aubiefifty 18,231 Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 Auburn evaluating before making decisions about offensive line Updated 7:21 AM; Today 7:21 AM By Giana Han Although the very inexperienced offensive line of the 2020 Auburn football team has gained some experience, the team is nowhere near establishing its core group. After having weeks of workouts to evaluate who’s on the team, coach Bryan Harsin said ahead of spring practice that there are definitely guys who will be able to help the team out. But which ones and what combination? That’s still to be determined. “Really, with the o-line, you try to look at your best five, right?” Harsin said. “We’re not at our best five.” That’s the result of past struggles with recruiting offensive linemen as well as the previous season where COVID-19 and injuries plagued the position group more than any other. Last year’s team headed not just into fall camp but also into the season without a starting five. While the Tigers eventually established its starters, that lineup was quickly torn apart by injuries. Brandon Council suffered a season-ending injury while Brodarious Hamm and Alec Jackson were in and out. Auburn used six different starting combinations along the offensive line in 2020 with eight different starters—which means eight return with some starting experience compared to the one, Nick Brahms, who returned in 2020. There were only two players, center Brahms and left guard Tashawn Manning, who started every game in the same spot. Within games, the lineups rotated a lot, as well. The most commonly used lineup was, from left to right, Jackson, Manning, Brahms, Council and Hamm. The second most common was the same but with Keiondre Jones in for Council after he was injured. In addition to the eight who started, there were four others who played in games. There’s also junior college transfer Killian Zierer who was rehabbing an injury the whole season, the true freshmen who redshirted, as well as Garner Langlo and Colby Smith in the class of 2020. Before Harsin makes any decisions, he wants to see them at work. He and offensive line coach Will Friend will put the players, except Council who is injured, through individual drills as well as position-specific drills. “We just got to see these guys get out there and get on our board and get some one-on-ones going, and get off the ball and strike,” Harsin said. From there, they’ll start to mess with lineups. They’ll put five players and move them around, working “with our depth that we do have,” until they find what clicks. Auburn will have several weeks to work on this in the spring before picking back up in the summer. But no matter what comes out of spring, Harsin was very clear that Auburn has no plans to let up on its recruiting. Auburn has some good players “stacked up” in its junior class, but it has more work to do. “We got to create some separation in there and some future development just at the O-line position, and the tackle position in particular is an area we got to stay focused on in recruiting,” Harsin said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuburnNTexas 7,317 Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 I loved the comment he made: Auburn will have several weeks to work on this in the spring before picking back up in the summer. But no matter what comes out of spring, Harsin was very clear that Auburn has no plans to let up on its recruiting. Auburn has some good players “stacked up” in its junior class, but it has more work to do. “We got to create some separation in there and some future development just at the O-line position, and the tackle position in particular is an area we got to stay focused on in recruiting,” Harsin said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbird 60,939 Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 6 hours ago, aubiefifty said: We got to create some separation in there and some future development just at the O-line position, and the tackle position in particular is an area we got to stay focused on in recruiting,” Harsin said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodford 3,732 Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 5 hours ago, AuburnNTexas said: I loved the comment he made: Auburn will have several weeks to work on this in the spring before picking back up in the summer. But no matter what comes out of spring, Harsin was very clear that Auburn has no plans to let up on its recruiting. Auburn has some good players “stacked up” in its junior class, but it has more work to do. “We got to create some separation in there and some future development just at the O-line position, and the tackle position in particular is an area we got to stay focused on in recruiting,” Harsin said. Can only imagine the amount of head scratching that has been going on in coaches meetings when it comes to the OL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbird 60,939 Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 Just now, woodford said: Can only imagine the amount of head scratching that has been going on in coaches meetings when it comes to the OL More like Belly laughing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodford 3,732 Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 Just now, bigbird said: More like Belly laughing Definitely some of that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aubiefifty 18,231 Posted March 16, 2021 Author Share Posted March 16, 2021 maybe our o line coach is an oline whisperer............ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUpreacherman22 3,945 Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 17 minutes ago, bigbird said: More like Belly laughing Other coaches for sure. But it’s not funny when it’s your mess now. CBH, Bobo, and Friend are thinking “where are we going to find 2 guys who can play tackle?!?! And if we could find a center while we’re at it, that’d be great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keesler 5,957 Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 17 hours ago, AUpreacherman22 said: Other coaches for sure. But it’s not funny when it’s your mess now. CBH, Bobo, and Friend are thinking “where are we going to find 2 guys who can play tackle?!?! And if we could find a center while we’re at it, that’d be great! Amen! I doubt there's much belly laughing, more like nausea and heartburn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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