iceeater1969
Helluva Engineer
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Place holder thread for offseason but comments welcome now
THIS POSITION IS VITAL
If this position makes its blocks , we are sure to make good yards on most plays.
But like Forrest Gump said Ot is hard....
At ot we have a 265-290# guy wearing knee braces in a 3 point stance. Often the OT has come out of his stance and pass block DE or a blitzing LB. Also he has to down block a giant Dt so guard can pull. IMO the most difficult block is the downfield block where he takes on a 235# lean athlete who is looking at the play developing while he is just assuming the timing is right and all of this is in space. If he can impact the flow to the ball he is doing ok but if he gets a block on the guy the play can go for big yards. In the open field the ot 's block is more of a tackle technique. This guy has to read lots of defensive sets
We really need unique athletes at OT.
WHERE WE ARE
Now for g c g we have 4 quality starters and I hear about the quality backups of Morgan, Morgan , Hansen. Also it looks like we have some good freshman on the sidelines but they appear to be built for g c g. So we are loaded.
At OT we have Lee and Stickler but I don't know who is being groomed to replace or back them up ? Is there a really good freshman that we have in reserve? Thank goodness Will can play two positions.
This is not a good situation and must be corrected.
It does not include hoping Marshall come back for another year.
As an aside what caused or causes the current lack of depth?
Does this position get more that its share of injuries so no one will play it? Is it so hard that people get burned out and move on(2 quality OT didn't stay for senior or 5th year (NASCAR and Northwestern)? Could the fact that the OT player and not the position coach gets a lot of "on sideline immediate correction" be an issue? Is this coaching method issue? is this a position coach issue? To me these are not knowable with any certainty. Blaming chance or a position coach is not useful. We need a PLAN
AN IDEA BASED ON PREMISE THAT OT OUR OFFENSE IS MORE LIKE A DE
LEE was primarily a DL in high school and in fact was a lightly recruited player.
He showed up and moved to OT and played pretty well as a TRUE FRESHMAN.
He can pull and make good blocks in space - last play W F.
Premise
It is likely that a lot more lightly recruited smart HS DL guys that could come to GT and play OT.
Lets recruit at least few extra DE candidates with the plan that they will get a chance at OT if DE doesn't work out. ( If all extra DE guys are great, that would be a good problem to have. Some could lean down and play LB or ST. ). Worked for LEE - surely that was not pure luck.
Each year we could move a (RSOPH) guy to play back up OT for a year and then start for 2 or years.
This method in recruiting a lot of QB who are given a chance at that position and then are moved to safety or DB or AB or even BB.
THIS POSITION IS VITAL
If this position makes its blocks , we are sure to make good yards on most plays.
But like Forrest Gump said Ot is hard....
At ot we have a 265-290# guy wearing knee braces in a 3 point stance. Often the OT has come out of his stance and pass block DE or a blitzing LB. Also he has to down block a giant Dt so guard can pull. IMO the most difficult block is the downfield block where he takes on a 235# lean athlete who is looking at the play developing while he is just assuming the timing is right and all of this is in space. If he can impact the flow to the ball he is doing ok but if he gets a block on the guy the play can go for big yards. In the open field the ot 's block is more of a tackle technique. This guy has to read lots of defensive sets
We really need unique athletes at OT.
WHERE WE ARE
Now for g c g we have 4 quality starters and I hear about the quality backups of Morgan, Morgan , Hansen. Also it looks like we have some good freshman on the sidelines but they appear to be built for g c g. So we are loaded.
At OT we have Lee and Stickler but I don't know who is being groomed to replace or back them up ? Is there a really good freshman that we have in reserve? Thank goodness Will can play two positions.
This is not a good situation and must be corrected.
It does not include hoping Marshall come back for another year.
As an aside what caused or causes the current lack of depth?
Does this position get more that its share of injuries so no one will play it? Is it so hard that people get burned out and move on(2 quality OT didn't stay for senior or 5th year (NASCAR and Northwestern)? Could the fact that the OT player and not the position coach gets a lot of "on sideline immediate correction" be an issue? Is this coaching method issue? is this a position coach issue? To me these are not knowable with any certainty. Blaming chance or a position coach is not useful. We need a PLAN
AN IDEA BASED ON PREMISE THAT OT OUR OFFENSE IS MORE LIKE A DE
LEE was primarily a DL in high school and in fact was a lightly recruited player.
He showed up and moved to OT and played pretty well as a TRUE FRESHMAN.
He can pull and make good blocks in space - last play W F.
Premise
It is likely that a lot more lightly recruited smart HS DL guys that could come to GT and play OT.
Lets recruit at least few extra DE candidates with the plan that they will get a chance at OT if DE doesn't work out. ( If all extra DE guys are great, that would be a good problem to have. Some could lean down and play LB or ST. ). Worked for LEE - surely that was not pure luck.
Each year we could move a (RSOPH) guy to play back up OT for a year and then start for 2 or years.
This method in recruiting a lot of QB who are given a chance at that position and then are moved to safety or DB or AB or even BB.
