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- Thread starter Oh8ch
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bukIpower
Head Coach
OL has the biggest holes. LB it's all about the coaching because we have some scary talent there.
Browning and Harrison are freaks so we just need some competent coaching. Then we have Mitchell, Borland, Werner, Gant, and Hilliard. We dont lack talent here
I'm just not sure with what we have coming back on the OL for depth.
Browning and Harrison are freaks so we just need some competent coaching. Then we have Mitchell, Borland, Werner, Gant, and Hilliard. We dont lack talent here
I'm just not sure with what we have coming back on the OL for depth.
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scarletngray
Gold Pants
As much as I like Borland, and he is very good between the tackles, he just doesn't have the lateral speed to make the play against fast RB's running to the outside. Browning or Mitchell might be the answer on the inside for 2019.
Regarding the OL here are my thoughts. Munford will be better. Bowen will be a step up at LG. Myers is a wait and see but I think he is going to dominate. Davis is a step up. Petite-Fere has the potential to be elite.
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There is talent all over the roster. It honestly depends on what schemes are run. If the O runs RPO stuff, then the O-line might suffer. I know Mattison typically goes with simple-stupid, but I'll wait to see if the back 7 can progress from last year. I know coaches say the talent dictates the team, but this is Days' first foray. I'll be a bitch and take a wait-and-see approach.
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mendensa
Legend
A lot of unknowns and question marks right now on the OL. I agree that the LB's are and have been predominantly a coaching issue. There is too much talent for all the LB's to just forget how to play football. The last few LB classes have been really good. Can't really say the same about the OL in my opinion. A lot of swings, misses, and projects.
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Buckeye86
I do not choose to discuss it
Thayer Munford was a project who started at LT all year as a true sophomore without any noticeable issues. He will very likely continue to improve as most do from their sophomore to junior seasons. I don’t think you can call him a project anymore and expect him to lock down LT for another season.
I have always questioned Alabi as the backup LT but he managed to play the entire Rose Bowl against what was supposed to be a good Washington defense without being noticeable, which is a good thing. Although I still think his feet are a bit slow for LT, I believe he more than demonstrated he can contribute as a starter at RT or at the very least one of the guard spots and be pretty damn good there- if not continue to provide depth at LT. I do not think he can be considered a project anymore after the Rose Bowl (and time at LT throughout the season).
Branden Bowen was a project who has half a season of starting experience at guard under his belt. I think he has proven he can play G at the very least if not challenge for the RT spot. Given his half year of starting, I again do not think he can be considered a project. The big question for him is if he can return to form after his injury.
Josh Myers and Matt Jones are top 60 borderline 5-star recruits, while Wyatt Davis and Nicholas Petit-Frere are top 25 5-star recruits.
Between those seven I think the starting OL can be pretty damn good next season.
That said, depth is the biggest concern.
Max Wray was the #121 overall and #9 OT out of high school who hopefully is developing as expected going into his second year in the program- although there hasn’t much noise about him so it’s hard to say. I don’t think he ever lost his black stripe and his younger brother’s rapid decommitment following Urban Meyer’s retirement leaves a cloud over his future at Ohio State in my opinion. You hope for the best here but so far there hasn’t been much to be optimistic about in his very young career.
Gavin Cupp will be in his fourth year in the program and has yet to show anything meaningful on the field- he might provide serviceable back up at a guard spot.
Harry Miller feels like a guy who will be the first one off the bench at C or G by the end of his first season, so that’s good-ish outside of the less than ideal situation of relying on true freshman to provide depth. It has happened before with Pat Elflein and Thayer Munford who both came in as freshman against Michigan and established their bright futures early on the biggest stage.
You hope that Ryan Jacoby uses his magic powers to have a Pat Elflein type career trajectory at Ohio State, you worry that he will have a Gavin Cupp type trajectory. Fingers crossed.
If you want to get your best five on the field I think it looks something like this:
Munford, Alabi, Myers, Davis, Petit-Frere
You’ve got Bowen who will hopefully be healthy and push for the starting spot at LG and/or RT and provide quality depth at the very least.
I think Matt Jones can provide quality depth at C/G along with Harry Miller (eventually).
You hope for the best with Wray and depth at tackle, but it feels like they will have to shuffle everyone around rather than have traditional backups across the board, especially at LT where the best options are Alabi and Petit-Frere.
Although you have to get creative to provide the depth you need, I do think the starting unit can be pretty damn good and the depth, especially the first guy or two off the bench (potentially Bowen, Alabi, Petit-Frere, or Jones), will be serviceable to good.
I have read that Kevin Wilson will continue to play a larger role in the coaching and development of these players which will hopefully lead to better and more consistent results.
Obviously we are in need of depth and 2020 will be an important year to bring in players- Paris Johnson and Luke Wypler are a great start.
I have also read that other coaches will need to help carry weight on the recruiting trail at OL.
I hope that Day spends this year setting up a replacement for Studrawa so that the future of the OL is more secure and we won’t be in a situation like this again, both in terms of depth and the coach lifting their own weight on the recruiting trail.
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mendensa
Legend
I love yor optimism. I agree with you about Munford. I think we have seen enough to feeI confident in knowing what we have and what we are going to get each Saturday from Thayer. He has exceeded expectations.
Bowen coming off a broken leg and multiple surgeries to fix it..... not sure how he comes back.
Everyone else has limited game experience, or the lightbulb hasn't gone off yet. That is a huge concern with possible injuries and lack of depth.
Sure, there is potential for some young, talented guys to step up, but when you talk about position groups: talent, experience, depth as a whole..... OL is the thinnest. Not saying they don't have potential to eventually be good, just that at the moment they are the biggest unknown and concern for me.
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For all the concerns about OL and replacing four starters - and I share those concerns - our options include 5 players who were rated #1 or #2 at their position coming out of HS. Let that sink in.
Not many programs have that luxury.
Not many programs have that luxury.
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mendensa
Legend
yeah, but the ones who do are the ones we are trying to catch. And those are the only ones I am really concerned about.
And there aren't many programs out there that only have 11 scholarship OL on their rosters...... and if they do, I can't imagine them having less experience playing than what OSU has coming back next yr.
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DaBuckeyes
Hall of Fame
I think I've heard that the OL depth has been scary every year for the past 20 years but it never seems to become an issue. In my opinion LB will continue to be the biggest issue until they start playing the most talented players. I'm confident that will happen this year.
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ShowMeBuck
You know what? Chicken butt.
Can I change my pick to QB just based on uncertainty and depth?
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mendensa
Legend
How was OL not an issue this year? They went a stretch of 3-4 games where they couldn't run the ball at all. How many times did they get stuffed on 3rd and 4th and 1's? It wasn't until the last few games of the year where the OL finally started to get some push and open a few small creases for Weber to plow through.
Just sayin', what OSU has coming back has far less experience and not sure the projected starters are any more talented than the 4 we just lost.
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