pat dye: offensive line key for 2018

[aubiefifty 16,761]

scout.com

Development of Offensive Line A Key for 2018 Football Tigers

ByPat Dye

3-4 minutes

Coach Pat Dye (Photo: Inside the Auburn Tigers/AUTigers.com, Scout.com)

I truly believe the development of the restructured offensive line will be something to closely watch to determine just how good the 2018 Auburn football season is going to be. How good a job the Tigers do with this rebuilding project will go a long way towards determining if they can reach their offensive potential.

 

This group is going to be a fun thing for me to watch. The coach is going to come out in me.

One of the new pieces to the puzzle is graduate transfer Jack Driscoll from UMass. I haven’t seen him work out or play in a game, but I am looking forward to it. He is a bright-eyed, pleasant individual who looks very good physically. The coaches are excited about him and I can understand why.

He has two years of eligibility at Auburn, and that is exciting, too, but the most impressive thing I have heard about Driscoll is what Coach Ryan Russell and the strength and conditioning staff have had to say about him. They have been pleased with his work ethic and how he is trying to take a leadership role in the strength and conditioning workouts, which is really good.

Based on the short time I visited with him, I?think Driscoll is tickled to death with his decision to come to Auburn. His home is in the state of Connecticut and he got plenty of recruiting attention from colleges around the country after he announced his intentions to transfer.

If everything I?have heard about him is accurate, he is going to be a factor at right tackle. If he makes a strong push for a starting spot it could lead to shuffling of personnel on the line, but that is just my opinion. That is not coming from Coach Gus Malzahn or Coach J.B. Grimes.

If there is a position move it won’t be all that unusual because offensive line coaches generally like to get their five best players in the starting lineup, even if they have to tweak things to make it happen.

Overall, I think this year’s group has a chance to be just as good as last year’s offensive front if not better. Braden Smith will be missed at guard, but that position could end up being a strength with Mike Horton and Marquel Harrell in the lineup. Both are redshirt juniors who have proven they can get the job done.

You don’t have to have an All-American like Braden Smith to be successful, but you do have to have a winner, a guy you can count on every Saturday. I think Harrell and Horton can be those type of guards.

The big question to get sorted out in preseason is establishing the pecking order at center where three guys got the reps during a spring in which each had some type of injury. With Kaleb Kim, Nick Brahms and Tucker Brown to choose from Coach Grimes has options at the position. I am definitely looking forward to see how the starting lineup is put together and just how good this group can be.

[Hspoprn 199]

On 7/3/2018 at 10:20 AM, aubiefifty said:

On 7/3/2018 at 10:20 AM, aubiefifty said:

The big question to get sorted out in preseason is establishing the pecking order at center where three guys got the reps during a spring

If history is any indicator, Gus will play all three of them the first few games.

 

[AUFAN78 3,894]

Totally agree with CPD, it will be the key to a successful season. If this group gels, look out. WDE!

[oracle79 3,569]

Not directed at any specific poster, but...

[triangletiger 1,599]

16 hours ago, oracle79 said:

Not directed at any specific poster, but...

Directed at former Auburn football coach, maybe?

[AUld fAUx@ 2,584]

8 minutes ago, triangletiger said:

Directed at former Auburn football coach, maybe?

No disrespect intended, but does said, nameless former coach even recognize water?

I'm minded of older times when:

"Once, during Prohibition, I was forced to live for days on nothing but food and water."

W. C. Fields
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/w_c_fields_102024

[triangletiger 1,599]

6 minutes ago, AUld fAUx@ said:

No disrespect intended, but does said, nameless former coach even recognize water?

I'm minded of older times when:

"Once, during Prohibition, I was forced to live for days on nothing but food and water."

W. C. Fields
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/w_c_fields_102024

But he states the obvious in such a masterful, earthy, down-home way...

[DAG 33,977]

17 hours ago, oracle79 said:

Not directed at any specific poster, but...

Couldn’t have said it better myself! Lol . My exact thoughts when I read this thread title.

[AUpreacherman22 3,885]

Obvious statements by FCPD for sure.  For me, personally, I blamed a lot of our recent OL problems on CHH.  It just seemed like he couldn’t figure out what the heck he was doing until midway through the season (maybe that’s why Gus liked him so much).   I feel better about our OL this year than I have in a while because CJBG is gonna have them ready week 1.  JMHO