Why is the O Line (potentially) a strength now?

[furant]

It's interesting to me how in 2015 we had a pretty experienced line coming back, albeit without Shaq, and it ended up being a big drop in dominance. Last year the young guys grew into their own very quickly and this year there appears to be reason for optimism.

Is it the new talent and we're hitting our stride better in recruiting? Is Sewak better than the message boards gave him credit for? Is Coach West making a huge impact?

I'm sure it's a little bit of everything but I don't know those coaches from Adam and would be interested to hear about their effectiveness and ability to keep the pipeline full.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

A little bit of everything had a cumulative affect in '15. The loss of Shaq had a larger impact than most realize. We lost his NFL play on the field and, just as importantly, his leadership off of it. He made his teammates better in '14, without him, some regressed. We got hit by injuries in '15 as well.

A couple more injuries could waylay this line as well.

 

[tech_wreck47]

This g/c/g combo is sick. You have an espn 300, freshman all American at LG. A very underrated guy out of high school in our center who might be the best Offensive linemen on the team. And a very experienced RG who just seems to do all the little things right.

 

[5277hike]

It's interesting to me how in 2015 we had a pretty experienced line coming back, albeit without Shaq, and it ended up being a big drop in dominance. Last year the young guys grew into their own very quickly and this year there appears to be reason for optimism.

Is it the new talent and we're hitting our stride better in recruiting? Is Sewak better than the message boards gave him credit for? Is Coach West making a huge impact?

I'm sure it's a little bit of everything but I don't know those coaches from Adam and would be interested to hear about their effectiveness and ability to keep the pipeline full.

Didn't we also lose Chris Griffin in an off-season injury? Gary Brown left to draw. I think there was even more unexpected loss on the OL line than just Shaq graduating, which was a big enough loss!

 

[ilovetheoption]

I think at the time we were experimenting with bigger lineman. I just looked at a depth chart and the Right Guard was Shamir Divine and the right tackle was Aaron Joe. Since then, the coaching staff has really really been recruiting athleticism at ol. Even the bigger lineman now are guys like Kenny Cooper, who can really move.

I think the staff saw what it was like having an offense of line with Shaq that could just blow people off the ball and wanted to get more of that. It didn't work.

The staff isn't recruiting fat bodies anymore. Please excuse the spelling errors, my voice recognition program is retarded.

 

[Coloradojacket]

It's interesting to me how in 2015 we had a pretty experienced line coming back, albeit without Shaq, and it ended up being a big drop in dominance. Last year the young guys grew into their own very quickly and this year there appears to be reason for optimism.

Is it the new talent and we're hitting our stride better in recruiting? Is Sewak better than the message boards gave him credit for? Is Coach West making a huge impact?

I'm sure it's a little bit of everything but I don't know those coaches from Adam and would be interested to hear about their effectiveness and ability to keep the pipeline full.

What I have realized in CPJs offense is that the O line is important, but A backs are more important. Their blocking turns a 4 yard play into a 30 yard play. From 2014 to 2015 we lost 10 offensive starters. This included a 5 A back rotation. Snoddy was the only returning A back and I don't think he had recovered from the broken leg. Lost Days, Laskey, Mason, Zenon, Andrews, Hill, Perkins, Smelter, Waller, Bostic. Then when you add in the injuries. What was amazing about 2015 was that we lost 6 games by 6 points or less.

 

[Jean-Baptiste Rochambeau]

What I have realized in CPJs offense is that the O line is important, but A backs are more important. Their blocking turns a 4 yard play into a 30 yard play. From 2014 to 2015 we lost 10 offensive starters. This included a 5 A back rotation. Snoddy was the only returning A back and I don't think he had recovered from the broken leg. Lost Days, Laskey, Mason, Zenon, Andrews, Hill, Perkins, Smelter, Waller, Bostic. Then when you add in the injuries. What was amazing about 2015 was that we lost 6 games by 6 points or less.

Now, the prognosticators are saying because we WON three of four one score or less last year, that's a red flag for this year. I think it only indicates that we played hard, were competitive, and were in a position to win the close games when the opportunity was there.

 

[TromboneJacket]

I think offensive line is just very difficult to coach. It's probably the second most cerebral position in the game after QB. I think having 2 O-line coaches was the right decision because there aren't enough hours in the day for Sewak to coach 3 cerebral positions at once. Even in the NFL with the best prospects from college football, a lot of O-lines are struggling. I think bringing in Ron West was a great decision that's already showing results. Not only are our top O-linemen playing well, but our younger linemen seem to be game-ready early in their careers. Of course, I think recruiting has helped us get outstanding young men who also deserve credit for working hard to get to this point. I look forward to a good year, and GO JACKETS!

 

[sidewalkGTfan]

With regards to 2015, keep in mind that other than JT, we were replacing almost every single skill position player....and that was before the injury plague kicked in

 

[takethepoints]

I think the premise here is a bit premature.

Coach seems to like the OL we have, but I'm betting he'd be happier with Marshall out there at OT. Overall, we don't really know what we have there yet. It could be that the DL is not as good as we think and the OL looks good in comparison. (Sure do hope not.) I'm going to be watching carefully at the Fleabag game to see how the blocks work. Then we'll know better. Maybe.

 

[bravejason]

Now, the prognosticators are saying because we WON three of four one score or less last year, that's a red flag for this year. I think it only indicates that we played hard, were competitive, and were in a position to win the close games when the opportunity was there.

As I understand it, one-score games are considered to be random outcome events and so the win probability is 50%. Winning 3 of 4 last year represents a better than expected out come and, thus, the team should regress to the mean this year by winning fewer one-score games.

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

Last year's chance results have no bearing on chance this year.

 

[00Burdell]

To me, one of the most solid indicators of offensive success is the distribution of start combinations across the OL. So not just starts but starts as a unit.

So while we have some remarkable talent on our OL, it will take a couple games before they start functioning as a collective steam roller. But when they do, I pity the fool.

 

[jayparr]

What I have realized in CPJs offense is that the O line is important, but A backs are more important. Their blocking turns a 4 yard play into a 30 yard play. From 2014 to 2015 we lost 10 offensive starters. This included a 5 A back rotation. Snoddy was the only returning A back and I don't think he had recovered from the broken leg. Lost Days, Laskey, Mason, Zenon, Andrews, Hill, Perkins, Smelter, Waller, Bostic. Then when you add in the injuries. What was amazing about 2015 was that we lost 6 games by 6 points or less.

and beat fsu!!!

 

[Dottie1145]

I think at the time we were experimenting with bigger lineman. I just looked at a depth chart and the Right Guard was Shamir Divine and the right tackle was Aaron Joe. Since then, the coaching staff has really really been recruiting athleticism at ol. Even the bigger lineman now are guys like Kenny Cooper, who can really move.

I think the staff saw what it was like having an offense of line with Shaq that could just blow people off the ball and wanted to get more of that. It didn't work.

The staff isn't recruiting fat bodies anymore. Please excuse the spelling errors, my voice recognition program is retarded.

He said WE!!!! Coming around brotha!!!

 

[Techster]

I said it in another thread. The starting 5 is the strongest CPJ has probably had since he got to GT. Heck, The top 1-8 OLs are probably the strongest OLs CPJ has had at GT.

But man, we are dangerously thin behind them. We saw it during the spring after the first team OLs were not in the game. Makes me nervous that multiple walk ons populate the depth chart at OL.

 

[tech_wreck47]

CPJ said some of the young guys look pretty good but it normally takes them about the first two games to really get things down. I think he mentioned freshmen when he said this. Which is encouraging, if we can have 2 or so step up that would be great.

 

[alagold]

What I have realized in CPJs offense is that the O line is important, but A backs are more important. Their blocking turns a 4 yard play into a 30 yard play. From 2014 to 2015 we lost 10 offensive starters. This included a 5 A back rotation. Snoddy was the only returning A back and I don't think he had recovered from the broken leg. Lost Days, Laskey, Mason, Zenon, Andrews, Hill, Perkins, Smelter, Waller, Bostic. Then when you add in the injuries. What was amazing about 2015 was that we lost 6 games by 6 points or less.

interesting point--I agree to some extent--a good Oline will make the BBack successful and the Abacks are more likely to make the Abacks successful--of course the QB needs it all including good WR to keep the Safeties back

 

[SidewalkJacket]

Not only OL, but I think WR and AB blocking is gonna be solid. WR blocking could be the best it's been with so much experience out there. That was a big key to 2014.