Offensive Guards

[Yaller Jacket]

This is good news. Adding Freddie to the mix, if WB is the real deal and Shamire drops some pounds, that gives us a strong central three.

Among the many arguments as to what went wrong last year and what would fix it, one pretty convincing argument was that the B back up the middle threat wasn't sufficiently scary to force the defense to respect it. If Marshall and/or Mills hits that hole quickly and starts getting big gains, it should help the wide game.

 

[GTFLETCH]

Well having Marshall at C behind Freddie is great also specially for next year... My money is Parker Braun plays this year... so the question is at Tackle or Guard.. either way I do believe our Oline will be better then last year

 

[dressedcheeseside]

CPJ will put the best 5 out there regardless of whether it's each guy's natural spot. Marshall may be a better center, but he may also be a better guard than the other guard prospects. My guess for fall will be (left to right) Klock-Bryan-Burden-Devine-Braun. If Devine doesn't lose some weight, he'll either lose his spot to Marshall or he'll split time. If we get lucky and get Griffin back, he'll play either LG or LT, probably LT.

Also, don't sleep on either of the Morgans, they just need reps to learn the system. They both have good fundamentals and give max effort.

 

[RLR]

I mostly agree and share the optimism with this groups' upside.

Shamire. In Boomer's film breakdown in the other thread (thanks for all that you do, boom), I criticized Shamire's foot speed on a spin move. I think some people took that criticism for more than what it was intended. Shamire is the most dominant drive blocker I've seen lately in college football. When he was playing behind Shaq in 2015 & would come in for a series, man, that was dominant stuff. That said, I do see awful pulls from him on occasion. Hard to say how frequently b/c when it's good, you don't notice. IDK if it's a footspeed & agility issue at his weight or him just being gassed & taking a few plays off. Nonetheless, at worse, Shamire is an elite 3rd guard, an important position in our offense. At best, he's an All-American. . . seriously.

Will Bryan. Guy is a football player. IMO, he could play all 5 spots on the line. I think he's good enough to be an All-ACC guard this year. And he's consistent. Hoping he stays healthy, this gives us a lot of flexibility with Shamire & rotating in a 3rd / spell guard on the right side. . . I think we'll see Bryan lead the team in snaps. While I'd love to have Bryan at tackle, that's a luxury. Guard is the more important position in our offense. We're a better team with WB at LG.

Morgan Twins. If one of the twins can take a big step forward & be a reliable 3rd guard, it's the end of the conversation (we need not mention the "i" word). Based on the discussion above, I'm very hopeful that this will be the case.

Backup Option 1: Start Marshall at Center, bump Freddy to Guard. I'm not saying this is ideal. But if the situation gets bad enough, I think Freddy could play guard. 6'4, 300 lbs, strong as an Ox, smart player.

Backup Option 2: Bump Klock, Froyman, or Braun to Guard. Klock didn't look terrible at guard last year & had that nice block that sprung Marshall against Alcron. IDK anything about Froyman. Braun playing guard as a true freshmen is probably less than ideal. But, he is a good player.

 

[AE 87]

I mostly agree and share the optimism with this groups' upside.

Shamire. In Boomer's film breakdown in the other thread (thanks for all that you do, boom), I criticized Shamire's foot speed on a spin move. I think some people took that criticism for more than what it was intended. Shamire is the most dominant drive blocker I've seen lately in college football. When he was playing behind Shaq in 2015 & would come in for a series, man, that was dominant stuff. That said, I do see awful pulls from him on occasion. Hard to say how frequently b/c when it's good, you don't notice. IDK if it's a footspeed & agility issue at his weight or him just being gassed & taking a few plays off. Nonetheless, at worse, Shamire is an elite 3rd guard, an important position in our offense. At best, he's an All-American. . . seriously.

Will Bryan. Guy is a football player. IMO, he could play all 5 spots on the line. I think he's good enough to be an All-ACC guard this year. And he's consistent. Hoping he stays healthy, this gives us a lot of flexibility with Shamire & rotating in a 3rd / spell guard on the right side. . . I think we'll see Bryan lead the team in snaps. While I'd love to have Bryan at tackle, that's a luxury. Guard is the more important position in our offense. We're a better team with WB at LG.

Morgan Twins. If one of the twins can take a big step forward & be a reliable 3rd guard, it's the end of the conversation (we need not mention the "i" word). Based on the discussion above, I'm very hopeful that this will be the case.

Backup Option 1: Start Marshall at Center, bump Freddy to Guard. I'm not saying this is ideal. But if the situation gets bad enough, I think Freddy could play guard. 6'4, 300 lbs, strong as an Ox, smart player.

Backup Option 2: Bump Klock, Froyman, or Braun to Guard. Klock didn't look terrible at guard last year & had that nice block that sprung Marshall against Alcron. IDK anything about Froyman. Braun playing guard as a true freshmen is probably less than ideal. But, he is a good player.

I actually think Andrew at Center and Freddy at Guard is most likely alternative if Shamire isn't ready.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

I'd hate to be a DE seeing Will Bryan bearing down on me with a full head of steam pulling around the formation and leading the play.

 

[UgaBlows]

Thanks Everyone, makes me feel better to read thiese comments. It actually sounds like we will be potentially strong at OL barring any more personnel loss

 

[Skeptic]

I don't know the NCAA rules regarding the start of practice in August. But it looks to me like, barring two-a-days, which always seems to accomplish little -- we will have 20 practices or so, maybe 24? to get it right before Boston College on 9-3. I gather we made little progress getting it right in the spring practices. I hope the optimism is well-placed and the OL lights it up against BC. Just wonder if past results is a guarantee of future performance here. 2015 hovers over the program like a funeral shroud.

 

[ilovetheoption]

Man, I'm not as optimistic as Boomer, or a lot of you guys are.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

I don't know the NCAA rules regarding the start of practice in August. But it looks to me like, barring two-a-days, which always seems to accomplish little -- we will have 20 practices or so, maybe 24? to get it right before Boston College on 9-3. I gather we made little progress getting it right in the spring practices. I hope the optimism is well-placed and the OL lights it up against BC. Just wonder if past results is a guarantee of future performance here. 2015 hovers over the program like a funeral shroud.

According to CPJ, if the spring game had been a week earlier, we'd all have a much better impression of the offense and OL. In the final closed scrimmage, the offense had it's way with the defense.

 

[InsideLB]

Loss of Brown, probable loss of Griffin, and Devine's struggle's with weight have all been big time downers. Makes it less likely we'll have a good line.

It can be done though, and you never know. But you never like to be behind the 8-ball like this.

We'll need Klock, Stickler, and Fromayan to play their tails off and develop with Will Bryan sliding inside. Maybe a frosh like Braun can provide some extra depth. On the bright side Burden/Marshall at center are a great looking combo.

In general we need to see a lot more mental toughness, discipline, and cohesion as a unit. The guys have to raise their games and swear that they aren't going to be the guy to blow an assignment, loaf on a play, or quit fighting if they are going against some stud, or if things start going wrong. They have to make the decision each week and each day to get better, and to prepare like mad so they are physically, mentally, and emotionally prepared to meet the challenge.

 

[Skeptic]

According to CPJ, if the spring game had been a week earlier, we'd all have a much better impression of the offense and OL. In the final closed scrimmage, the offense had it's way with the defense.

I used to go fishing in Canada with a bunch of neighborhood guys. Picked the camp from among dozens at a winter outdoor exposition in Cleveland. No matter when we went, always after consulting with the vendor, it was the same: "You should have been here a week ago." Finally over 3-4 years we moved it up so far we found ice on the lakes. We couldn't even fly in and had to fish from the lodge, owned by a guy from Argentina with a suspicious German accent. One member of our expedition was decidedly uncomfortable. Then it was, "You're about a week early." Thank goodness it was not for the fishing; we would have been righteously peeved. So let's say the spring wasn't for the fishing.

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

According to CPJ, if the spring game had been a week earlier, we'd all have a much better impression of the offense and OL. In the final closed scrimmage, the offense had it's way with the defense.

So what went wrong after that? Continuing issues with Oline and, so far, a lack big play making WR should give us all a reason for concern. That doesn't mean that both won't work themselves out but there is obviously some real work to do.

I saw a glimmer of play making ability from the DT spot in the spring and with depth there to boot. Contrary to others with a different opinion, I liked the athleticism in lots of guys working behind the Dline. Maybe when the season starts we will see that the success of the D was due to a weak O. I suspect not though.

I think our O will be OK at least. Maybe not 2014 good but not a repeat of last year either. I think our D, from position group to position group, looks better as a whole (and by position groups) than it has in a long time. And THAT my friends has been what we have needed the most in the last 8 years.

 

[Longestday]

One true difference maker playing His freshman year is one thing, playing 7 freshmen is another. The offense will be better in 2016 from just knowing where to go without over thinking. Add in legal holding and you may see more of a difference than you think.

 

[iceeater1969]

One true difference maker playing His freshman year is one thing, playing 7 freshmen is another. The offense will be better in 2016 from just knowing where to go without over thinking. Add in legal holding and you may see more of a difference than you think.

Seems like (without Devine steping up AND griffin ) we are hoping to plug /play large number of very inexperienced but talented ol and expecting different results than last year when we did that with the bb, ab, wr.

Like longest said heres to a little legal holding (.5 sec) & the young line QUICKLY picking up the right blocking scheme.

It would be great to see AGGRESSIVE line play on BOTH sides of line of scrimmage.

Going to be fun to watch.

 

[MWBATL]

Did I miss something? Was the Spring Game full of 20+ yard runs? Was our offense dazzling?

I have NOT studied film and definitely am NOT as close or as much of an expert as many (most?) on this thread, but the results on the field certainly suggest to me we have large problems on offense, and that our O line is the issue (per CPJ, not me).

So, are our tackles really that bad? Or is it possible we are being overly optimistic in this assessment of our guards? Remind me how well we have done in the past 12 months on 3rd and 1 and 4th and 1 plays. running up the gut......

 

[UgaBlows]

So what went wrong after that?

Do they play two full teams during normal scrimmages or is that just for the spring game? Splitting our already thin offensive line into 2 units for the spring game sure didn't help imo

 

[AE 87]

Do they play two full teams during normal scrimmages or is that just for the spring game? Splitting our already thin offensive line into 2 units for the spring game sure didn't help imo

We play 1s vs 1s 2s v 2s. No splitting.

 

[tech_wreck47]

We play 1s vs 1s 2s v 2s. No splitting.

I think he's saying it doesn't help that we don't have the 2's backing up the 1's but we have the 3's doing that so you are splitting up the guys that normally would be playing in a game during the season.

 

[UgaBlows]

^yes exactly, and not only that but i believe the 1's were split between the white and gold teams, not all together as a unit.