Having read the Clarion-Ledger this morning...

[RebelBruiser]

Obviously talent is a good bit of it, but ultimately when I look at OL recruiting I like to see us sign 4 or 5 O-linemen per class that all have the measurables and all are guys we had near the top of our list.

Some won't pan out, and most won't see action early, but you have to keep a good circulation of them in your system so that you can redshirt most of them and have some depth.

We've done that pretty much every year under Nutt with exception of the 08 class that was light. That's why we have some decent depth right now. We're still a touch young, but we have some depth there and should have a solid group all around.

 

[RebelBruiser]

I meant light in numbers. In 2009, you only signed 2 OL, and I feel like in your 2010 class, you had to do some emergency back filling at the last minute at the position taking guys like Lawson, Day, and Muniz at the very end. Muniz may have been a solid late pick up, but overall I thought your 2009 and 2010 classes were both light on numbers and talent at the OL spots. I think that's going to catch up to you some here soon, most likely next year after you lose Saulsberry, Lawrence, and Carmon. I see your OL this year in the same state that ours was in 2009, still clinging to a handful of veterans with very little depth. Our 2010 line was very young across the board, probably one of the least experienced and youngest in the country. I think you'll be in that boat next year, and we'll see how well those guys do.

 

[EAVdog]

Some of these guys may have been reaches because we lost out on a couple of others but they were on the board. Muniz was 40 lbs lighter than he is now. Give these guys a red shirt year and a year or two as backups and they could be very productive players. I myself would like to see 4 or 5 OL in every class because you never really know what your'e going to get. We've had recent 4 star guys go first round, and some barely make the rotation. I think it's a really hard position to recruit, some of these 17 and 18 year old kids dominate just because they are hugesome kids have the frame to gain weight but are light even though they may have good technique.
We'll certainly have an experience gap after this year.We need to do a lot of rotatingup front this year to give these youngguys some experience. Hopefully a couple of our OOC games will let them do just that.

So far there have been some really good practice reports about Dillon Day. Blaine Clausell might not get the starting LT job but he's already secured the 3rd Tackle (first backup) spot.

 

[VirgilCain]

which leads to low point totals. As I remember, we were pretty 17ing good until Jackie lost the fire for coaching.

That point made, didn't several personal issues coincide with his coaching decline? Like his wife getting cancer or something like that?

Back to the topic, I am actually a tad concerned about the potential of OM having a great line & running game while we have some serious DE concerns and are an injury away from some seriously serious DT concerns. Both are purely speculative since nothing is really known since a single snap has yet to occur.

 

[BMadoff.nafoom]

I have listened to Markuson (Reb OL) during a recruiting trip. Tall OLs are preferred for pass blocking, particularly at the tackle position. The extra wingspan is an enormous advantage for blocking DEs off the edge. Plus, he advocates the extra arm length for pushing defenders away - not to let them in on the OLs body.

Currently, the pass blocking in pre season at UM has had its problems (from reports). However, run blocking has been excellent. The curious thing here is that Matt Hall (6' 7", 340) is playing guard - usually reserved for a 6'2"-4", 320 type of guy. As for Sowell: love the guy, but was shocked when he was named All-SEC preseason by the coaches. He has improved tremendously since his diasterous soph season, but not that much.

 

[Goat Grindin]

It's friggin Bradley Sowell!!!!!

 

[jacksonreb1]

well last year the preseason hype for our defensive front 7. didn't work out so well. and i even remember the sloan years when in august they would pronounce "we have a 400 yard/game offense", but by mid october it was evident that what we had was a 400 yard/game defense. time will tell.

 

[studentdawg87]

I meant light in numbers. In 2009, you only signed 2 OL, and I feel like in your 2010 class, you had to do some emergency back filling at the last minute at the position taking guys like Lawson, Day, and Muniz at the very end. Muniz may have been a solid late pick up, but overall I thought your 2009 and 2010 classes were both light on numbers and talent at the OL spots. <span style="font-weight: bold;">I think that's going to catch up to you some here soon,</span> most likely next year after you lose Saulsberry, Lawrence, and Carmon. I see your OL this year in the same state that ours was in 2009, still clinging to a handful of veterans with very little depth. Our 2010 line was very young across the board, probably one of the least experienced and youngest in the country. I think you'll be in that boat next year, and we'll see how well those guys do.

I'll have to agree with you. I think Muniz has the potential to be a solid OL down the road, but he is still gaining the weight he needs to start at tackle in the SEC. It didn't help that he missed most of last year with a torn labrum. (I think) Muniz was a solid pickup. We wanted him the whole year, but he had committed to Utah early. I have heard good things about Day, but I saw him yesterday and he still needs to gain some weight. I don't think he weighs more than 280lbs. However, he is a mean son of a ***** and should be decent before he graduates. Lawson will never play. He was signed as a package deal/project, and he is way, way down the depth chart. Damien Robinson has a long, long ways to go. Every time I went to practice I couldn't help but notice that he simply struggles in most phases of the game. Clausell is going to be a good one. He is smart and really competitive. I expect him to struggle some next year, but he will be good before he graduates. Ben Beckwith, a walk-on from Benton Academy of all places, has been impressive and will be in the rotation as a OG/C next year. Hell, he may even start.

I expect to try and sign a JUCO OT this year strictly to balance the numbers and have some depth, but we are going to struggle on the OL next year. Thankfully, we have Gabe Jackson for several more years. He will be on Sundays. And Tobias, when healthy, is a dominant run blocker. He destroys people in practice, but he just has to stay healthy.

 

[60sdog]

sherill's teams were almost always poor on offense. he won with defense and kicking game.

 

[windcrysmary]

nt

 

[MeridianDog]

I can't wait for this next Thursday night - 7:00 pm. At that point all of the opinions and computer experts will suddenly be not nearly as important. At that point, the experts will be on the field and my opinion won't mean nearly as much - not that it ever did.

There have been times since a couple of weeks after teh Gator Bowl that I thought next week would never get here.

 

[Captain Black Bear d]

Some of these guys may have been reaches because we lost out on a couple of others but they were on the board. Muniz was 40 lbs lighter than he is now. Give these guys a red shirt year and a year or two as backups and they could be very productive players. I myself would like to see 4 or 5 OL in every class because you never really know what your'e going to get. <span style="font-weight: bold;">We've had recent 4 star guys go first round</span>, and some barely make the rotation. I think it's a really hard position to recruit, some of these 17 and 18 year old kids dominate just because they are hugesome kids have the frame to gain weight but are light even though they may have good technique.
We'll certainly have an experience gap after this year.We need to do a lot of rotatingup front this year to give these youngguys some experience. Hopefully a couple of our OOC games will let them do just that.

So far there have been some really good practice reports about Dillon Day. Blaine Clausell might not get the starting LT job but he's already secured the 3rd Tackle (first backup) spot.