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Soooo anyone here worried about our OL?

bobbydigius said:
Our biggest issue is no real LT and all the problems stem from there including depth. St Louis is a solid RT but not a good LT as of now. Donaldson has the tools to be a elite Guard, but just an okay RT. Don't see the upside at the moment at Tackle that you do. Gauthier is solid at center. I won't be sold on Boulware til he makes some noise but expecting him to start at this is expected. Then the other guard position is scary. I will give you that they did show up in pass protection against FSU, that is encouraging.
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I think St. Louis could be very solid at Left tackle, it’s his natural position and that’s what he mostly played before getting to Miami. St.louis has a very high ceiling as a pass blocker, he’s always been gifted in that area. What he needs to do is improve on run blocking which he did considering the play from 2016 to 2017. Donaldson needs to keep losing weight and getting in shape, I’m sure the coaches have him cutting weight right now and I expect Him to really come into his own at right tackle. He’s that type of gifted lineman that has the athleticism to play on the outside. I’m telling boulware will be very solid from us, he was stout in the film I saw Vs bama which was very encouraging
 
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bobbydigius said:
Our biggest issue is no real LT and all the problems stem from there including depth. St Louis is a solid RT but not a good LT as of now. Donaldson has the tools to be a elite Guard, but just an okay RT. Don't see the upside at the moment at Tackle that you do. Gauthier is solid at center. I won't be sold on Boulware til he makes some noise but expecting him to start at this is expected. Then the other guard position is scary. I will give you that they did show up in pass protection against FSU, that is encouraging.
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Pretty much agree with entire post, but this is the key.
 
Mico Jones said:
St. Louis & Donaldson out of position.

Jones & Mahoney our starting guards.(edit)

Hoping two Frosh & a grad transfer can contribute in Scaife & Campbell & Boulware.

No bueno. Gots me major worried.

This team has great pieces everywhere but OL.....Yikes.
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Nope, not worried. There are guys making a living analyzing and fixing problems like these. They are called coaches in football parlance.
 
I think our OL as a unit will be serviceable, but that's about it. And that's if we don't have any injuries that forces a guy that needs more development into the mix as a starter. For instance, it would be a really bad look if somehow St Louis got injured, we shift Donaldson to LT, and Campbell had to come in and take the starting RT spot.

We would probably be okay for a few snaps if that happened, but if we lose any of these guys who are projected starters for an extended amount of time...oh boy is it gonna suck.

IMO - This season boils down to Malik and the OL. If the OL overachieves and we get better play than last season out of Malik...we could win the ACC...even as tough as Clemson is, we would have a shot/fighting chance. If the OL stays healthy but is only pedestrian, and we get the same Malik...we'll see a lot of the same stuff we saw last season. Now the bad news - if the OL doesn't perform well/has injuries, and Malik either stays the same or takes a step back...we're ******* boned, and someone else will probably win the Coastal unless it's a sh1tstorm and we back our way in somehow.
 
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Every college team except Wisconsin, Stanford, and Bama, seem to be regularly frustrated with their OL play, thinking that the rest of CFB has more consistent OLs than their own. The reality is that teams aren't regularly pushing the DL 2-3 yards off the ball.

I'd argue that OL is one of the positions where experience matters most. Do you all remember how everyone thought Alex Gall was complete trash until he started the final 4 games of his senior year at center and we had our best offensive stretch of the season? Last offseason everyone was going crazy at the though of KC McDermott even being in the starting 5 on our OL, based largely on a handful of plays against ND the prior year. Not only did KC start, but he was a steady LT for us. He ended up being 3rd team All-ACC.

We have some talent on the OL that is being refined. These guys are improving. Tyree St. Louis was a very steady RT for us. He has started the past 21 games on our OL. I think he'll be solid at LT. Tyler Gauthier has been a good center for us. He has started the past 17 games for us. I expect him to be an All-Conference player for us.

Navaughn Donaldson is a mountain with loads of talent. I've always maintained that he has the talent to play OT. He has the physical attributes, has good feet, doesn't move like he's in quicksand. He just was pretty raw with pass protection footwork. So long as he is getting right with nutrition and the weight room, I'm positive that his technique will continue to improve at a rapid rate as he focuses on training as a tackle. I have high hopes for him.

Now we need to fill the guard spots. We're counting on some combination of veterans finally stepping up (Jahair Jones, Hayden Mahoney) and/or talented youth taking a spot (Delone Scaife, Cleveland Reed). We also got Boulware transferring in -- another veteran with experience that should be getting right. We gotta stop being surprised when a guy doesn't contribute on the OL until year 3. That's how the typical trajectory is unless it's a special talent. I can't say I know what to expect, but I'm not freaking out either.
 
TheChosenOne said:
part of that number is because we couldn't simply line up and run the ball on 3rd and short. Richt tried everything to.

Heavy package? Whipped.
OL at FB? Whipped.
Walk on at FB? Whipped.
Delay handoff? Whipped.
Read Option? Whipped.
FB handoff? Whipped.
Under center handoff? Whipped.
QB Sneak? Whipped.(from time to time)
Wildcat? Whipped.
Toss/Play going to the outside? Whipped.

Richt had to run trick plays just to convert 3rd downs.
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meh.. c'mon you forgot the throw it up downfield for the Pass Interefernce play do better
 
Their is absolutely no doubt that our OL last year was our weakest link. But that's over and done

So the way I look at it:
  • with all the more experienced returnees ( Upgrade at LT with St. Louis, All-ACC Donaldson, Gauthier is solid, Scaife, Jones and Boulware all serviceable and improving
  • plus the very promising freshman & soph additions Campbell, Hebert
...its really going to be difficult for the OL NOT to be at the very least better than it was last year.

They go up against one of the best DL in CFB in practice everyday ....so they should all get plenty of good reps against stronger competition in practice than they'll likely see on the field. Except for Clemson
 
g8rh8rMD said:
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Just to be clear, while I feel confident that our OLine will play better than last year, and that we have been recruiting the position well and the future looks promising...

The answer to OP's question "Is anyone worried about our OLine?" is: Are you phucking serious, Clark? Of course we are all concerned about our OLine. Were you not paying attention this spring? Until proven otherwise, this position group is tied with QB for the biggest question mark on the team. Lot's of people are pointing out reasons for optimism, but that doesn't mean any of us aren't concerned and wondering just what level (and consistency) of play we are going to get from this unit over the course of the season.
 
I expect a bigger jump in improvement this season with the grad transfer coming and guys like Realus George (FB) and Brevin Jordan (TE) making the job much easier for them but I believe the oline still needs another year or two before its ready to dominate.
 
What I find interesting is the type of OL we've been recruiting under Searels. There has seemingly been a major emphasis on road-grader types. They obviously want a certain type of OL that can dominate in the run game. I think in the next couple years we'll start seeing the benefits of this shift.

The other side of this approach, is that we have seemingly not emphasized finding true tackle prospects with the feet for pass protection. Hopefully that doesn't become an issue. John Campbell has potential and I'm not putting a limit on what Donaldson can become. But, it's clear we need a couple real tackle prospects this cycle.
 
gcane44 said:
Every college team except Wisconsin, Stanford, and Bama, seem to be regularly frustrated with their OL play, thinking that the rest of CFB has more consistent OLs than their own. The reality is that teams aren't regularly pushing the DL 2-3 yards off the ball.

I'd argue that OL is one of the positions where experience matters most. Do you all remember how everyone thought Alex Gall was complete trash until he started the final 4 games of his senior year at center and we had our best offensive stretch of the season? Last offseason everyone was going crazy at the though of KC McDermott even being in the starting 5 on our OL, based largely on a handful of plays against ND the prior year. Not only did KC start, but he was a steady LT for us. He ended up being 3rd team All-ACC.

We have some talent on the OL that is being refined. These guys are improving. Tyree St. Louis was a very steady RT for us. He has started the past 21 games on our OL. I think he'll be solid at LT. Tyler Gauthier has been a good center for us. He has started the past 17 games for us. I expect him to be an All-Conference player for us.

Navaughn Donaldson is a mountain with loads of talent. I've always maintained that he has the talent to play OT. He has the physical attributes, has good feet, doesn't move like he's in quicksand. He just was pretty raw with pass protection footwork. So long as he is getting right with nutrition and the weight room, I'm positive that his technique will continue to improve at a rapid rate as he focuses on training as a tackle. I have high hopes for him.

Now we need to fill the guard spots. We're counting on some combination of veterans finally stepping up (Jahair Jones, Hayden Mahoney) and/or talented youth taking a spot (Delone Scaife, Cleveland Reed). We also got Boulware transferring in -- another veteran with experience that should be getting right. We gotta stop being surprised when a guy doesn't contribute on the OL until year 3. That's how the typical trajectory is unless it's a special talent. I can't say I know what to expect, but I'm not freaking out either.
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Great points all around, I completely Agree. Oline is a position where a player can be bad their whole career and just turn it around out of no where ala Alex gall. Hopefully that happens with Jahair Jones too
 
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I think the line will be better than last year but that's not saying much. I also believe the staff would have preferred to keep Donaldson at guard but they have nobody who can play tackle right now besides St Louis and he's starting on the other side. Linemen often develop more slowly than other positions and rarely do freshmen and sophomore linemen light it up unless they're really special players. I think the talent level has been upgraded and I think guys like Jahair and Mahoney have been around long enough to where they won't get embarrassed consistently. Still most of the talent on the line is underclassmen and I'm not sold on anything Stacy Searles has done here or his prior coaching stops. So I'm slightly pessimistic on the whole situation.

The good news is, the line doesn't have to be incredible, they just need to be average and there's enough playmakers on offense (even if Rosier starts) to win every game on our schedule.
 
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Mico Jones said:
St. Louis & Donaldson out of position.

Jones & Mahoney our starting guards.(edit)

Hoping two Frosh & a grad transfer can contribute in Scaife & Campbell & Boulware.

No bueno. Gots me major worried.

This team has great pieces everywhere but OL.....Yikes.
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I'm always worried because we have a average OL coach at best.

I don't understand for the life of me, why didn't we just keep Donaldson and St.Louis on the right side.
 
Loose Cannon said:
St. Louis is not out of position. LT is his natural position he played all through HS. We moved him to right, but he prefers left and says if feels more natural.
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Dude gets exposed at RT and yall think LT is his natural spot?

Man I hope you're right!
 
Tee3000 said:
Dude gets exposed at RT and yall think LT is his natural spot?

Man I hope you're right!
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Pass protection is his strength. Run blocking he's mediocre, at best. So long as he's comfortable with dropping on the left, I don't see major concern (there are def other areas of concern on the OL).

Per Pro Football Focus:

St. Louis really shined in pass protection this year, allowing just four combined hits on the quarterback (two sacks, two QB hits) and allowed just one pressure in eight of the team’s 12 games this year.
 
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