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Position Group Superlatives - Offensive Line

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Matthew_Suero

Matthew_Suero

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If you look up and down Miami’s roster, offensive line is probably the position furthest away from having elite talent and elite depth. Although these last two recruiting classes have helped improve the overall talent level, that talent is not yet developed enough. Offensive line may be the hardest position to come in and play as a freshman. Both the mental aspect and the physical aspect are so different in college than they are in high school. For this reason, it is rare to see an underclassman get significant playing time on the offensive line. Once the young talent we have become juniors and seniors, we will really start to roll. With that overview out of the way, let's dive into the offensive line superlatives.

Most Valuable- Tyree St Louis

Tyree St Louis moved to left tackle this spring as a replacement for K.C. McDermott. While the offensive line really struggled during the spring, one area of stability was St Louis at left tackle. During the spring game, the 6’5’’ 315 pound lineman stood up about as well as you can against a freak of nature like Joe Jackson. St Louis has the task of protecting the blind spot as well as creating running room for Homer and Dallas. While he has a lot on his plate, St. Louis is by far the most prepared for the job. If St Louis were to go down, the entire offense would be in trouble. Right now, Coach Searles and Coach Richt do not have a good option to put in were St Louis to get injured. For these reasons, St. Louis is an easy choice for most valuable.

Most To Prove- Navaughn Donaldson

You cannot argue that Navaughn Donaldson, who stands at 6’6’’ 340 pounds, is not a freak athlete. Donaldson had a very solid freshman year at right guard in 2018. As I stated above, it is very difficult to come in and get significant playing time as a true freshman on the offensive line. This makes Donaldson starting from day 1 at right guard so impressive. With that being said, right tackle is a completely different animal. Last year at right guard, Donaldson could win his matchups with his strength alone. It also did not hurt that he had Tyler Gauthier right next to him simplifying the protection for him. This season, Donaldson will be out on his own going one on one with some of the best pass rushers in college football. Luckily, Donaldson will face great competition on Greentree going against John Garvin and Greg Rousseau. If Donaldson has the feet to stop the speed rush against those two in practice, almost everyone he goes against during the season will be a step down. Donaldson must prove he can counter the speed rush. If he does, the offensive line becomes much less of a liability.

Most Upside- Delone Scaife

Navaughn Donaldson could also have been chosen for most upside, but since I just talked about him, I’ll use this time to talk about one of my favorite players from the 2018 class, Delone Scaife. The former South Dade left tackle is not as big Donaldson, but has decent size at 6’3’’ 300 pounds. Scaife has long arms for his height. If you mix that with his strength, Scaife projects to be a very good offensive guard or maybe even center. While Scaife moves well enough to possibly play tackle, I do not think he is big enough to play on the outside. During the camp circuit last year, very few people were able to physically beat Scaife. If Scaife develops the way that he should in the weight room and on the field, Miami could have a future three year starter on their hands.
 
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Interesting that some of the other tackles, some being her since last year have not developed to even step in and play a workman like role if one of the starters was to go down.
 
stb said:
Interesting that some of the other tackles, some being her since last year have not developed to even step in and play a workman like role if one of the starters was to go down.
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Incredibly worried about the development of the ol and also at the qb position.

It's easy to see the receivers are coached up and apparent the running backs are getting better. Rumph, despite his recruiting shortcomings, has shown what he could do at the cb position. The fact that we haven't developed our lower tier ol at all and also that rosier has a firm grasp on the qb position is troublesome.
 
Can I request a more thorough breakdown of the OL from anyone that saw practices or heard directly from coaches?

I don’t think we’ve seen anything too in depth (basically either “looks better/improving” or “struggling to pick it up”). Apologies in advance if I missed a thread that discusses it.

I don’t see how, in year 3, we don’t have a RT or a backup LT. This is pathetic ****. Malik’s rushing ability might be our saving grace this season.
 
scrantoncane said:
Can I request a more thorough breakdown of the OL from anyone that saw practices or heard directly from coaches?

I don’t think we’ve seen anything too in depth (basically either “looks better/improving” or “struggling to pick it up”). Apologies in advance if I missed a thread that discusses it.

I don’t see how, in year 3, we don’t have a RT or a backup LT. This is pathetic ****. Malik’s rushing ability might be our saving grace this season.
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Based only on spring, I think it will be similar to last year with more talented depth. Solid enough to run an explosive offense but not powerful enough to consistently move people.

The younger guys (Reed, Campbell, Scaife, Gaynor) are much more physical and talented. They just need some more reps.
 
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scrantoncane said:
Can I request a more thorough breakdown of the OL from anyone that saw practices or heard directly from coaches?

I don’t think we’ve seen anything too in depth (basically either “looks better/improving” or “struggling to pick it up”). Apologies in advance if I missed a thread that discusses it.

I don’t see how, in year 3, we don’t have a RT or a backup LT. This is pathetic ****. Malik’s rushing ability might be our saving grace this season.
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We recruited a team full of guards. Lost out in some big battles in recruiting when it comes to tackles unfortunately.
 
DMoney said:
Based only on spring, I think it will be similar to last year with more talented depth. Solid enough to run an explosive offense but not powerful enough to consistently move people.

The younger guys (Reed, Campbell, Scaife, Gaynor) are much more physical and talented. They just need some more reps.
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So do you think the coaches were specifically talking about short yardage situations after spring camp, when they basically said the line was a mess? Because they don’t sound happy.

As far as the younger guys being more physics and talented, it seems like we hear that every year at every position group; yet rarely does it come to fruition. I realize it’s harder in the trenches, but the fact that no backup has taken enough of a step forward to at least challenge for a starting spot on an already weak line is concerning.

From what I can gather, it’s Donaldson’s footwork at tackle that’s the issue. What about the other guys? Are they not strong enough to push people around? If that’s the case, is that S&C, or is it somehow Searles? (And if searles, how/why? I know very little about Interior OL technique). Is our zone blocking scheme no good?

I’m just failing to grasp why we are in this boat in year 3.
 
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scrantoncane said:
So do you think the coaches were specifically talking about short yardage situations after spring camp, when they basically said the line was a mess? Because they don’t sound happy.

As far as the younger guys being more physics and talented, it seems like we hear that every year at every position group; yet rarely does it come to fruition. I realize it’s harder in the trenches, but the fact that no backup has taken enough of a step forward to at least challenge for a starting spot on an already weak line is concerning.

From what I can gather, it’s Donaldson’s footwork at tackle that’s the issue. What about the other guys? Are they not strong enough to push people around? If that’s the case, is that S&C, or is it somehow Searles? (And if searles, how/why? I know very little about Interior OL technique). Is our zone blocking scheme no good?

I’m just failing to grasp why we are in this boat in year 3.
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Linemen are a slow burn. They need to mature physically and mentally, which takes time.

Golden left a lot of dead weight, and the 2016 class was a mess (OL usually commit early and there was nothing there). The coaches are very happy with the 2017 and 2018 recruits and privately expect the 2019 season to be first year of a truly dominant line.

As for this year, St. Louis is a very good pass protector but not physical. Mahoney is athletic and technical but weak. Jones is OK. Gauthier is a good player. I expect solid play, but we won't move people like Alabama, Georgia and Oklahoma did last year.

The sooner guys like Reed and Campbell are ready, the better.
 
I picked up phil Steele this week. For my money, he’s the best in the business at unit rankings. We face these DLs:

7 - FSU
10- va tech
(We are 14 for comparison purposes)
26- LSU
28- BC (2nd team all American DE)

We have the #25 OL.

If the turnovers don’t come in bunches again, we will need to be able to effectively run the football to win the field position battle. Performances like 59 yards against UNC will be losses this year.

My prediction: you see a lot more DJ Dallas than we expect right now. Maybe closer to 50/50 carries with homer. Walton had vision and was able to jump cut so well that it masked some OL deficiencies. I think DJ has that same trait, and I’m not sure homer does. The worse the run blocking, the more DJ.
 
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scrantoncane said:
I picked up phil Steele this week. For my money, he’s the best in the business at unit rankings. We face these DLs:

7 - FSU
10- va tech
(We are 14 for comparison purposes)
26- LSU
28- BC (2nd team all American DE)

We have the #25 OL.

If the turnovers don’t come in bunches again, we will need to be able to effectively run the football to win the field position battle. Performances like 59 yards against UNC will be losses this year.

My prediction: you see a lot more DJ Dallas than we expect right now. Maybe closer to 50/50 carries with homer. Walton had vision and was able to jump cut so well that it masked some OL deficiencies. I think DJ has that same trait, and I’m not sure homer does. The worse the run blocking, the more DJ.
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Walton's vision was often a reason for the OL appearing deficient

 
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bshaw28 said:
Walton's vision was often a reason for the OL appearing deficient

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Horse****e. Walton didn't have great vision but not every back has perfect vision.

Our line is soft and marshmellowy especially in short yardage. Its because of the mediocre talents we've recruited and the mediocre coaching that they've gotten.
 
DMoney said:
Based only on spring, I think it will be similar to last year with more talented depth. Solid enough to run an explosive offense but not powerful enough to consistently move people.

The younger guys (Reed, Campbell, Scaife, Gaynor) are much more physical and talented. They just need some more reps.
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So basically we should mentally prepare to take another *** raping from Clemson?
 
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Cane Dynasty said:
So basically we should mentally prepare to take another *** raping from Clemson?
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Regardless of the oline we Shouldn’t lose like that ever again. Lousville, wake forest, ncstate all put up a better fight than we did regardless of their dline talent. Losing that bad to them again is unacceptable:
 
The OL desperately needs the young guys to be ready. Things won't bode well if we need to ride with Jones and Mahoney all year taking the most snaps on the interior. We need Boulware to give us quality snaps, too.

But Reed, Scaife, Gaynor...they need to be ready. Campbell and Hillary, too. Wish one of those boys would be ready to step up and play tackle sooner rather than later and allow Donaldson to move in to a more natural guard position.

Just really worried about this unit...they just don't have measurable strength and that carries over to games. I also question some of their athleticism. Seems like a sub-standard unit once again and it desperately needs the first and second year OL to step up and get game ready quickly. We're basically relying on two guys that otherwise would be roster fodder as STARTERS. I hope Jones/Maloney step up, but I don't have much faith.

As an aside, we need to step up our recruiting efforts, too. Too many developmental OL.

Last four recruiting classes

4* - 2 (FR), 2 (SO), 2 (SR)
3* - 1 (FR), 3 (SO), 1 (JR), 5 (SR)*/**
*Brandon Loftus transfer leaves this as three 3* OL on the roster from the '15 class
**Venzell Boulware and George Brown are two former 3* linemen Grad Transfers bringing it to 5 total SR

6 - 4* - two starters.
10 - 3* - three starters.

Those numbers need to be flipped sooner rather than later.
 
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BoxingRobes said:
The OL desperately needs the young guys to be ready. Things won't bode well if we need to ride with Jones and Mahoney all year taking the most snaps on the interior. We need Boulware to give us quality snaps, too.

But Reed, Scaife, Gaynor...they need to be ready. Campbell and Hillary, too. Wish one of those boys would be ready to step up and play tackle sooner rather than later and allow Donaldson to move in to a more natural guard position.

Just really worried about this unit...they just don't have measurable strength and that carries over to games. I also question some of their athleticism. Seems like a sub-standard unit once again and it desperately needs the first and second year OL to step up and get game ready quickly.
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I honestly wonder do some of you watch games at times when you all make comments like this. Are they that bad as some of you are insinuating? **** no, but they definitely aren’t elite.
 
brock said:
I honestly wonder do some of you watch games at times when you all make comments like this. Are they that bad as some of you are insinuating? **** no, but they definitely aren’t elite.
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With a comment like that, I am certain you do not. The OL was charmin soft last year. Our top returning OL (TSL and Gauthier) are horrendous run blockers - check their PFF metrics to second your eye test.

Last year's SENIOR STARTERS - Kc McDermott and Trevor Darling...average strength...sub 20th Percentile athletes...Darling was a ONE PERCENTILE ATHLETE. The unit couldn't move a stack of pillows on the field. Those two were senior starters...our returning starters graded terribly as run blockers.

Now, you're asking a guy, Jones, who notoriously lacks strength to start at an interior spot. This was the same OL that came out of a JUCO and benched like 9 reps. Surely, he's improved, but Jones isn't a strong guy. Mahoney isn't even three bills and he's at an OG spot and he was nothing special in limited action last year. As D$ said earlier, he's weak.

The OL in the run game is going to be very poor once again. If you think otherwise, you're nuts.

Some of the young guys at least have strength...but until they are playing real time, I'm not counting on them and they'd be irrelevant to this discussion.
 
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