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The state of the OL

DMoney

DMoney

D-Moni
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A couple weeks ago, I posted this number:




Now, with the addition of Justice Oluwaseun, that number bumps up to 186 career starts on the OL. That's a staggering number. Consider this: if we go with our starting lineup from spring, we'll have 78 career starts on our bench alone. For comparison, the 2019 OL began the season with 30 career starts (almost all of them from Donaldson).

While experience is huge on the OL, it's not the only thing. Alabama and Georgia don't dominate the LOS just because they have experience. They do it with high-end talent. Big athletic dudes who move people.

We aren't there yet, but we've made some progress. If we go with our spring starters, we'll have three HS All-Americans and a fourth guy (Zion) who is one of the more gifted linemen in the conference. Donaldson and Rivers in particular should make a huge difference at guard. Going forward, we need to sign a couple legit behemoths (6'4+, 320+) to complement highly talented smaller guys like Laurence Seymore, Ryan Rodriguez and Issiah Walker.

The Oluwaseun transfer accomplishes several things. It gives us a very smart (two-time All-Academic) and experienced player with weight room strength. He provides crucial depth if Jakai Clark is not ready for the start of the season. And he brings two years of eligibility if we need a bridge to the 2021 interior OL class. It's hard to miss bringing in high-character transfers on the OL. You're only as good up front as your weakest link, and these guys bring insurance.

The OL improved a lot in 2020, but it still wasn't good or even solid. This is the year to expect a true leap.
 
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As a casual football observer who admittedly doesn't have a great grasp for OL play, it seems to me that age, experience, and snaps together make for a really good unit. The best OL's seem to be able to play well cohesively. That aspect I don't think we really have given the transfers/injury issues. But the age and experience are definitely huge steps in the right direction.

I've maintained for a good few years now that as a team we had a long ways to go because we had a long way to go on the OL, which takes the longest to develop, and was absolutely abysmal a few years ago. Starting the season with Bama is a bit of a blessing in disguise as no one really expects us to beat them, and it will be trial by fire, particularly for the OL and DL.
 
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Agree with what you wrote, D$.

We really can't afford injuries to the OL prior that keep them out of key games. But assuming the starters and "first in" backups are able to go, I expect dramatic improvements. Not Top 10-15 level, but 16-30 level, which will be enough to let our playmakers make plays.

I am expecting a breakout year from Donaldson. He could still end up a Day 2 type of player if all goes well through the season. I like Nelson's progress. I think he's far from the first rounder some believe. But he's steadily reaching his potential. Gaynor is Gaynor. The guys that we really need to see step into their own are Scaife and Rivers, with Washington and Campbell right behind them.

We're finally no longer relying on true freshmen. And hopefully this transfer Olu allows Rivers to develop a little longer, as well.
 
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Excellent write-up D$. I have high expectations for our OL this season, and I like the pick up of the UNLV kid. We're always talking about stacking chips, but where the chips truly need to be stacked is in the trenches. Can't ever have enough horses on the line.

We've just done a bad job of evaluating OL talent and a poor job developing the guys we signed.

Let's look at our OL recruiting over the past 7 years:
- 2015: Bar Milo, Tyree St. Louis, Jahair Jones, Brendan Loftus, Hayden Mahoney and Tyler Gauthier
--> Milo was a disaster and he was the headliner of the OL class. Tyree and Tyler were contributors, but that's it. An underachieving OL class.
- 2016: Tre Johnson
--> ............
- 2017: Navaughn Donaldson, Kai-Leon Herbert, Zalontae Hillery, Zach Dykstra and Corey Gaynor
--> Epic disaster other than Donaldson and Gaynor. Three consecutive years of underachieving OL recruits. Not good.
- 2018: DJ Scaife, Cleveland Reed and John Campbell
--> Decent because we hit on 2 out of 3 which isn't bad considering the high OL bust rate. Still holding out hope for Reed.
- 2019: Ousman Traore, Adam El-Gammal, Zion Nelson, Jakai Clark and Tommy Kennedy (transfer)
--> Another abortion OL class. Nelson was a fluke surprise and Clark is still developing.
- 2020: Jalen Rivers, Chris Washington, Jarrid Williams (transfer) and Issiah Walker (transfer)
--> Going on Year 2 for these guys so too early to call. Need Washington and/or Walker to step up to deem this group a success.
- 2021: Laurence Seymore, Michael McLaughlin and Ryan Rodriguez,
--> Really need these guys to get off on the right foot with Feeley otherwise we're staring at 7 classes of OL busts. Can't compete like this.

Now some of this is on the coaching. Kehoe, Searles and Barry didn't do us any favors, but our OL evaluations have been dog**** and it's why we're just now getting the group on its feet to compete with the top programs.
 
Yeah not buying the hype... Our rushing attack was absolutely pitiful last year. To me all this stat does is point out how long our OL recruiting, evaluation and development has sucked. You guys want to tell me we have a 1st round pick on this line... umm ok. Its like how long can you keep drinking the OL is good juice before you sit back and evaluate them on how they have performed. Like ever performed.
 
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clg003 said:
Yeah not buying the hype... Our rushing attack was absolutely pitiful last year. To me all this stat does is point out how long our OL recruiting, evaluation and development has sucked. You guys want to tell me we have a 1st round pick on this line... umm ok. Its like how long can you keep drinking the OL is good juice before you sit back and evaluate them on how they have performed. Like ever performed.
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This is the first time in years I’ve heard talk of this unit being a strength so I’m not sure who you’ve seen drinking any juice before now.
 
We had to play babies on the ol manny’s first two years, this is the first season we’ll have grown men across the board in a long time. Show me a good ol and I’ll show you a bunch of starts as a unit. If you don’t have a bunch of 20-22 year olds on your ol you will have issues. I’m not saying this is the second coming of the 01 line , but I’m going into the season more positive than recent years.
 
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I think the signing of Justice Oluwaseun should tell you everything you need to know about the state of the offensive line.

Just a bunch of guys. Now, they are a bunch of guys that have started a lot of football games...A LOT. And that always counts for something positive, but I am sure they are still a bit concerned in the room with how good this unit will be.

I think Oluwaseun will eventually start for us in 2021. He's probably one of our five best right now and his versatility at worst makes him the first guy off the bench at multiple spots.
 
CashMoneyCane said:
As a casual football observer who admittedly doesn't have a great grasp for OL play, it seems to me that age, experience, and snaps together make for a really good unit. The best OL's seem to be able to play well cohesively. That aspect I don't think we really have given the transfers/injury issues. But the age and experience are definitely huge steps in the right direction.

I've maintained for a good few years now that as a team we had a long ways to go because we had a long way to go on the OL, which takes the longest to develop, and was absolutely abysmal a few years ago. Starting the season with Bama is a bit of a blessing in disguise as no one really expects us to beat them, and it will be trial by fire, particularly for the OL and DL.
Click to expand...
Yes let’s hope, they can find 5 early in fall camp and stick with them. No rotating guys in and out. The best 5 needs to get in a groove together and get the communication down.
 
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