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SJ Alofaituli- season stats, other interesting stats. Mensah is saving the line

Pearson704 said:
@DMoney, you saw SJ as a dark-horse for LG during the Spring and I can only assume he didn't look this bad; what do you attribute his lapses to?
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He's an inexperienced player with physical limitations at guard. I projected him to start based on info, but I view him as a center longterm. The surprise to me is that he's struggled with teams like Wake and Stanford. I thought he'd be adequate there until the playoff-caliber opponents.

One thing I'd say about both SJ and Buchanan- they are young players, too. I expect them both to improve.
 
ShadowSpring said:
We have wasted 3 games worth of reps on the SJ experiment. It's not even the size which bugs me most, he just continues to run by guys he's supposed to block. He's not only small, but doesn't execute at all. Congdon would likely miss guys too but at least he can **** someone up.
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He was a professional whiffer at FB last season
 
DMoney said:
He's an inexperienced player with physical limitations at guard. I projected him to start based on info, but I view him as a center longterm. The surprise to me is that he's struggled with teams like Wake and Stanford. I thought he'd be adequate there until the playoff-caliber opponents.

One thing I'd say about both SJ and Buchanan- they are young players, too. I expect them both to improve.
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Unfortunately, I don't see Cristobal/Mirabal making any changes.

Its clear from their comments that they don't want to continue using the portal every year.

They want to play the kids they recruit, and i can guarantee that they see themselves in these guys. Underdog, smaller guys from the same or similar backgrounds.

Hard working team guys who do the right things.

That, combined with just an unparalleled level of misevaluations has literally no other player on the team capable of playing well against teams like Stanford.

Same thing at linebacker and tightend.

There is not a single linebacker on the entire roster who will make a practice squad. It is what it is.

It's the same mwntal virus that sank our other coaches.

Wanting to do things "my way" regardless of outcome, instead of doing things "anyway" which guarantees the best outcome. We see people with this mindset in the military all the time.

I'm still optimistic about the season, but I am a realist. Mario needs supervision.

...imagine if he decides to roll with a QB on the roster next year instead of a top 3 portal QB...
 
DMoney said:
Who is saying this?
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You're right. You haven't been completely wrong on every single OL take this Summer/Fall.

- Samson better G than T
- Cantwell best T in the ACC by Nov
- SJ and Buchannon earning starter reps at G

You're too close to the kids and the program. It's awesome for some things and not awesome for others.

Now you can hit me with the "everyone who went to practices has been saying the same thing" routine.
 
I fear our OL coaches are struggling to be detached from emotions on kids who work hard and play hard versus the reality of those players abilities.

I understand as a coach loving a player and how they work and it can be difficult to admit they aren’t good enough. They are going to have to do that soon. SJ has no business playing guard at this level. None. Cantwell played LT all spring. Was that a complete waste of time? We are currently playing 3 centers in our interior OL. That’s not close to good enough.

Cantwell and Congdon should be starting. SJ and Max are backups who will compete with Woodrow at center next season.
 
Pro Football Focus ranked SJ Alofaituli 278th out of 307 interior linemen nationally who have taken a snap, placing him among the lowest-graded Power 4 guards.

Analysts and film-reviewers noted that he looked completely overwhelmed on the interior, effectively operating like a "cone" that defenders just walk right around.

His abysmal 22.8 pass-blocking grade from PFF underscores this issue. When an interior lineman is graded that low, it means they are losing their reps immediately or failing to engage their assignments entirely, making it look like they are actively taking themselves out of the play.
 
DMoney said:
He's an inexperienced player with physical limitations at guard. I projected him to start based on info, but I view him as a center longterm. The surprise to me is that he's struggled with teams like Wake and Stanford. I thought he'd be adequate there until the playoff-caliber opponents.

One thing I'd say about both SJ and Buchanan- they are young players, too. I expect them both to improve.
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Yeah, well I could improve in my form in a Whipple Procedure in pancreatic surgery one over the other but that doesn't mean I should do it. If the patient ******* died in the first one in 9 minutes, then the next patient died in the second procedure at 26 minutes, that's improvement & yet its still ******* unacceptable. I'm not a surgeon.

SJ is not a D1 offensive lineman, doesn't fit industry standards in measurables, has no instincts, and actively avoids work at the position.

He also was awful as a fullback last year.

This is some sunk cost ignorant-of-the-field-tape bull**** from the coaching staff akin to D'Onofrio & Diaz era stuff. That's where people are up in arms about it.
 
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DMoney said:
He's an inexperienced player with physical limitations at guard. I projected him to start based on info, but I view him as a center longterm. The surprise to me is that he's struggled with teams like Wake and Stanford. I thought he'd be adequate there until the playoff-caliber opponents.

One thing I'd say about both SJ and Buchanan- they are young players, too. I expect them both to improve.
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SJ has no other choice- he is about as bad as it gets. And his improvement won’t be anywhere close to what Miami needs for their OL.
 
Memnon said:
This seems pretty odd tbh.

Are these kids in the doghouse?

What lesson is being taught here by Mirabal?
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Cantwell, Congdon, Wiley, Pruitt, Mueller, Wingo, Waters, Portis, etc.... Basically nobody played, even though those were all positions we are currently weak at (for now regarding cb) and want/expect the young guys to contribute this year... yet...

Literally made zero sense imo. Pruitt, Wiley, and Cantwell most of all...
 
htownkidd said:
That’s quite the contrast from saying, “there has been no pressure on Mensah from the IOL” no?
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Of course. @ssvir made that up and then pivoted.
ssvir said:
- SJ and Buchannon earning starter reps at G
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I told you SJ would start. We were the first to say that. He is starting. Would you like me to tell you he's not going to play?

As for Buchanan, I actually thought Cantwell/Congdon would start because they took most of the first-team RG reps in camp. But at the end of camp, I noted Buchanan was surging in reps and could possibly take a spot. He did.

ssvir said:
- Samson better G than T
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ssvir said:
Cantwell best T in in the ACC by Nov
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Cantwell started every practice at LT in spring. I thought he did well. Most people who watched the spring game agreed. There is a long thread about it.

I admitted I got too excited about Cantwell's early success. Samson came back from injury and won the LT job. He previously struggled at T, which is why he didn't compete for a spot there his first three years. He improved. That's football. Cantwell had to move to guard and is not as comfortable there right now.

Every single insider, writer, podcaster said that OL was the biggest question mark on the team. I said it repeatedly. Nobody said it was as good as last year. People like you are rewriting history because you're frustrated and want to point fingers.

I'm hopeful the OL will improve, because young players with elite coaching usually do. But we'll see. It's a long season.
 
DMoney said:
He's an inexperienced player with physical limitations at guard. I projected him to start based on info, but I view him as a center longterm. The surprise to me is that he's struggled with teams like Wake and Stanford. I thought he'd be adequate there until the playoff-caliber opponents.

One thing I'd say about both SJ and Buchanan- they are young players, too. I expect them both to improve.
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He looks absolutely lost. He wasn't all that impressive at fullback last year. Physical limitations should then find him on the bench. He does nothing well. Yes he plays high and loses leverage at times, but Cantwell has to start. Reps can fix that. You can't play SJ next to Rodriguez. Reps aren't fixing that pairing. Buchanon needs reps and he will improve as the season progresses.
 
DMoney said:
He's an inexperienced player with physical limitations at guard. I projected him to start based on info, but I view him as a center longterm. The surprise to me is that he's struggled with teams like Wake and Stanford. I thought he'd be adequate there until the playoff-caliber opponents.

One thing I'd say about both SJ and Buchanan- they are young players, too. I expect them both to improve.
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Buchanan I can see improvement… he’s not getting walked through like he was a 5’8 160lb WR blocking a Dline player

SJ is getting bullied, blown by, and fooled with stunts. The stunts is experience but being bullied and too slow aren’t gonna magically change in a couple weeks…

He’s going to get mensah and the season killed
 
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