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2008 tOSU Offensive Line discussion (official thread)

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Buckeye86;1223109; said:
Here's a really cool picture of the offensive lineman from Jim Davidson at TheOzone.

08-08-04-FB-0333.jpg
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Adams and Browning are going to humiliate people. All aboard the Saine for Heisman '10 bandwagon!!!
 
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CPD: Chase of freshman leads to haircuts

From the same folks who brought you the Silver Bullets, we're proud to present the "Thunder Bolts"! It's got a ring to it... :biggrin:

Ohio State football: Chase of freshman leads to haircuts

by Doug Lesmerises
Thursday August 14, 2008, 2:03 PM

medium_OlineHaircuts%20001.jpg

D.L.Alex Boone

medium_OlineHaircuts%20002.jpg

D.L.Steve Rehring - still normal

medium_OlineHaircuts%20003.jpg

D.L.Jim Cordle

It started, so the story goes, with Ohio State's offensive line planning to shave the head of freshman center Michael Brewster. With his shaggy, curly locks, it's easy to see why the upperclassmen would be tempted.

It ended with several of the linemen sporting lightning bolts on the sides of their heads. Such results should never be a surprise when Alex Boone is involved.

cont'd...
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Buckeyes' line depth may rival 2006 unit
Friday, August 15, 2008
By Tim May
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Ohio State hopes its breadth and depth on the offensive line can return to the level it reached in 2006.

The Buckeyes sent in their second-team offensive line at Texas that season to seize control in a game that was teetering. The win propelled Ohio State to an unbeaten regular season, a spot in the national championship and a Heisman Trophy for quarterback Troy Smith.

The only blemish, of course, was in the title game, when the line was overwhelmed by Florida's defensive front seven.

After last season, when five players were mainstays on the line, offensive coordinator Jim Bollman and coach Jim Tressel won't guarantee the same type of unit-for-unit substitution as in 2006. But they agree the ingredients are there.

"I think we're going to be deeper but have less experience," Tressel said. "From a talent standpoint, I think we're going to be a little better than we've been."

The core is the four returning starters from last season's national championship game loss to LSU -- left tackle Alex Boone, left guard Steve Rehring, center Jim Cordle and right guard Ben Person -- plus the sixth man, Bryant Browning, who has the lead at right tackle.

Backing them up is a group that includes, from left to right, former tight end Andy Miller, a sophomore; late-blooming senior Kyle Mitchum; junior walk-on Andrew Moses; sophomore Connor Smith, and sophomore walk-on Josh Kerr.

Pressing for playing time will be freshmen J.B. Shugarts at right tackle, Michael Brewster at center and Mike Adams at left tackle, depending on when he's cleared to compete after shoulder surgery last spring.

"I think overall the eight or nine guys competing for those backup spots are doing pretty well," Bollman said. "That's great, because we have a chance to have more depth than we've had for a couple of years.

"It could be a good situation, and I want to let it evolve, not force anything."
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http://www.columbusdispatch.com/liv...fb15.ART_ART_08-15-08_C1_M5B1GA0.html?sid=101
 
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MorningJournal

Big and incredibly nasty
JASON LLOYD, Morning Journal Writer
08/15/2008


COLUMBUS -- Measured against typical football seasons, Ohio State was incredibly fortunate with its offensive line play last year. None of the five starters suffered a serious injury, and Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel estimated the starters took about 95 percent of the season's snaps.


''That was lucky,'' Tressel said.

Expecting that to happen again would be foolish, which is why the Buckeyes enter 2008 cautiously optimistic that this could be the deepest offensive line under Tressel. The problem is the inexperience of that depth.

Continued......
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CFN's unit rankings.

1. Oklahoma
2. Oklahoma St.
3. Penn St.
4. tOSU
7. Illinois
9. Wiscy
63. TSUN
91. Ntre Ame

1. Oklahoma
The line was going to be good no matter what, and then it was assured of being special (again) with the decision of the left side of the line, tackle Phil Loadholt and guard Duke Robinson, to return for another year. This might not just be the nation's best line; it might be the nation's best line by a wide margin. There are two sure-thing NFL starters in Loadholt and Robinson on the left side, a fringe NFL starter at right guard in Brandon Walker, and an all-star center in Jon Cooper to anchor everything. There's depth to burn, more help on the way from the recruiting class, and talent, talent, talent. Now the expectations will be through the roof for this group to be unbelievable every week, and the potential is to meet them. Now the front five has to act like the best in America. For about ten games, this starting five, in whatever configuration it'll be, will destroy opposing defensive lines, but for those two games when there are problems, and you don't know when those games will come, like against Colorado last year, the machine breaks down. For all the returning talent, this line has to bring it every week.

3. Penn State
All five starters return to the line with one big twist. The 6-3, 288-pound sophomore Stefen Wisniewski, the nephew of former Penn State star and longtime NFL starter, Steve, saw time as a true freshman and was fantastic when he got the chance. Now he has pushed Mike Lucian out of a job. A.Q. Shipley and Rich Ornberger will earn All-Big Ten honors, and Dennis Landolt and Gerald Cadogan will get their share of looks for the post-season all-star teams, but Wisniewski is about to become the main man and one of the Big Ten's most dominant guards. The line paved the way for 194 rushing yards per game, and if it's Daryll Clark under center, the offense will crank out well over 200 yards per outing behind this group. Pass protection is hardly a problem, even though the tackles are very good, and not next-level superior. This is a talented, smart, experienced line that'll be the reason the Nittany Lions win a few games. Few defensive lines will be able hold their own for a full 60 minutes against this group. The big task will be preparing for next year by getting several new players prepared to take over at key spots.

4. Ohio State
After two very good years, the Buckeye O line should be among the best in the nation again with four starters returning. Alex Boone should be one of the country's premier tackles, while Steve Rehring is an NFL-caliber guard to help form a dominant left side. There's a question about the relatively inexperienced backups, and the Buckeyes can't have the same luck with durability again, so there will be a bit of a panic if there's an injury issue early on. It's been hard to get playing time over the last few years behind the rock-solid starting five, but it's not like several players have stepped up. You were a superstar high school player if you're on the OSU two-deep, but veterans like Kyle Mitchum and Jon Skinner never lived up to their prep hype. Now the hope will be for true freshmen, Mike Adams and Brewster, to be the real deal.​

Cont;d ...​
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So I realize that the years that Bollman has been coaching the O-line, we have been using a zone read scheme.

The Broncos do it with great success in the NFL, and our run game has been pretty solid.

But I must wonder if in short yardage situations, we're just not good enough at drive blocking.

I feel that in between the 20s, our zone blocking is great, especially with the pulling guard (see most of Beanie's big runs). But in the red zone, where our massive O-line should really be handling the likes of YTown State and OU D-lines, our drive blocking seems to be very lacking.

Am I the only one that sees it this way? How does Denver do in red zone and short yardage (I'm not too big on the NFL, so I don't really know)?
 
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Oneshot, I wrote a little about this in another thread. I hate to bash anyone, definitely will not bash players, and don't like to bash coaches, but I'm not sure that our O-line coach has done a great job since he has been here. There are a lot of players he coached playing in the NFL, so he must be doing something right.

My problem is that in years, or games, when we don't have a bona fide stud at RB, the running game has not been very good. JWells did pretty well (also played in the NFL) Mo C was a head case, but was an outstanding college RB, Pitt is in the league and Beanie is headed there, but when other of lesser abilities or experience have been forced to carry the load, our run game has been a major disappointment, imo.

I know very little about the complexities of blocking technique or schemes, but I wonder at times if our personnel match our scheme.

Hopefully everything comes together this week and we see a lot of pic with Trojans on their backs :biggrin:
 
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I somewhat agree with you Grizzlybuck, Its almost like a light switch with these guys sometimes. I think the offensive line is the key to the USC game. If you look at tape of the last 2 NC games our guys got thrown around a lot and didnt give Troy of Todd much time to set and throw. This is going to be key in the game expecially if Beanie doesnt play and we have to rely on the passing game more.
 
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We need to put the Offense in a position to win. In doing so, I think we need to move the pocket to give Todd more time to throw the ball. We should also use some misdirection to take advantage of USC's speed on Defense. Also, quick hitters like a bubble screen, and slants in the passing game, as well as quick throws to the RB's that kinda serve as an extended handoff but get's them outside into open space, quicker. These things, along with the normal bread and butter plays, will put our OL in a position to win the battle up front.

Keep USC's defense guessing.

GO BUCKS!!

:osu:
 
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From what I've seen so far this year, our center and right guard need to step it up some.

Agree we'll probably see a lot of the short passing game Saturday.

Still need to go downfield some to keep the safeties out of the box all the time.
Maybe TP will let one fly on his first couple of plays, who knows?
 
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