OL numbers

[bigbird 60,624]

4 minutes ago, fredst said:

@bigbird: If you were managing the roster what ideal numbers overall and for positions would you like to see for the OL position group (throw in class, ie Fr-SR as well)?

We have some good young interior OL. I'm excited about Johnson, Jones, Jernigan. Those three will man the middle for a few years, IMO.  I'd try for ~6 this year. 4 OT, 1 C, and maybe a guard. 

 

Overall, IMO, OL roster #s should be in the ~20-22 range.  You need a good mix of old and young.  Ideally, an OLineman will be in their 2-3 year in the program and system before they see the field. Obviously, if they are a generational type talent that doesn't hold true. Having that type of depth allows the younger guys to gain the strength and learn the techniques required to play at this level.

For me, I'd want a rSo ready to fill in when the senior in front of them graduates. That allows them 3 years to play and 3 years to groom the next set of lineman.

 

[Win4AU 4,056]

I personally think Auburn cleans up on the OL in recruiting this season.  Coach Will has been recruiting in the SEC foR awhile and should have good relationships already built with a lot of these kids.  Now that Auburn has a real offense I think you’ll see kids choosing to start at Auburn rather than ride the pine at UGA and Bama.  Worse case Auburn 2022 features Hutchinson CC OL

[trinidad tiger 108]

6 hours ago, W.E.D said:

Maybe there hasn't been an OL that the staff has liked, but it seems wild we haven't tried to snag any OL transfers yet.  I know we keep hearing rumblings of "oh there is an OT but its being kept secret.  With every passing day as we get into the summer I'm guessing that is now either BS or a dream that has busted.  (Same we the WR unfortunately).

Pretty much we're going to have to go hard on transfers next winter.  That's going to reduce our HS class even more.  Maybe a couple of those Srs stick around for a 6th year b/c Covid cancelled out last year.  But the problem is those non-starting Srs aren't that great.

And that is what makes it more troubling indeed.  We landed some good transfers with 3 years playing time this year, but we cant hope for that next year with OL.  So we  have to get transfers that can immediately contribute, and rinse and repeat for the next few years, and a mix of some very talented freshmen.  The good news is, we wont tell them they have a chance to start.....we will tell them they have to start cause we dont have any bodies left.   

Still sickening to see bama's offensive line, and then see the five they brought in this past cycle.  the top center, the two top tackles, the 2nd and 14th ranked guards.  We thought the 14th ranked guard would have been our highest OL recruit, and almost an afterthought for them.  

My hope is scheme and coaching will make a big difference in line play this year.  That video of Nix play review that Bird posted, was just as much a review on scheme and line play, both of which were abysmal.  It really is tough to blame Nix in many situations because both the aforementioned were so horrid he had no chance once the ball was centered.  

[W.E.D 11,070]

8 minutes ago, trinidad tiger said:

Still sickening to see bama's offensive line, and then see the five they brought in this past cycle.  the top center, the two top tackles, the 2nd and 14th ranked guards.  We thought the 14th ranked guard would have been our highest OL recruit, and almost an afterthought for them.  

The top OT in this class has them at the top too.  They'll just keep rollling.  I hope we get some of their leftovers (Quick, Harris, maybe Pritchett)

[Mikey 16,781]

10 hours ago, bigbird said:

What a dumb post. Of course incoming freshman will be counted, why wouldn't they? The issue is, we don't have any committed. So as of today, which incoming freshman are you wanting to count towards our numbers? Which incoming freshman are going to sign and help build our depth? We wanted a large OL class last year too, we signed two...

You should be asking yourself this question. Looky here :

13 hours ago, bigbird said:

After graduation and before incoming freshman, we will have 8 OL.....

 

[W.E.D 11,070]

7 hours ago, Mikey said:

You should be asking yourself this question. Looky here :

I mean, my guy clearly stated what he was counting. Even if we take 5, which is a huge class, we only have 13. That's absurdly low 

"After graduation and before incoming freshman" 

 

[bigbird 60,624]

21 hours ago, bigbird said:

What a dumb post. Of course incoming freshman will be counted, why wouldn't they? The issue is, we don't have any committed. So as of today, which incoming freshman are you wanting to count towards our numbers? Which incoming freshman are going to sign and help build our depth? We wanted a large OL class last year too, we signed two...

You should be asking yourself this question.

Looky here :

On 6/9/2021 at 8:07 AM, bigbird said:

After graduation and before incoming freshman, we will have 8 OL.....

You can't be that dumb, can you?  Does your purposeful ignorance actually benefit anything or is it just more of the same?

 

I'll happily add to the OL numbers. However, before I can I need you to provide an answer my question.

At this point, which incoming freshman are you wanting to be counted? Please, name exactly which incoming freshman need to be included and I'll add them.  Just let me know. 

[bigbird 60,624]

2 hours ago, W.E.D said:

I mean, my guy clearly stated what he was counting. Even if we take 5, which is a huge class, we only have 13. That's absurdly low 

"After graduation and before incoming freshman" 

 

I'm really not sure how he could be confused by it.  Then again...

[W.E.D 11,070]

2 minutes ago, bigbird said:

I'm really not sure how he could be confused by it.  Then again...

I'd understand if you said something definitive like "We will only have 8 OL next year"

[bigbird 60,624]

25 minutes ago, W.E.D said:

I'd understand if you said something definitive like "We will only have 8 OL next year"

It's intentional. 

[meh130 1,056]

How to address:

Extra COVID year. Will this impact any of our seniors? Will some want to play another year?

JUCO. This seems like an untapped potential. We need to actively recruit JUCOs for the 2022 class, starting now.

Transfer Portal. We need to be early and often in the portal for prospects. Even for the "Play One" graduate transfers.

Immediate impact freshmen. Rare on the O-Line, but we have had them in the past. Can we turn this into an opportunity to get a 5-star lineman? Especially if they are early enrollees.

[Mikey 16,781]

16 hours ago, W.E.D said:

Even if we take 5, which is a huge class, we only have 13.

Want to place a small wager that we'll have 13 or fewer O-line on the roster when the '22 season starts? I'll take the over, you take the 13 and under The entire post about counting who we'll have was nothing but a poorly disguised attempt to make things appear worse than they are.

I'll bet one dollar, that's my limit even when I have a sure thing like this.

[W.E.D 11,070]

9 hours ago, Mikey said:

Want to place a small wager that we'll have 13 or fewer O-line on the roster when the '22 season starts? I'll take the over, you take the 13 and under The entire post about counting who we'll have was nothing but a poorly disguised attempt to make things appear worse than they are.

I'll bet one dollar, that's my limit even when I have a sure thing like this.

No, it wasn't.  This is you trying to white knight for Gus.

We are no in a good spot for OL.  PERIOD.  Even if we somehow take 10 OLs and get our number to 18, that is still a small amount of OL on a roster. 

That post was factual.  We have a large Sr class graduating.  We don't have many OL left after them "before '22 kids", which he literally said.  No matter how many OL we take, we'll still be light.

[AuburnNTexas 7,239]

10 hours ago, Mikey said:

Want to place a small wager that we'll have 13 or fewer O-line on the roster when the '22 season starts? I'll take the over, you take the 13 and under The entire post about counting who we'll have was nothing but a poorly disguised attempt to make things appear worse than they are.

I'll bet one dollar, that's my limit even when I have a sure thing like this.

Mikey so what if we sign a really large freshman class most O-Line take at least 2-3 years to play at the SEC level so a large freshman class will help us in the future but not next year.  You always says you need to take extra LB's because they don't always work out guess what the same thing goes for O-line. Auburn has tried JUCO O-line in the past and not had a lot of success so unless key Covid- Seniors (who still haven't proven they are good SEC Linemen) return for one more year we have to go to transfer portal assuming we can find instant starters there.

[W.E.D 11,070]

6 minutes ago, AuburnNTexas said:

Mikey so what if we sign a really large freshman class most O-Line take at least 2-3 years to play at the SEC level so a large freshman class will help us in the future but not next year.  You always says you need to take extra LB's because they don't always work out guess what the same thing goes for O-line. Auburn has tried JUCO O-line in the past and not had a lot of success so unless key Covid- Seniors (who still haven't proven they are good SEC Linemen) return for one more year we have to go to transfer portal assuming we can find instant starters there.

Hard pass on most JUCO OTs going forward unless it is a rare one.  I'd rather take a transfer/grad transfer.  The worst part about our OL situation is we have to take so many and it is really going to kill our '22 HS class.  Hopefully the NCAA change the 25 HS+Transfer rules. 

[bigbird 60,624]

12 hours ago, Mikey said:

Want to place a small wager that we'll have 13 or fewer O-line on the roster when the '22 season starts? I'll take the over, you take the 13 and under The entire post about counting who we'll have was nothing but a poorly disguised attempt to make things appear worse than they are.

I'll bet one dollar, that's my limit even when I have a sure thing like this.

Again, I'll add any incoming freshman to the list you want. Just let me know which ones.

[bigbird 60,624]

19 hours ago, Mikey said:

The entire post about counting who we'll have was nothing but a poorly disguised attempt to make things appear worse than they are.

Which part is inaccurate?

 

In your opinion,

How many OL do we currently have?

How many are seniors?

How many OL are currently signed in this class?

[tsande07 271]

What are our chances of finding a quality RT in the transfer portal, assuming Zierer can step up and start next year?

[bigbird 60,624]

24 minutes ago, tsande07 said:

What are our chances of finding a quality RT in the transfer portal, assuming Zierer can step up and start next year?

50/50

[gr82be 14,570]

8 hours ago, bigbird said:

Which part is inaccurate?

 

In your opinion,

How many OL do we currently have?

How many are seniors?

How many OL are currently signed in this class?

Not that anyone needs to tell you this but your original post is just the facts plain and simple. It's funny that anyone can take it personally to the point of taking offense to that. Gus would be the only person who should be offended by those numbers but he won't be because he is the reason we have the problem. I can appreciate a difference of opinion but there is clearly none to be had here.

Mikey, sometimes you have to punt and this is one of those times. 

[fredst 9,064]

1 hour ago, gr82be said:

Not that anyone needs to tell you this but your original post is just the facts plain and simple. It's funny that anyone can take it personally to the point of taking offense to that. Gus would be the only person who should be offended by those numbers but he won't be because he is the reason we have the problem. I can appreciate a difference of opinion but there is clearly none to be had here.

Mikey, sometimes you have to punt and this is one of those times. 

To which Mikey says:

[gr82be 14,570]

24 minutes ago, fredst said:

To which Mikey says:

 

[Mikey 16,781]

21 hours ago, bigbird said:

Again, I'll add any incoming freshman to the list you want. Just let me know which ones.

Freshmen and transfers will be added as they become available. I do like our current staff. If they were as panicked about the O-line as some posters here we wouldn't have brought in six defensive transfers and one QB on offense. I'm not going to get worried about the O-line when the coaching staff isn't pushing the panic button in that area.

[bigbird 60,624]

3 hours ago, Mikey said:

Freshmen and transfers will be added as they become available. 

Great, so you admit we don't have any freshman or transfers to count right now. 

So again, what part of the OP was inaccurate?

 

And again, for S&G...

How many current OL do we have?

How many are seniors?

How many OL do we currently have signed to the class?

 

3 hours ago, Mikey said:

I'm not going to get worried about the O-line when the coaching staff isn't pushing the panic button in that area.

Problem is, you have been told multiple times by multiple people closer to the team than you that they are in fact very concerned. You just refuse to accept that. 

[trinidad tiger 108]

3 hours ago, Mikey said:

Freshmen and transfers will be added as they become available. I do like our current staff. If they were as panicked about the O-line as some posters here we wouldn't have brought in six defensive transfers and one QB on offense. I'm not going to get worried about the O-line when the coaching staff isn't pushing the panic button in that area.

Go back and watch the Nix video Bird posted, it shows our lack of schemes and blocking as much as Nix.  Just some fundamental things that can be fixed, like not even having a hot receiver when you can see a blitz coming, and the frickin receivers just running their route when they see a blitz is coming. 

Receivers not even attempting to block, boy did I see that one where Nix is running for his life and one of our receivers just stands there watching him, while his friggin corner goes around him and tackles Nix.  

And honest to goodness I saw one play and thought, this kid cannot actually be smart enough to attend Auburn, he is not on the team now.  He was the left tackle, they go to the line, there is one fella on the edge showing he will rush and an end in front of him, no one in front of the guard.   Instead of blocking the edge, he blocks the end, the guard stands there befuddled, and the edge runs clean to the qb and beheads him.  

Simple coaching and better schemes will show much improvement on the line.  

And I am certain the staff sees that we need a mix of a few for immediate help and some stud incoming freshmen.  As I said before, we dont have to tell them they will have a chance to start, we tell them they will start, we dont have a choice we have so few bodies at the end of this season.