Sorry, even though the logic is on point, I feel you are overselling the Aback transition. A piece of the puzzle you are missing is the reason why run the offense/formation we do. Our offense forces defense to play in only a few sets or the defense will admire the back of our unis all game long. With the minimal looks from alignment/assignment on a weekly basis the Aback will see, all the young guys will need is the will to actually get a body on someone.
To continue in a devil's advocate kind of role I see it both ways.
Your point above makes sense and we do have some examples of AB's who played early in their careers...particularly Roddy, Embry, and the converted kicker who had wheels and want-to in PJ's first year (#33, can't remember his name). Anthony Allen sat out a year so I don't count him as playing early.
Here are the devil's advocate points:
(1) Johnson has multiple ways to block every running play and being able to change things up confuses the hell out defenses. CPJ can simplify things but the offense is less effective when defenses know where the blocking is coming for each kind of run. We don't run a lot of different plays but we do block them lots of different ways.
(2) We have heard over the years from Johnson frequently regarding various AB's "He needs to learn better where to go so he can play faster". We have also heard AB's say of being more experienced that they can play faster because they know where to go. This implies "knowing where to go" is a critical factor and takes time to learn.
(3) While some ABs have played as tr-fr, the offense was brand new at that time. Since the offense has been here it seems to take guys awhile to get on the field at A back.
(4) On option plays defenses will often change dive/QB/pitch assignments to try and screw with our QB reads and blocking assignments. My understanding is ABs need to read these changes on the fly and adjust who they block.
In the final analysis I think we'll be ok. G-C-G is strong for us and we have a QB who can read the option well. If BB is good enough we'll be solid up the middle and defenses won't be able to fly to the perimeter. With defensive help slower from the interior it makes the AB's job blocking easier as perimeter defenders have to try and set an edge instead of doding blocks.
Plus we've got a lot of guys coming in to compete at AB. I'm sure having green AB's is not a new phenomenon for Johnson and he'll have his ways of dealing with that.
One other point not to be overlooked: Lamar Owens is more seasoned coaching the position than when Coach Monken left. CLO's earlier years we seemed to struggle with AB blocking but the last few we've had great AB play.
