Spoke to sources about everything around the team and recruiting. Some quick notes:

- The mood around the team is angry. No excuse-making or rationalization, even though they have a lot of respect for Wake Forest. Everybody knows the second half sucked and they need to get a lot better.

- The best way to describe the OL situation is "fluid." They need to find the best 5, and what we've seen so far isn't it. Based on what Mario said on WQAM, and what I've heard independently, the focus seems to be more on the guards than center or tackle. I would expect to see some different combinations this weekend. I've talked a lot about Ben Congdon and Jackson Cantwell, because they split the first-team RG reps all camp. But one young name to watch is Rhys Woodrow. He already has a ton of responsibility in punt protection and has C/G versatility. Canon Pickett is another guy who can get in the mix with the other three.

The concern with most freshmen (especially the big guys) is they may dominate on two reps and whiff badly on a third. And the that whiff could change the season. With that said, we aren't getting consistency from the older players, and they're only second-year guys themselves. Bottom line- this is a work in progress and I expect to see tinkering until it's playoff caliber.

- They're being extremely tight-lipped about injuries, although I don't sense a ton of concern aside from Marty Brown and Josh Moore. Those two are heartbreakers. Two names Miami wants to see step up in their place: Jordan Lyle and Somourian Wingo.

- Ezekiel Marcelin's injury was ill-timed because we need more at LB. I don't think those two starting spots are set in stone all year.

- In terms of recruiting, Miami is very purposeful in terms of watching senior film and grading their own prospects. Some guys who have really impressed: QB Israel Abrams, RB Ty Keys, WRs Nick Lennear and Eli Woodard, ATH A'mir Sears, DE Jaiden Bryant, DL Josh Johnson, LB Noah Glover and CB Sherrod Gourdine.

- There is no secret that the staff still wants to make another big splash in 2027. Three names stand above the rest: OT Mark Matthews, DE DJ Jacobs and TE Jaxon Dollar. Miami finished second for all three and will continue to push aggressively until the final whistle.

 

C is its every bit as big of a problem as G. At least with G they're willing to admit they have a problem. But not C. Mario says Ryan Rodriguez is doing fine. There's gotta be more to it. It's like he's our only option.

Since it doesn't look like poor play will be a factor here, what are we going to do at C if RR gets hurt?

I'm old enough to remember when SJ was supposed to be "our future center once he learns to snap." Snapping the ball is the least of SJ's concerns. So now what do we do?

I still can't believe they didn't go to the portal for a C.

People need to stop assuming SJ is anything here. He stinks. He won’t be a good center just because he’s small. He’s been a bad OL. He needs to likely transfer to a smaller school out west because he’s not it. Ryan Rodriguez was a loyalty move and one that Mario should have NEVER done. He made a huge error after having great center play for the last few years with Lee and Brockermeyer. Carpenter had problems but he wasn’t getting blown over every play. We got ****y on the OL and it’s going to cost us games. Period.

 

Since this is the mope thread at this point, I’ll add to it. Kentucky football currently has a far superior interior line than we do, and ALL 3 of them are portal guys, including the #1 Center in the portal, whom we should’ve signed, without question. Don’t believe me? Just look at the holes these guys open in the run game. My fat *** could have got a first down on some of these. And we could have got 2, maybe all 3 of these guys for what we spent on Cam Vaughn and Jacobs.

I presumed RR would be further along since we have been prepping this role for him for a while now.

I think people are forgetting about meriweather. We whiffed big time. Hawks is a reserve guy who’s played in every game, along with Woodrow and cantwell. He may not be ready for primetime but history shows age is expedient for growth when it comes to line play. Thats presuming there’s growth to be had ofc.

I guess we didn’t pursue Olaus Alinen because he wanted a guaranteed starting spot, otherwise idk why not. He’s the guy that made us pass on Monroe Freeling because he silently committed to us. We also thought Freeling could only play OT while Alinen could play guard like he is now at UK.

I expect changes at G, that’s been established. My larger concerns are about whether or not we get changes at C.

 

Only if he believed Cantwell was assured the RT position and McCoy was pushed to stay at guard. They would have likely deferred to a veteran at guard so he would have gotten an edge over SJ or Max. Unless he was convinced Max was getting a guard spot. I know Alex was really keen on Max. Then again Alex has stated RR would have started on a bunch of ACC squads at center last year. Yikes. Quite frankly Kinsler never impressed me during his reps. But he would most certainly be serviceable where SJ is not even close.

I had a version of this conversation with someone else. It's important to realize players usually take on the traits of the players in the room around them. Problem with that is if it's not something that's innately in them then there's a good chance those traits revert when the room around them does as well. 100% that's what's going on with Ryan. Because this isn't what I've seen out of him when anez and francis were running that room. As strong as Mario and Mirabel are the rooms that will always stand out and excell to anywhere near peak is the rooms that are player led. Strong personalities. I haven't seen a lot of that occuring yet simply because I think we're so young that dudes are still mentally adapting and figuring out their roles. Far as Tommy goes he did have a mean streak to him which I like. But individually we e got a lot of dudes who are dogs with mean streaks. The issue is they are seeing so much change in the lineups that they really have t learned who the dudes and the traits are of the people next to them. It is a team game and when you know what to expect of your teammates it only makes you that much stronger

 

Since this is the mope thread at this point, I’ll add to it. Kentucky football currently has a far superior interior line than we do, and ALL 3 of them are portal guys, including the #1 Center in the portal, whom we should’ve signed, without question. Don’t believe me? Just look at the holes these guys open in the run game. My fat *** could have got a first down on some of these. And we could have got 2, maybe all 3 of these guys for what we spent on Cam Vaughn and Jacobs.

I presumed RR would be further along since we have been prepping this role for him for a while now.

I think people are forgetting about meriweather. We whiffed big time. Hawks is a reserve guy who’s played in every game, along with Woodrow and cantwell. He may not be ready for primetime but history shows age is expedient for growth when it comes to line play. Thats presuming there’s growth to be had ofc.

I guess we didn’t pursue Olaus Alinen because he wanted a guaranteed starting spot, otherwise idk why not. He’s the guy that made us pass on Monroe Freeling because he silently committed to us. We also thought Freeling could only play OT while Alinen could play guard like he is now at UK.

I expect changes at G, that’s been established. My larger concerns are about whether or not we get changes at C.

This also tells me PFF grades mean less than nothing. Tegra Tshabola was Ohio State’s worst graded O-lineman last year, by far. He signs with Kentucky and looks completely different. Straight up brick wall in pass blocking. Definitely could have used him or Alinen, for sure. Meriweather has been a massive flop. I think the staff assumed he could step in and start. Something went horribly wrong, maybe it’s the scheme, maybe Georgia’s OL was good enough to hide how bad he was? Who knows. I just know we missed on our evaluation of this OL as a unit and it could cost us a national championship, I’m afraid.

 

Mario may not get a QB in the portal, but he had better look for a couple O lineman, and a couple backers. The secondary will be fine next year. We 100% need O line DT and backer.

Number 65 cannot be on the field anymore. I know he’s a good hard working kid but he is 6 ft if that and gets abused in pass pro. Play Cantwell there and leave him. He’s gonna learn and get better.

need to find experienced OL guys in portal, take a look at UVA tons of older experience in OL..... maybe not a lot of NFL guys but older experienced college players

 

Since this is the mope thread at this point, I’ll add to it. Kentucky football currently has a far superior interior line than we do, and ALL 3 of them are portal guys, including the #1 Center in the portal, whom we should’ve signed, without question. Don’t believe me? Just look at the holes these guys open in the run game. My fat *** could have got a first down on some of these. And we could have got 2, maybe all 3 of these guys for what we spent on Cam Vaughn and Jacobs.

This is why I’ve laughed at the sentiment that people feel better after watching this weekends games. I just don’t know what they’re watching. Our trenches don’t look like the big boys right now. Defensive line has the dudes to get there. The current 5 we’re trotting out there at O line don’t have a prayer

 

Since it doesn't look like poor play will be a factor here, what are we going to do at C if RR gets hurt?

Woodrow steps in, takes a few lumps, and on the whole the oline improves if that happens.

 

I had a version of this conversation with someone else. It's important to realize players usually take on the traits of the players in the room around them. Problem with that is if it's not something that's innately in them then there's a good chance those traits revert when the room around them does as well. 100% that's what's going on with Ryan. Because this isn't what I've seen out of him when anez and francis were running that room. As strong as Mario and Mirabel are the rooms that will always stand out and excell to anywhere near peak is the rooms that are player led. Strong personalities. I haven't seen a lot of that occuring yet simply because I think we're so young that dudes are still mentally adapting and figuring out their roles. Far as Tommy goes he did have a mean streak to him which I like. But individually we e got a lot of dudes who are dogs with mean streaks. The issue is they are seeing so much change in the lineups that they really have t learned who the dudes and the traits are of the people next to them. It is a team game and when you know what to expect of your teammates it only makes you that much stronger

That I get 100%. Samson always struck more of a quiet dude. Seems like a really smart guy but more of a lead by example.

 

Yeah, we don't exactly have geniuses on this board, just guys who pontificate on how easy it should be to kick a 54 yarder.

lol u know a thing or two about pontificating

 

Coach Hayes, on his Good, Bad, Ugly, analysis, couldn't understand why they kept rolling out SJ, as the fullback, on the goal line packages. He complained after watching multiple games, he whiffs on blocks, blocks the wrong guys, and when he actually hits someone, very little movement.

Coach Hayes is awesome. Highly recommend to anyone who enjoys YouTube video analysis

 

I had a version of this conversation with someone else. It's important to realize players usually take on the traits of the players in the room around them. Problem with that is if it's not something that's innately in them then there's a good chance those traits revert when the room around them does as well. 100% that's what's going on with Ryan. Because this isn't what I've seen out of him when anez and francis were running that room. As strong as Mario and Mirabel are the rooms that will always stand out and excell to anywhere near peak is the rooms that are player led. Strong personalities. I haven't seen a lot of that occuring yet simply because I think we're so young that dudes are still mentally adapting and figuring out their roles. Far as Tommy goes he did have a mean streak to him which I like. But individually we e got a lot of dudes who are dogs with mean streaks. The issue is they are seeing so much change in the lineups that they really have t learned who the dudes and the traits are of the people next to them. It is a team game and when you know what to expect of your teammates it only makes you that much stronger

...It all leads back to just not leaving Cantwell at OT all offseason and at min this first 3 game stretch. You do that and it immediately clears quite a few of all the changes. Putting Cantwell at JUST his long-term position and able to put 100% into only one position would have been signifiantly easier transition and development path....
1) It means its purely a Samson vs McCoy battle for RT over just the offseason (IMO Samson would have won) with the loser staying at the position they played all last season - LG. This would have firmly entrenched both at those two spots all season except if Cantwell showed no development.
2) It means the only legit full on rotation/competition would have been at RG. Rather than trying 10 different combos of players, we should have just jumped to the obvious conclusion which is knowing full well Cantwell long-term future is definitely Tackle, while SJs only hope of a career is at center....

And I get the whole rotate players at all positions thing, and it worked for Samson and Rivers. And in emergencies its good to have that. But sometimes skipping over the stupid decisions right to the ultimate end goal and just taking the lumps over a full offseasons worth of practice and the easiest early 4-game slate imagineable is the by far best decision. Same exact thing applies to LBs....

 

This is Jordan Lyle’s Super Bowl on Saturday

which is stupid because its a **** opponent. We're going to see him likely have a good game - as any of our RBs would - which will lead to him outsnapping both Mallory AND Pringle over the following at least 4 games.... We'll see how it plays out. Hopefully for everyone he is actually good and not just more of the same he showed last yr...

 

which is stupid because its a **** opponent. We're going to see him likely have a good game - as any of our RBs would - which will lead to him outsnapping both Mallory AND Pringle over the following at least 4 games.... We'll see how it plays out. Hopefully for everyone he is actually good and not just more of the same he showed last yr...

You the 1st one who shone light on my shade haha

As far as the bolded, he will have nowhere left to hide after the bye week; really after the CMU game as well but I don’t trust Clemson doing anything well. Like you said, i wanna see him do what we’ve been told he can do cuz his specialty should thrive in our system.

Regardless of rushing attempts, i wanna get Pringle off KRs as i just don’t think that’s a good use of his skillset. Wouldn’t mind seeing Lyle there, in addition to Jacobs and Spafford.

 

...It all leads back to just not leaving Cantwell at OT all offseason and at min this first 3 game stretch. You do that and it immediately clears quite a few of all the changes. Putting Cantwell at JUST his long-term position and able to put 100% into only one position would have been signifiantly easier transition and development path....
1) It means its purely a Samson vs McCoy battle for RT over just the offseason (IMO Samson would have won) with the loser staying at the position they played all last season - LG. This would have firmly entrenched both at those two spots all season except if Cantwell showed no development.
2) It means the only legit full on rotation/competition would have been at RG. Rather than trying 10 different combos of players, we should have just jumped to the obvious conclusion which is knowing full well Cantwell long-term future is definitely Tackle, while SJs only hope of a career is at center....

And I get the whole rotate players at all positions thing, and it worked for Samson and Rivers. And in emergencies its good to have that. But sometimes skipping over the stupid decisions right to the ultimate end goal and just taking the lumps over a full offseasons worth of practice and the easiest early 4-game slate imagineable is the by far best decision. Same exact thing applies to LBs....

We keep saying cantwell at tackle..I think its pretty obvious they were hoping and praying he won the tackle job, we threw him at first team LT immediately in spring.

So I don’t think we out samson and mccoy at tackle if they felt cantwell was ready. Hopefully that changes but we keep saying this as if they weren’t hoping for that

 

We keep saying cantwell at tackle..I think its pretty obvious they were hoping and praying he won the tackle job, we threw him at first team LT immediately in spring.

So I don’t think we out samson and mccoy at tackle if they felt cantwell was ready. Hopefully that changes but we keep saying this as if they weren’t hoping for that

Uh no actually I'm not sure of that. Remember in SPRING they had McCoy at OT the entire time. Then once Samson got healthy THEN They turned it into a competition between Samson vs Cantwell. At no point do we have any indication it was a competition between Cantwell and McCoy. So effectively they locked McCoy into the RT job immediately. Because they didn't employ any actual long-term thinking/strategy. It's as simple as that.

This represents a clear major difference. My point was NOT that Cantwell would have been superior to Samson (or potentially even McCoy) at OT throughout summer practices or maybe even by Game 1. My point was you didn't want Cantwell switching positions - now potentially 3 times given he started LT in Spring then went to RG by mid Summer and Now if he switches back to OT mostly it'd likely be at RT? NOR did you want to waste the easiest 4 game slate to start a season we've had in a long time by NOT having him at his long-term position.

Seriously ask yourself IF we had Cantwell all offseason and over these first 4 games at LT and Samson+McCoy at RT and LG, how much more confident would you be in this OLine developing on the right trajectory vs what it currently is on TODAY?

Also consider this we are seeing how THIS played out and how now it basically needs a full reset.... well wouldn't that have been just as easy to do by sliding Samson out to LT for game 4/5 if Cantwell was struggling/not developing?

But because of their decisions we don't have that opportunity. And imo it entirely stems from the fact that Mario + Mirabal default to experience and basically out of loyalty or whatever refused to consider McCoy anywhere but RT it seems..,

TL;DR: I will not be convinced leaving Cantwell at LT for these past full 9 months and 3-4 games could have possibly been anything but signficantly better than what has ended up happening (for cantwell and the unit as a whole), and I **** well can't be convinced that Cantwell at OT was behind SJ at Guard. IDGAF what anyone says....

 

Uh no actually I'm not sure of that. Remember in SPRING they had McCoy at OT the entire time. Then once Samson got healthy THEN They turned it into a competition between Samson vs Cantwell. At no point do we have any indication it was a competition between Cantwell and McCoy. So effectively they locked McCoy into the RT job immediately. Because they didn't employ any actual long-term thinking/strategy. It's as simple as that.

This represents a clear major difference. My point was NOT that Cantwell would have been superior to Samson (or potentially even McCoy) at OT throughout summer practices or maybe even by Game 1. My point was you didn't want Cantwell switching positions - now potentially 3 times given he started LT in Spring then went to RG by mid Summer and Now if he switches back to OT mostly it'd likely be at RT? NOR did you want to waste the easiest 4 game slate to start a season we've had in a long time by NOT having him at his long-term position.

Seriously ask yourself IF we had Cantwell all offseason and over these first 4 games at LT and Samson+McCoy at RT and LG, how much more confident would you be in this OLine developing on the right trajectory vs what it currently is on TODAY?

Also consider this we are seeing how THIS played out and how now it basically needs a full reset.... well wouldn't that have been just as easy to do by sliding Samson out to LT for game 4/5 if Cantwell was struggling/not developing?

But because of their decisions we don't have that opportunity. And imo it entirely stems from the fact that Mario + Mirabal default to experience and basically out of loyalty or whatever refused to consider McCoy anywhere but RT it seems..,

TL;DR: I will not be convinced leaving Cantwell at LT for these past full 9 months and 3-4 games could have possibly been anything but signficantly better than what has ended up happening (for cantwell and the unit as a whole), and I **** well can't be convinced that Cantwell at OT was behind SJ at Guard. IDGAF what anyone says....

Im sure he got reps at both like all of our lineman do. I don’t think samson just came back and kicked him out of both tackle competitions, i think if he was ready they would have put him at RT over mccoy

And you’re assuming him being at tackle more means he automatically is ready to play it now, that’s not how development works. He probably was the 2nd team rt and/or lt all fall camp, its clear they don’t think he is ready there and tried to get him snaps at guard just to get him on the field somewhere.

And the same point your making for cantwell at tackle is the same you can make for mccoy and samson just starting to play tackle full time. They need all the reps they can get to

As far as oline development im not confident in any combination we can play this year. Im leaning toward that unit was capped and borderline doomed when they decided to not address it more in the portal after losing 4 starters. None of these guys give me confidence based off these first 3 games for a natty run

And imo after seeing cantwell it’s not hard to imagine he is worse or just the same as sj was at guard. Both look terrible

 

I think it a bit presumptuous. Cantwell was never likely to start the year at LT imo. Mauigoa took a lot lumps early his freshman year and he had better coaching and more experience against better competition.

I think it’s likely it was never a question of McCoy/Cantwell because McCoy looked better at T. Cantwell doesn’t have experience or technique. He plays too high, sloppy footwork. I don’t mind the cross training, cause what are we going to do if Samson or McCoy miss a game? I think we overrated the talent of our interior guys and Meriweather

 

Im sure he got reps at both like all of our lineman do. I don’t think samson just came back and kicked him out of both tackle competitions, i think if he was ready they would have put him at RT over mccoy

And you’re assuming him being at tackle more means he automatically is ready to play it now, that’s not how development works. He probably was the 2nd team rt and/or lt all fall camp, its clear they don’t think he is ready there and tried to get him snaps at guard just to get him on the field somewhere.

And the same point your making for cantwell at tackle is the same you can make for mccoy and samson just starting to play tackle full time. They need all the reps they can get to

As far as oline development im not confident in any combination we can play this year. Im leaning toward that unit was capped and borderline doomed when they decided to not address it more in the portal after losing 4 starters. None of these guys give me confidence based off these first 3 games for a natty run

And imo after seeing cantwell it’s not hard to imagine he is worse or just the same as sj was at guard. Both look terrible

I fully disagree. On pretty much all counts