1) Yes. Depth at DL vs. Depth at OL. Probably Not.
2) Everyone got abused in the Egg Bowl.
Seriously though, it was probably Saulsberry and our guards that caught the most hell in Oxford, there is only so much Sherrod can do, and he is definitely our best. I am hoping Freeman and Lawrence can hold up the other end, and reports have been favorable so far. I was really liking this line with Sherrod, Smith and JC anchoring the unit. My how things can change in a week. I still think we can be better than last year. Strauder was a swinging gate, Saulsberry was playing out of position, and based on the recent comments by some of the OL, the are actually learning how to read defenses now...which is something they say they NEVER did before, so I will also throw in that they are better coached now, better conditioned (yes I am actually buying into the Balis hype) and necessarily more experienced.
As for Hardy, I still think he may be able to contribute down the line. He is just a product of poor HS coaching, conditioning and he used his size to dominate in HS. I found it very interesting what Jackie was saying about the extra time it takes for a lot of Mississippi players to develop as opposed to Florida and Texas high schoolers. Really an intriguing theory. Whether it has more to do with socioeconomics or just bad coaching, I don't know, but it makes sense. Jackie was saying that he was kicking himself for letting some players go to USM, etc., that ended up being NFL caliber players that just needed time to develop. Instead, he was out signing JUCOS. We all know how that ended.