deep shakes out:

OT-Donaldson; Odogwu
OG-Darling; Milo
OC-Linder; Mahoney
OG-Gaynor; Gauthier
OT-McDermott; Brown
 
Experience does not apply in this situation. I mean what experience in sucking. We brought in some good young talent, let the development begin on the field while scrub seniors/juniors add depth. Play the best guys at each position regardless of classification. CMR and coach Searles did not bring in these overmatched guys and are not obligated to go down hill riding this group, so play the newbies if they earn it in S&C, film room, and obviously on the field.
 
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