2008 tOSU Offensive Line discussion (official thread)

[MililaniBuckeye]

How's this for a potential starting OL next year? Mewhort plays center in HS, but with Brew starting at center we could slide him over to guard.

LT - Adams
LG - Boren
C - Brewster
RG - Mewhort
RT - Shugarts

I'd slide Browning down to guard, giving us him and Cordle as solid backups. Cordle and Mewhort can also serve as centers in case Brew gets hurt. We're going to be thin as hell at tackle, moreso if we do slide Browning down...

 

[MaxBuck]

Sorry, but the O line was AWFUL (again) on Saturday. Beanie bailed them out and Terrelle bailed them out by being able to run and throw (even with N'Western defenders draped all over him).

I don't really agree that the OL was "awful." Remember, we were playing the defense with more sacks than any other team in the B11, and our line gave up only one sack.

Pass blocking by this group is frequently excellent, especially given how long most of our pass plays take to develop. Rush blocking, I'm confused by our ineptitude.

 

[lvbuckeye]

YouTube - 1995: Ohio State v. Illinois (Drive-Thru)

It's amazing how much different our OL looks like now. Is there any other team in the country that plays our style of offense yet uses the same OL schemes? If you play power football, wouldn't you want your OL to blow the DL off the ball instead of get pushed backwards? Frustrating, very frustrating.

someone should email that clip to coach Tressel. if Beanie had those kind of holes to run through, he'd be pushing 2,000 right now.

 

[scarletngray]

How's this for a potential starting OL next year? Mewhort plays center in HS, but with Brew starting at center we could slide him over to guard.

LT - Adams
LG - Boren
C - Brewster
RG - Mewhort
RT - Shugarts

I'd slide Browning down to guard, giving us him and Cordle as solid backups. Cordle and Mewhort can also serve as centers in case Brew gets hurt. We're going to be thin as hell at tackle, moreso if we do slide Browning down...

If we get Hall I would think that out of all the incoming Freshman he would be the most likely to see playing time, although I have heard good things about Mewhort.

However, Cordle has been a two year starter and I don't see anyone replacing him during his Senior year.

:osu:

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

However, Cordle has been a two year starter and I don't see anyone replacing him during his Senior year.

If he isn't the best at his position, then he shouldn't be starting, senior or not. Not saying that he won't be, but if indeed he isn't...

 

[matcar]

I don't really agree that the OL was "awful." Remember, we were playing the defense with more sacks than any other team in the B11, and our line gave up only one sack.

Pass blocking by this group is frequently excellent, especially given how long most of our pass plays take to develop. Rush blocking, I'm confused by our ineptitude.

No, it was awful. Remember...we're a running team...and we struggled to do it w/o Beanie or Pryor making something from nothing. We didn't give up many sacks..partially because TP escaped and partially because we didn't pass much. The line play was just plain poor.

Edit, I found this post on the Eleven Warriors blog... I found it funny in a painful sort of way...

Mike Lanese graded the NW performance:
“I won’t continue to beat up the line because I’ve concluded that they simply don’t have the athletic ability or attitude to play any better than they’ve been playing. If the rules didn’t require the offense to have seven men on the line of scrimmage, I’d recommend that we just line the guards and tackles up four yards deep in the backfield. That’s where they end up anyway. Only because of Pryor’s escapability are the receivers starting to make a contribution downfield.”

 

[Oneshot]

Mewhort would potentially start as a freshman?

Maybe I haven't been following OL recruiting as closely as I should be, but is he that ballyhooed?

 

[jwinslow]

http://www.buckeyeplanet.com/forum/...iscussion-official-thread-22.html#post1322417 However, Cordle has been a two year starter and I don't see anyone replacing him during his Senior year.

Cordle & Person were just replaced as seasoned vets. Rehring to an extent, and possibly entirely if Shugarts had stayed healthy.

Mewhort would potentially start as a freshman?

Maybe I haven't been following OL recruiting as closely as I should be, but is he that ballyhooed?

Ballyhooed? No, he's a no nonsense kid who committed very early. But he has been impressive in games and camps alike.

 

[OregonBuckeye]

Yep and he'll enroll early.

 

[jwinslow]

Just to clarify Ballyhooed = Pryor, Clausen, etc. Mewhort is well under the radar, especially in relation to his talent.
Everyone who has witnessed him this past year has come away quite impressed.

 

[akronbuck]

If we get Hall I would think that out of all the incoming Freshman he would be the most likely to see playing time, although I have heard good things about Mewhort.
:osu:

Did you watch the ST. iGGY/Glenville game? Hall got burned a lot and he played like another Browning

 

[jwinslow]

Did you watch the ST. iGGY/Glenville game? Hall got burned a lot and he played like another Browning

He wasn't playing his future position in that game.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

Maybe I haven't been following OL recruiting as closely as I should be, but is he that ballyhooed?

ESPiN's #1 center, Rivals' #5 center, and Scout's #13 tackle in the country.

 

[matcar]

ESPiN's #1 center, Rivals' #5 center, and Scout's #13 tackle in the country.

Wow, that IS pretty awesome...I didn't even know that.

Having said that, I'm a bit like you (feeling snakebit thinking every year that our line is going to be formidable) so I no longer know what to expect from our future line. The only thing I'm certain of is that Beanie won't be around much longer to cover for some of our weaknesses.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

According to our scholarship breakdown chart, after we lose Mitchum, Person, Rehring, Skinner, and Boone to graduation, we'll have only 13 scholarship OL (not counting Justin Boren, who can't be on scholarship due to his transfer from Michigan) for next season, and that's including current OL commits Linsley, Mewhort, and Longo. Many are counting Marcus Hall as a done deal for the OL, so that would give us 14 scholarship OL. Let's go ahead and lump in Boren even though he's not on scholarship seeing as he is clearly a scholarship-level player. That's 15 scholarship-level OL for next year.

Ideally, we should have 18 or so OL on scholarship (rationale for that number can be found here). I'd really like to see us pull in at least two more OL, with John Martinez as one of them and maybe Taylor Lewan as the other.