What’s up with our O-Line recruiting? Is it getting better? We need some serious help for a less mobile QB (like Kyle Allen seems to be).
Across college football, offensive lineman take longer to develop than just about any other position. The vast majority of 18 year old offensive lineman are just not physically ready for the trench battles week in and week out. Will Noble’s performance last year was frankly incredible and an extreme outlier. Most guys need at least a year in a college strength program before they’re ready.
This staff has actually done a really good job at getting talent in the door on the o-line, we just haven’t seen it yet as they are really young.
From 2015 class, you had Noble and Eloph get lot of PT as freshman, with the most heralded recruit of the bunch, Josh Jones, redshirting. Jones is now the starting LT, and Noble the starting C. A 4th guy, Jarrid Williams, needed a little extra development and hasn’t contributed much yet.
2016 class, had 3 really good HS signees in Braylon Jones, Keenan Murphy, and Dixie Wooten. Jones has played, but again, young guys need physical development. The 2 JUCO guys, Fontana and Rodgers, have contributed significantly already.
2017 class has 3 guys committed so far. You can tell that o-line has been a point of emphasis fro this staff since they got here.
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I’m definitely not a guru, but I think it’s very rare for freshmen OL to come in and make an immediate impact. They almost always get redshirted. Herman picked up some nice recruits last year, and several more for 2017. OL will just take a little more time. Right now he’s working almost exclusively with very young guys and JV transfers. They’ll come around and should get better over time.
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Back in the olden days, Yeoman would recruit guys and turn them over to Tom Wilson and Billy Willingham and you rarely saw them until they were a RS Soph or Junior. By that time they were much bigger, much more physical, thoroughly schooled in the offense, and hungry as all get out to get on the field. Turned out some good players that way.
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Can’t say I disagree with this approach, but not sure it would work with today’s recruits. These kids are heavily “entitled” to instant gratification in every aspect of their lives. Big time recruits who are told to wait for a few years will go elsewhere.
Good info! Thanks! Go Coogs
Thanks y’all. That’s exactly the info I was looking for. I’m really not that knowledgable in football so sometimes I have some rather simple questions.
I agree with you in general. I think the OL position is the exception. OL recruits know that their position is harder to break the starting lineup as a true freshman.
Programs with good olines, Arkansas, Wisconsin, Iowa have lots of red shirt juniors. Full grown men.