2008 tOSU Offensive Line discussion (official thread)

[jwinslow]

How many schools out there carry 18+ lineman consistently? That's an entire recruiting class tied up into 5 positions. Unlike most positions, they will not help out the return or coverage units.

Many players who rarely see the field at their position are starters or regulars on special teams. T.Washington, Schwartz, Lane, Torrence, Spitler, Moeller, Rolle, Sabino, etc. The majority of those units play one way or another. The majority of the OL in a 18 man unit would ride the pine.

Ideally, we should have 18 or so OL on scholarship (rationale for that number can be found here).

Most disagreed with the OL number... 15 was a pretty common rebuttal.

OSU will likely take at least 3 linemen next year (say Norwell, James, ______), and only lose 2 to graduation. Also a chance of a transfer or two, which would likely result in OSU trying to take 4 OL next year.

It looks like they will be nicely balanced around the 15 OL mark, which is a popular number on these boards, and a healthy buffer beyond a 2 deep.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

How many schools out there carry 18+ lineman consistently? That's an entire recruiting class tied up into 5 positions. Unlike most positions, they will not help out the return or coverage units.Most disagreed with the OL number... 15 was a pretty common rebuttal.

Not really concerned about the amount other schools may carry, or that linemen don't help out on return coverage, or what others may think. Our OL has been a source of frustration since the last couple years of the Cooper regime. The OL is the most common position of injury and is the hardest to project/evaluate...you get more "busts" at OL than any other position. Look how thin we're going to be next year. We have only Browning, Cordle, and Brewster returning with any real experience. Cordle has been decent, Browning shakey at tackle (should be moved back to guard), and Brewster good at center. Boren will help out significantly. But you have OL like Kerr, Miller, Smith, and Blankenship who just haven't done anything due to either injury or simply not panning out (which is part of the crapshoot that is nature the OL). Shugarts has done well when he has been able to play and Adams has been out virtually the entire season, so they'll be somewhat green.

We lose five OL and yet take only three (four if Hall pulls the trigger and goes to the OL), and yet:

We lose two RB (Mo and likely Beanie) and take three (with two others on scholarship).
We lose one WR and take three (with nine others on scholarship).
We lose two LB and take three (actually four, but Boren will move to FB...with six others on scholarship)
We lose two CB and take four (with five others on scholarship).
We lose one FB and take two (see Boren from LB...with one other on scholarship)
We lose three DL and take four (five if Hall commits and goes to DL...with 12 others on scholarship)

With the glut of available scholarships this class, we should be stacking up on the biggest position of need performance-wise and instead are over recruiting in positions where we are solid (well, aside from the DL). In my mind, we need several more top-notch OL, and at least one QB.

 

[Buck Kid 66]

Many players who rarely see the field at their position are starters or regulars on special teams. T.Washington, Schwartz, Lane, Torrence, Spitler, Moeller, Rolle, Sabino, etc. The majority of those units play one way or another. The majority of the OL in a 18 man unit would ride the pine.

Good Point,but we need o-line depth and more talent. O-line is flat out the biggest position that is struggling. Many starters play on special teams like punt team anyways.

 

[stowfan]

Imo, today the OLine looked as good as they have all year. TP had time to throw, and I didn't find myself felling sorry for Beanie. Just in time for Michigan :)

 

[Onebuckfan]

Being at the game ..I thought Browning had his best game and Rehring made some nice blocks on trap plays..

 

[3074326]

The line looked much better against Illinois. I need to rewatch the game, but any time we have over 300 total yards rushing, you have to give credit to the line. TP and Beanie's athleticism obviously help, but they had some big holes. Hopefully those holes are bigger next week.

We are peaking at a good time.

 

[BB73]

Being at the game ..I thought Browning had his best game and Rehring made some nice blocks on trap plays..

Good points, I also thought it was the line's best performance this year. There were a couple of times where Boone allowed his guy to make a big outside rush, but kept him out the backfield, creating a wide alley on the left side.

 

[BB73]

this was the first game i got to see in person, so i was able to watch some things that you can't normally follow on TV. i kept an eye on boone a lot. he made one really good block that resulted in a big play by TP (i wish i could remember the specific play, but it was from our own 5 yard line or so in either the 1st or 3rd qtr)

I think this is the play you're talking about from the NW'ern game.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86LYrVhzCe8]YouTube - Terrelle Pryor To Dane Sanzenbacher- 14 Yards vs Northwestern[/ame]

 

[ysubuck]

They better be peaking and keep peaking (can you keep peaking?????).

I have a feeling that Alabama is on the horizon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[jimotis4heisman]

2 yards passing in the second half.

on a side not dont confuse peaking with playing sucky teams...

 

[xcrunner]

I must say, here's to hoping that the OLine continues to improve, if they did indeed improve (they looked good).

I've thought for a while that our best game would be our bowl game, because Pryor's improvement is such that we could be MUCH more 2 dimensional by the time bowl season comes around. A few weeks of practice could do absolute wonders for him, make it so we can throw ~20 times a game instead of 10, and all of a sudden they can't key in on Beanie.

I also think that our OLine might be pretty darn improved by then too. I think our depth might be a good bit improved, and I think their confidence might improve now that they're away from the spotlight. In general, a few months with the O-Line not in the public eye could do wonders for their confidence, or general mental state, or whatever it is that's hurting their play.

So here's to hoping they open up some wholes for Beanie, block for Pryor, and help beat that piece of scum up north, and then continue to improve until the bowl, where they can help beat.. whoever we play. Hopefully that piece of scum down south, nick saban.

 

[matcar]

2 yards passing in the second half.

on a side not dont confuse peaking with playing sucky teams...

I'm a bit with you on this. Weird saying it with almost 300 yards of rushing offense, but I'm still seeing whiffs on blocks far too often and Beanie or Terrelle are just making something from nothing. I felt the line was improved this week, but I wouldn't feel good about a BCS bowl opponent with our line at this point.

 

[UpNorthBuckeye]

play calling helps the line play

I thought the passing we did in the first quarter got into Illinois' heads and kept them from keying on the run as much as they could have.

There were still some times where we could all tell the handoff to Beanie was coming, and so did Illinois, and they stopped us dead in our tracks.

But then again, sometimes it didn't do them any good to know that Beanie was going to get the ball.

Yeah, I think the line played better, and that's good because if Meatchicken has a strength (odd thought), it might be their D line.

But please let's not do the run-run-pass waltz for the entire first half!! I hate those third and longs!!!!!

 

[WoodyWorshiper]

Not here to discuss, assess, or evaluate. Just wanna wish the "big uglies" up front the best of luck tomorrow. You guys ARE the stick that stirs the drink. Hope each and every one of you takes a "weasel-skin" with you into the locker room when the clock ticks down to 0:00.

Peace.

 

[GrizzlyBuck]

C'mon big guys, go out and earn a big ole pair of Gold pants.