That's like trying to patch the enormous hole in the bottom of the boat with one piece of duct tape.
UPDATED (8:17am EST 1/12/26): MSU impact OL transfer portal tracker
- Thread starter aTotal360
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Hard to figure out how you improve by signing a 4 star guy out of high school then losing him to the portal and sign a guy that was zero stars out of high school but dominates at Wagner and UAB. Does that math math ? Maybe he got some excellent coaching. Sir, this is the SEC. Referring to Brandon Sneh for those of you who dont know
We haven't had an OL "sprint" in two years unless they were headed for the training table.
Outside the 5 star guys, OL is the hardest to project and recruit out of HS. Who the hell knows how any of these transfers will do. I don’t have confidence in the current OL coach to make anyone we sign work.
Interesting, but if you study the team that won the Joe Moore award this year with the country’s best O line, Iowa, they almost never miss on an O line recruit. They get them in the program, redshirt them and stack classes , look at their depth chart.
you have to have continuity in your coaching staff to do that. I think they have 4 nfl draft picks, maybe five on their O line this year, most of those guys weren’t highly ranked. Off the top of my head I’d say high 3/low 4 stars.
we are doing the opposite, random five guys out of the portal, and poor coaching.
This is I think the biggest thing that hurt with Leach. I don't know how we would have done on defense, but I think his approach was right for OL. Sign a bunch of OL that have the frame, have a good system for development physically and skillwise, and you'll end up with enough that workout to have a solid OL. I also think if we could have enough continuity to get to that point, we'd be able to keep the line intact for the most part. You don't see a lot of ready to play OL in the portal. It's why losing Lewis hurts even though he didn't look great this year.
When Leach was at WSU he signed a 6-4 240 pound lightly recruited kid as an OL because the kid was a good high school basketball player, he watched his foot work. Put him in the weight room bulked him up and the kid got drafted by the Detroit Lions and was an outstanding college lineman. That’s how you do it.
you build offensive linemen , it’s not like WR or corner. You also have to have a really good o line coach, Mason Miller was very good.
I wonder if he’s including his grades from Wagner in his resume there too. Regardless I’m happy to have him. Everyone knows how I feel about linemen with regards to Lebbys offense. So I’m happy to have any lineman sign up.
Different schemes mean different priorities: Iowa builds maulers; Lebby needs marathon runners.
I'm never very impressed by guys from smaller schools. Hopefully I'm wrong and there are always exceptions, but it's always easier to look good at UAB or Tennesee State. Big difference between the edge/DL there and the ones at Tennessee and Texas. I was hoping for 2 quality tackles and move ours in to play guard but they aren't done yet I guess
Let’s not get the cart ahead of the horse. I don’t trust Loadholt to land him. We need to sign about double the OL that we think we need and hope 5 of them hit.
The key is to look at how those guys do at those schools when they play a big time school.
Same principles apply though. Iowa does have maulers but Tim Lester requires pass blocking as well and those Iowa lineman have to pass block in the nfl.
Some coaches can see potential and evaluate correctly others can't. I haven't seen that from this staff. They need stars to try to win. Not going to work. Guys like leach and Mullen understand. Cignetti is a master at it. We need a guy like that at msu take three stars and win
They do have more continuity as you eluded to earlier, but their scheme demands and the development for those demands are drastically different. They’re traditional pro style spread with heavy run emphasis, play action, and clock control. Lebby is all no huddle going at the fastest tempo, sprint to the line, spread concepts, vertical passing, RPOs, “score from far”. No one in the NFL is going as fast as we are. Iowa on the other hand goes slower tempo and fewer snaps allows more focus on technique refinement and raw power development without extreme fatigue. Other words these maulers can “finish” blocks and recover fully. Their guys need size of course, but can focus more on strength and nastiness to dominate trenches. Their OL coaching can focus emphasizes fundamentals, leverage, and hand placement for their power gap blocking. The slower pace lets young linemen learn without being overwhelmed by snap volume. Lebbys zone blocking, quick pass sets, second level climbing, extreme tempo require and focus mostly on endurance. Linemen need athleticism, quick feet, and cardio more than pure bulk. It’s less about “mauling” and more about sustaining effort in pedal to the medal chaos. So with all that said, I think Iowa develops O-linemen way better than we do.
Well we got Ja Matthews from FSU. Not an established tackle. No true college playing experience. Makes me wonder wouldn't Turnage and Dowland but just as good ?
Steve had a profile of several visitors coming in....most are OL and a couple of edge rushers
BIG, SLOW and SOFT..........That's the way MSU has always liked lineman...........
Do you think anyone else disagrees with you, but it’s the environment of college athletics? It’s pathetic how posters **** on everything while contributing nothing. All the while comparing our NIL to other programs. I give a whopping 2500 a year, which amounts to nothing, but I will always support my Alma Mater to succeed. As delusional as the Ole Miss fan base is, they rally around their programs and contribute to NIL and the success of their football program.
Did you not see improvement year over year? The narrative of Lebby’s first season was a disaster when he and the program didn’t have a 17’ing chance of remote success. I was disappointed in some of the decision making late in the season; however, it was obvious the players played hard for him. This is the season he should truly be judged. Most on this board didn’t think State would win 3 games and then **** on the team more once they exceeded preseason projections
Incoming:
Mario Nash
DJ Chester
Isaiah Autry-Dent
Ja’Elyne Mathews
LJ Prudhomme
Outgoing:
Jaekwon Bouldin
Alex Lopez
Brennan Smith
Jimothy Lewis
Luke Work
Koby Keenum
Mario Nash
DJ Chester
Isaiah Autry-Dent
Ja’Elyne Mathews
LJ Prudhomme
Outgoing:
Jaekwon Bouldin
Alex Lopez
Brennan Smith
Jimothy Lewis
Luke Work
Koby Keenum
Factor in The Alberta Clipper graduating, I'm not sure we've improved at all. We've swapped out a lot of experienced, subpar players for a lot of younger players with little to no experience. With OL, I tend to rather have age and experience. Unless we land some ready-made, no-doubt starters, I struggle to see Lebby getting a 4th year.
I agree. And so far my prediction that veteran portal lineman are not going to sign up for a Jeff Lebby tempo offense. Even if they did they’d cost 30-40% more to get them too. This goes for keeping our own guys too. Every year Lebby will essentially be signing a new young and inexperienced crop of linemen, who have potential. Maybe things will change or maybe we will hit the jackpot with potential. Either way, this is the cost of wanting to run this fools gold offense.
You need to start a defensive linemen portal thread. I’ve always said Lebby’s flashy extremes tempo offense has a negative boomerang effect on the defense. I’m glad to resign up the big guy who got hurt early. I’m interested to see how we do there and if the big guys shy away from us for the same reasons as the veteran Olinemen do. Nevertheless, I believe Arnett can scheme around some decencies
I think it's more about having an OL coach that Prime essentially fired and has proved he can't develop talent. No one wants to play for that. Colorado had a terrible line and now we have a terrible line. Lebby wanted to hire his OU buddy and here we are...
Where are our outgoing OL going? How many are going to comparable programs and how many are stepping down?
Deion didn’t fire Loadholt. He left Colorado on his own terms after they went 9-4 and played in the Alamo Bowl. He took the OL coach job here at State to reunite with Lebby. Colorado allowed 56 sacks in 2023 the most in FBS that year, and then dropped to 21 sacks allowed in 2024 under Loadholt. Loadholt’s is doing his job, it’s Lebby’s scheme and tempo demands that are why vets are hesitating, not him.
Just read this thread. Pretty funny read knowing will rogers and bulldoghair are the same guy. Also seems we got a lot of oline coaches in waiting around here
Jimothy Lewis commited to California right after his Alabama visit.
Luke Work commited to Missouri
Alex Lopez commited to Western Kentucky
Jaekwon Bouldin commited to Jackson State
Keenum committed to Memphis
Smith hasn’t announced yet.
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