Phil Steele OL Rankings

[The U is back to work]

If you know you know, we’ll be much better than 39th. By mid season they’ll be saying top 10. A slight drop off from top 5 last season

I don’t think we will be that high. Still question marks on this OL and I believe Jackson Cantwell is a generational prospect but he will have his moments as will Rodriguez, Buchanan, and McCoy. Samson I believe is headed for 1st team All ACC at guard.

 

[Bender]

I find this to be well ranked based on the unknowns that we have.

Freshman OL usually don't start very well. Mauigoa is the exception the same way Sewell was, and that's why they were drafted Top 10. Cantwell is a question mark till proven otherwise. We don't know who'll start at C, as Rodriguez is a question mark with his health. We don't know where Samson will play. Meriweather was brought in and we don't know whether he'll start. McCoy hopefully is into shape enough where he can play games without being subbed all the time. Buchanan made noise, but we don't know what happens with him once the lights get turned on.

I trust Mirabal, but we have a lot of unproven commodities by a pure preseason look. It'll change after the first week, probably, but till then - the picture is what it is.

 

[Glow]

If you know you know, we’ll be much better than 39th. By mid season they’ll be saying top 10. A slight drop off from top 5 last season

I don’t think we will be that high. Still question marks on this OL and I believe Jackson Cantwell is a generational prospect but he will have his moments as will Rodriguez, Buchanan, and McCoy. Samson I believe is headed for 1st team All ACC at guard.

I think Miami might end up top 10 just because OL play in general in CFB is not great, there are not a bunch of elite offensive lines year to year.

Might be one of those "#10 that isn't much better than #15 or #20" though

 

[bacane]

Preseason ranks are often nothing more than happy talk during a slow time. Phil Steele, Jose the local barber & 99.9% of people on this board have no idea on how an OL is gonna come together. Most rankings are based on returning starters & most are clueless on young talent that have been developing.

 

[Canes2026Champs]

Phil isn’t taking into account the guys who are “replacing” last years starters were all highly touted recruits, and they won’t face a better defensive line all season than the one they face every day at practice. That tends to speed up development.

Also, we have the first 4 games of the season to evaluate and figure out the best player at each OL position. The fact that we only took one portal O-lineman tells me they’re not worried about this unit. It’s just a talking point for the “experts” to pontificate about.

 

[Canes2026Champs]

If you know you know, we’ll be much better than 39th. By mid season they’ll be saying top 10. A slight drop off from top 5 last season

I don’t think we will be that high. Still question marks on this OL and I believe Jackson Cantwell is a generational prospect but he will have his moments as will Rodriguez, Buchanan, and McCoy. Samson I believe is headed for 1st team All ACC at guard.

I think Miami might end up top 10 just because OL play in general in CFB is not great, there are not a bunch of elite offensive lines year to year.

Might be one of those "#10 that isn't much better than #15 or #20" though

This is why a lot of teams we play this season, highly ranked or not, will struggle to move the ball on us. Our defensive line is gonna generate very similar havoc rates they generated last season. The pressure will be coming more from the inside this season, which could actually create even more sacks. If Justin Scott builds on what he did the last 5-6 games last season, he could be the top interior pass rusher in the country. And if that happens, I really don’t know how you beat us.

 

[TheRichtShow]

Anybody who thinks #39 is "fair" for our OL is just having a difficult time accepting this is a program that reloads and develops now. It's laughably low. I mean he has us more than 10 spots below UTSA.

He's also very much the outlier.

Lindys has us 10
Pick Six Previews has us 8
Athlon has us #1 in the ACC

OL is our 2nd weakest position group, but I'm dumbfounded anyone could think there are 38 better OLs nationally.

 

[FrancisSawyer]

This doesn't bother me one bit. They don't give out trophies for the team who has the best preseason OL. It doesn't bother me from a respect standpoint either like I would be if Uncle Phil had rated our DL or secondary outside the top 10. We did lose a huge amount of talent and experience. To be honest, I like it because Mario/Mirabal are going to take that personally and it gives us motivation to prove them wrong. Also, this way we get to show the college football world just how deep we are at OL. I look forward to proving it on the field. We couldn't have asked for a better first 4 games to get the kinks out. There will be some rough spots but I think we will be just fine.

 

[Canes Legacy]

Preseason ranks are often nothing more than happy talk during a slow time. Phil Steele, Jose the local barber & 99.9% of people on this board have no idea on how an OL is gonna come together. Most rankings are based on returning starters & most are clueless on young talent that have been developing.

Whoa, Jose the barber is an ELITE talent evaluator.

 

[QuattroCane]

I think our start to the season is very advantageous for the o line.
They will get a few games to get acclimated before some tougher competition.
Set your expectations accordingly, Stanford is going to be bumpy for a bit as I fully expect them to attack the young/new line and give them some issues.
Having Mensah will be huge to keep us out of rough spots with his mobility.