this has me worried about our Offensive Line

[aubiefifty 18,259]

a random quote from another site and it sounds legit. are G5 players that much worse? i thought we were rocking along pretty good and i see this. i honestly do not know so humor me please.

 

The O-Line transfers we got are G-5 players who were good but have never played in the SEC West week after week. Our fans always said our O-Line guys were absolute trash the last 5 years. But they were still O-Line guys that were on scholarship at Auburn. They also played like 4 years together here. So I pause before I make claims that our mostly G-5 O-Line, that will have to gel together in real game situations, will be night and day better than the O-Line we had that had 4 years of time together and were all playing on a full ride scholarship to Auburn.

[aubiefifty 18,259]

here is everything he said.................name withheld of course.

 

 

I've been saying 6-6 and a bowl game win to put us at 7-6. I've stuck to this from months ago. I agree with what all you said. On other social media stuff for Auburn, when I say 7-6 they say I'm negative but I'm truly not. Here's why I think we'll be .500 in regular season ball:

Fans keep saying that our QB's will be alot better and our running game will be better because of this really good O-Line. But here's the thing, none of the guys have played a single down together in a real game. It's going to take alot of reps to gel together. The O-Line transfers we got are G-5 players who were good but have never played in the SEC West week after week. Our fans always said our O-Line guys were absolute trash the last 5 years. But they were still O-Line guys that were on scholarship at Auburn. They also played like 4 years together here. So I pause before I make claims that our mostly G-5 O-Line, that will have to gel together in real game situations, will be night and day better than the O-Line we had that had 4 years of time together and were all playing on a full ride scholarship to Auburn.

Our WR's will be better but they too are G-5 transfers and Shane Hooks is a SWAC guy which is below G-5. Burton that came from Ohio State never got on the field at OSU and has been hurt every year since 9th grade. He has huge potential but he needs to stay healthy. The returning AU wr's are mainly guys that didn't get many catches but I feel better at WR than last year.

D-Line has good potential but not much depth. We may struggle on Edge and getting to the QB. We are also down on talent at LB. Tolan leaving the program will hurt because he played 12 games last year as a freshman at LSU. Powell Gordon returning because Tolan is gone kinda worries me.

CB's are legit and alot of young talent too.

Safety's kinda worry me because I'm not completely sold on a couple of them.

TE's will get the ball quiet a bit this year. Our TE room is really good.

Special teams now has Battie and he lit up Florida when he played them. He is legit. Punter is good and kicker seems fine.

Thorne at QB could be pretty dang good but he could also be pretty mediocre if he has a lingering injury like last year at MSU. Ashford will be used as a wildcat type QB and be dangerous but he too gets injured every year dating back to Hoover. He always has shoulder issues and it's mainly from running alot and lowering the boom on defenders. It looks cool but it also gets you in an ice bath every game hurt.

Another thing to think about is alot of our fans say Hugh Freeze beat a Kirby Smart defense in 2014, 2015 at Bama when Smart was DC and 2016 when Smart was a first year HC. Hugh always had stout offenses back at Ole Miss but Hugh has even addressed this, he said back then the RPO game he was running confused alot of defenses. Not everybody ran that RPO style. Hugh said now nearly everybody runs the RPO and defensive coaches have really learned how to defend it. Hugh will have to keep progressing with our offense or it could get outdated like Gus's HUNH has gotten. Kirby also said what Hugh did. He said back then, Kirby and Saban were trying to figure out Hugh's RPO offense and that so many teams run it nowadays so it's not as mysterious now.

Our staff are alot better coaches than last year too.

It will take Hugh time to get HIS recruits on campus and some continuity but I think we could do like Heupel at Tennessee. He was 7-6 then 11-2 this year. Freeze is definitely the right fit but its gonna be some lumps along the way this season. WDE

is this guy pretty close? i was thinking we would be maybe two wins better at least.

[DAG 34,844]

Another site? What the rant? 

[aubiefifty 18,259]

15 minutes ago, DAG said:

Another site? What the rant? 

no just some guy at auburn on reddit. they have two or three auburn boards and usually come up with breaking news a lot. but the thing about g5 not being up to par has scared me a little. i am old and not sure how many years i have left so i want them to be good ones.

[AuCivilEng1 12,204]

Using ON3 as the tool.

Transfers in

• Gunner is our highest ranked OL transfer at 92
• Dillon Wade - 88
• Avery Jones - 87
• Muskrat - 87

Transfers Out

• Keondre Jones 86
• Colby Smith - 84

Graduated

• Troxell - 92
• Coffee - 88.7
• Council - 82
• Zierer - 89

Returning 

• Wright 87
• Stutts - 87

 

Going off of these numbers, we are in a better position talent wise. 

 

[W.E.D 11,071]

54 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

a random quote from another site and it sounds legit. are G5 players that much worse? i thought we were rocking along pretty good and i see this. i honestly do not know so humor me please.

 

The O-Line transfers we got are G-5 players who were good but have never played in the SEC West week after week. Our fans always said our O-Line guys were absolute trash the last 5 years. But they were still O-Line guys that were on scholarship at Auburn. They also played like 4 years together here. So I pause before I make claims that our mostly G-5 O-Line, that will have to gel together in real game situations, will be night and day better than the O-Line we had that had 4 years of time together and were all playing on a full ride scholarship to Auburn.

Just people being frantic and wanting to worry for little reason.

OCyrus Torrance went from good at ULL to UF and was a 2nd round draft pick.  There can be good G5 players.  Plenty get drafted each year and many are jumping up a level and being productive as Srs.

Could they all suck?  Maybe.  Are they all going to be amazing?  Probably not.  But I think they'll all be better than what trash we've had for a few years

[aubiefifty 18,259]

14 minutes ago, AuCivilEng1 said:

Using ON3 as the tool.

Transfers in

• Gunner is our highest ranked OL transfer at 92
• Dillon Wade - 88
• Avery Jones - 87
• Muskrat - 87

Transfers Out

• Keondre Jones 86
• Colby Smith - 84

Graduated

• Troxell - 92
• Coffee - 88.7
• Council - 82
• Zierer - 89

Returning 

• Wright 87
• Stutts - 87

 

Going off of these numbers, we are in a better position talent wise. 

 

i read in one of my articles our oline coach is top ten in college ball.so that should help...........

[JuscAUse! 1,678]

1 hour ago, aubiefifty said:

here is everything he said.................name withheld of course.

 

 

I've been saying 6-6 and a bowl game win to put us at 7-6. I've stuck to this from months ago. I agree with what all you said. On other social media stuff for Auburn, when I say 7-6 they say I'm negative but I'm truly not. Here's why I think we'll be .500 in regular season ball:

Fans keep saying that our QB's will be alot better and our running game will be better because of this really good O-Line. But here's the thing, none of the guys have played a single down together in a real game. It's going to take alot of reps to gel together. The O-Line transfers we got are G-5 players who were good but have never played in the SEC West week after week. Our fans always said our O-Line guys were absolute trash the last 5 years. But they were still O-Line guys that were on scholarship at Auburn. They also played like 4 years together here. So I pause before I make claims that our mostly G-5 O-Line, that will have to gel together in real game situations, will be night and day better than the O-Line we had that had 4 years of time together and were all playing on a full ride scholarship to Auburn.

Our WR's will be better but they too are G-5 transfers and Shane Hooks is a SWAC guy which is below G-5. Burton that came from Ohio State never got on the field at OSU and has been hurt every year since 9th grade. He has huge potential but he needs to stay healthy. The returning AU wr's are mainly guys that didn't get many catches but I feel better at WR than last year.

D-Line has good potential but not much depth. We may struggle on Edge and getting to the QB. We are also down on talent at LB. Tolan leaving the program will hurt because he played 12 games last year as a freshman at LSU. Powell Gordon returning because Tolan is gone kinda worries me.

CB's are legit and alot of young talent too.

Safety's kinda worry me because I'm not completely sold on a couple of them.

TE's will get the ball quiet a bit this year. Our TE room is really good.

Special teams now has Battie and he lit up Florida when he played them. He is legit. Punter is good and kicker seems fine.

Thorne at QB could be pretty dang good but he could also be pretty mediocre if he has a lingering injury like last year at MSU. Ashford will be used as a wildcat type QB and be dangerous but he too gets injured every year dating back to Hoover. He always has shoulder issues and it's mainly from running alot and lowering the boom on defenders. It looks cool but it also gets you in an ice bath every game hurt.

Another thing to think about is alot of our fans say Hugh Freeze beat a Kirby Smart defense in 2014, 2015 at Bama when Smart was DC and 2016 when Smart was a first year HC. Hugh always had stout offenses back at Ole Miss but Hugh has even addressed this, he said back then the RPO game he was running confused alot of defenses. Not everybody ran that RPO style. Hugh said now nearly everybody runs the RPO and defensive coaches have really learned how to defend it. Hugh will have to keep progressing with our offense or it could get outdated like Gus's HUNH has gotten. Kirby also said what Hugh did. He said back then, Kirby and Saban were trying to figure out Hugh's RPO offense and that so many teams run it nowadays so it's not as mysterious now.

Our staff are alot better coaches than last year too.

It will take Hugh time to get HIS recruits on campus and some continuity but I think we could do like Heupel at Tennessee. He was 7-6 then 11-2 this year. Freeze is definitely the right fit but its gonna be some lumps along the way this season. WDE

is this guy pretty close? i was thinking we would be maybe two wins better at least.

Takeo said that AU fans were going to have to be realistic and trust the coaches. In his opinion, HF was trying to walk the line between being positive about the team we had and the athletes we actually need to compete with the upper tier teams of the SEC at Media Days. If AU improves from game to game , we have our man. He will compete on the recruiting trail. Let's see what happens with what he's got this year. 

[aucom96 1,652]

I don't think 6 wins is far-fetched, though I expect better. Gus and Harsin left a huge mess in their wake and Freeze is trying to patch a team together with transfers. That's never a solid foundation for success in this league, though it should lead to improvement. 

We've got to break up the vice grip on our recruiting area that Georgia and Alabama have had for several years. I see reasons to be encouraged to that effect, but we're probably years plural from being where we need to be. With NIL, it's more challenging. Now you can have a Texas A&M basically swoop in and buy a player out from under you, which totally changes the game. I'm not sure how competitive Auburn will be in this new recruiting world long term, but talent is what is going to win in this league. If we're trying to rely on some scheme Freeze had success with years ago, we're back in Mazahn-land. 

[aubiefifty 18,259]

1 minute ago, aucom96 said:

I don't think 6 wins is far-fetched, though I expect better. Gus and Harsin left a huge mess in their wake and Freeze is trying to patch a team together with transfers. That's never a solid foundation for success in this league, though it should lead to improvement. 

We've got to break up the vice grip on our recruiting area that Georgia and Alabama have had for several years. I see reasons to be encouraged to that effect, but we're probably years plural from being where we need to be. With NIL, it's more challenging. Now you can have a Texas A&M basically swoop in and buy a player out from under you, which totally changes the game. I'm not sure how competitive Auburn will be in this new recruiting world long term, but talent is what is going to win in this league. If we're trying to rely on some scheme Freeze had success with years ago, we're back in Mazahn-land. 

i was hoping for eight and a bowl game. as far as freeze goes he said in the sec segment he knows folks caught up with what he was doing so some changes would be needed.man he says all the right things. and our OC seems to be hugely respected so i hope we might can out scheme a team for a win or two. but if we are hungry enough and want it bad enough i believe we can be more than respectable. my problem is i listen to a lot of these podcast guys and i need to line up who knows stuff and who is full of it.............

[Win4AU 4,183]

Can anyone really complain about the Oline based off where it was when Freeze got here?  I feel like any improvement will help tremendously.  What was the stupid statistic last year about Tank getting hit on average 4 yards behind the line?  I’m more concerned with the lack of reps these guys will have together more than anything.  

[JuscAUse! 1,678]

3 hours ago, Win4AU said:

Can anyone really complain about the Oline based off where it was when Freeze got here?  I feel like any improvement will help tremendously.  What was the stupid statistic last year about Tank getting hit on average 4 yards behind the line?  I’m more concerned with the lack of reps these guys will have together more than anything.  

That last line nailed it.

[Viper 3,503]

4 hours ago, aucom96 said:

I don't think 6 wins is far-fetched, though I expect better. Gus and Harsin left a huge mess in their wake and Freeze is trying to patch a team together with transfers. That's never a solid foundation for success in this league, though it should lead to improvement. 

Nailed it. 6 or 7 wins is what I expect. Last 2 HCs gutted our talent in many areas. Can’t fix it in one off-season.

Plus most of our opponents are either getting better or maintaining a superb level in raking in talent too.

This isn’t going to be 1993 or 2013 where the new HC shocks the SEC by taking the previous season’s roster, sprinkles a few new faces in and works a miracle. Most of our opponents have much better staffs than they did in 1993 and 2013. This is a long work in progress.

[TeamZero77 1,939]

18 hours ago, Viper said:

Nailed it. 6 or 7 wins is what I expect. Last 2 HCs gutted our talent in many areas. Can’t fix it in one off-season.

Plus most of our opponents are either getting better or maintaining a superb level in raking in talent too.

This isn’t going to be 1993 or 2013 where the new HC shocks the SEC by taking the previous season’s roster, sprinkles a few new faces in and works a miracle. Most of our opponents have much better staffs than they did in 1993 and 2013. This is a long work in progress.

As bad a HC as Chizik was, he left a ton of talent for Gus and that Oline was legit!! Same way in 93, Dye left talent for Bowden. I think those 2 teams just needed to hear a different voice and just make it fresh for those rosters again. The talent was there in my opinion. 

As far as what Harsin left for Freeze, it's night and day difference to 1993 and 2013. I don't have to go into detail there because we've all lived it the past few years. 

It will take time but if everything is true from what insiders and past players have said, then everybody is finally pulling in the same direction and in this situation, Freeze will have a longer period to turn it around. The cliche about Auburn not having patience is true but everybody involved in this knows what Freeze came into and that gives him a longer leash.

Edited July 21, 2023 by TeamZero77

[southern_sports 58]

19 hours ago, JuscAUse! said:

That last line nailed it.

I agree. I think the intangibles mean more than anything this year. Better leadership and culture will produce a better product when you aren't loaded with blue chippers.

[icanthearyou 4,468]

IMHO, talent and, a "mean streak" have been a part of the OL problems.  But, coaching has been the most significant.  Too many instances of a jail break rush where the OL doesn't block anyone. 

Our last two coaches were sort of mental.  They would not make adjustments.  I believe those days are over.  We are going to see competent coaching again.  We win 8 this year.

 

[southern_sports 58]

1 hour ago, icanthearyou said:

IMHO, talent and, a "mean streak" have been a part of the OL problems.  But, coaching has been the most significant.  Too many instances of a jail break rush where the OL doesn't block anyone. 

Our last two coaches were sort of mental.  They would not make adjustments.  I believe those days are over.  We are going to see competent coaching again.  We win 8 this year.

 

Agreed.

[AuburnNTexas 7,329]

Having worries about never playing together and guys playing at a lower level are legitimate points. That said some of these guys played against teams that should have been better and they won their one on one matchups.  I am cautiously optimistic about our O-line but have to wait a see them against some better teams. The geling is not as much an issue as they all have a lot of college experience so should quickly understand and pick up the blocking schemes.

[japantiger 4,126]

7-5...and then win bowl game.  We will be better than last year.  We will have a staff than can make adjustments in the game.  We will have a QB with an actual arm vs multiple QB's with only legs.  I am torn on the OIe Miss vs Arky game...but we win one of those.  I just don't think Arky is that great...and their QB is still pretty one dimensional, especially with any pressure.  And I generally always think we should beat Ole PIss.  If injuries stay low, we win 8 regular season.

UMass - W

Cal - W

Samford - W

A&M - L

UGA - L

LSU - L

Ole Piss - W

MS State - W

Vandy - W

Arky - L

New MX - W

Turds - L

[Old fan 47 804]

8 hours ago, TeamZero77 said:

As bad a HC as Chizik was, he left a ton of talent for Gus and that Oline was legit!! Same way in 93, Dye left talent for Bowden. I think those 2 teams just needed to hear a different voice and just make it fresh for those rosters again. The talent was there in my opinion. 

As far as what Harsin left for Freeze, it's night and day difference to 1993 and 2013. I don't have to go into detail there because we've all lived it the past few years. 

It will take time but if everything is true from what insiders and past players have said, then everybody is finally pulling in the same direction and in this situation, Freeze will have a longer period to turn it around. The cliche about Auburn not having patience is true but everybody involved in this knows what Freeze came into and that gives him a longer leash.

I agree. As far as the OL goes, no we have not had any tough nasties in some time. I’ve seen plenty saying we win 8 regular season games. This is my bigger concern. I truly have very low expectations for this year. This is nothing against HF, but rather what he walked into after the previous coach and a half. While I think we will be improved, unfortunately, we are so far down the ladder from the top three to five teams, that it will likely take years just to get back in the conversation. UT, UA, UGA and even OM and TAMU are way ahead of us. Yes we beat TAMU last year, but nobody has ever confused Jimbo with Saban, even for all the talent TAMU has. I’m going to hold off on any predictions until I at least see whether or not JH will be eligible and who wins the QB job. 

[Gowebb11 9,882]

On 7/20/2023 at 9:04 AM, aubiefifty said:

a random quote from another site and it sounds legit. are G5 players that much worse? i thought we were rocking along pretty good and i see this. i honestly do not know so humor me please.

Plenty of NFL o linemen come from the G5. Jack Driscoll(UMass) and Casey Dunn (1-AA Jax St) are examples of lower level guys contributing at high level. We will be fine. 

Edited July 22, 2023 by Gowebb11

[passthebiscuits 7,021]

I mean they aren’t elite level players, but they are a whole heckuva lot better than what we had. 

[Viper 3,503]

19 hours ago, japantiger said:

I just don't think Arky is that great...and their QB is still pretty one dimensional, especially with any pressure. 

Agreed. Their defense sucks. We should beat ARK. 

[Viper 3,503]

On 7/21/2023 at 8:22 AM, TeamZero77 said:

As bad a HC as Chizik was, he left a ton of talent for Gus and that Oline was legit!! Same way in 93, Dye left talent for Bowden. I think those 2 teams just needed to hear a different voice and just make it fresh for those rosters again. The talent was there in my opinion. 

I guess I’m one of the remaining few who believes Chizik was a good HC and what he accomplished at AU was nothing short of remarkable. Not just the incredible teamwork job of recruiting right in the face of bammer’s 09 title (remember we had the Top 3 RB recruits of 2010 deciding between AU and another team), not just navigating the biggest smear campaign in the entire history of a CFB regular season, square in the heart of Amen Corner, not just going undefeated (which BTW, the GOAT has only done twice in 26 years as a P5 CFB HC), but also winning 8 games in 2011.

Some folks don’t know or don’t recall Chizik lost a total of 37 players from 2010. That is nearly half your team. No transfer portal to overhaul that team. And yet he guided that team to 8 wins. So one remarkable season follows another, completely different rosters, adversity and hurdles from one another.

Did he flub the fallout of the armed robbery? Absolutely. Did he flub it up worse by hiring a crew who placed a lockdown on the team? Absolutely. Chizik 100% deserved to be fired for allowing 2012 to happen.

But that doesn’t discount 3 of the 4 seasons he and his staff accomplished phenomenal feats. G2G. Chizik will go down as one of, if not my fav AU HC of all time.

Kudos to Gus for resurrecting 2012 and Bowden for resurrecting 1992, turning both those dumpster fires into historical seasons we will never forget. Like you said, talent was already there. Just needed fresh voices and faces.

Freeze is going to have a much more difficult time turning this program around. There isn’t a wealthy pool of talent like 1993 and 2013. No James Bostic. No Frank Sanders. No Stan White. No Wayne Gandy. No Tre Mason. No Sammie Coates. No Nick Marshall. No Greg Robinson. Maybe he’ll eventually get there (10+ wins) and more importantly, maintain it. 

 

Edited July 22, 2023 by Viper

[auburnatl1 6,182]

59 minutes ago, Viper said:

I Freeze is going to have a much more difficult time turning this program around. There isn’t a wealthy pool of talent like 1993 and 2013. No James Bostic. No Frank Sanders. No Stan White. No Wayne Gandy. No Tre Mason. No Sammie Coates. No Nick Marshall. No Greg Robinson. Maybe he’ll eventually get there (10+ wins) and more importantly, maintain it. 

 

The difference between this rebuild and others is the sheer number of elite or rising programs in our recruiting backyard today - combined with the massive roster talent deficit. I don’t think anyone ever questioned whether chf could improve us. The question was he a big enough hire to affect the upper tier status quo. And even if he is, will we as a fan base have the patience for him to grind it out.