Are there solutions with the OL?

[doc4aday 1,887]

Like it or not, we need to address the OL position by position.

1. Center: Brahms played a decent game, but is he a better center than Kim?  I know that there was talk early on in camp of moving Horton to center.

2. guard: Horton. He has not come close to playing to the level he did last season. maybe giving Ashley a chance against Southern Miss to see how he does at guard..

 

3.guard: Harrel. He has done a decent job and I have not heard too much one way or the other about him. :Leave him be for now..

4. Tackle: Driscoll...I have not been sold on him so far. Give Troxell  a chance to see what he can do.

5. Tackle: Tega..has had his moments and I do not see anyone who could come in with what we have and do any better.

Are we getting the most out of the talent we have?  We need to fix this position as best as it can be fixed with the talent we have on hand. 

We need to recruit better on the OL soon. This is the position we need to address asap.

[tbone1430 1,346]

Id have to rewatch and see how Brahms did but to me Driscoll, Horton, and Harrell are playing well below what they should. I’d try troxell at RT, ashley at RG, and make Harrell and Horton battle it out for the other guard position. Prince is good but has slow feet at times against a good pass rush. Unfortunately this is to me due to a lack of development the past two years. Hopefully JB can get some work done and sign a few new bug uglies that can get the job done. 

[YankeeTiger24 98]

Let's just say, I think this is a patchwork line with a project and a player that may be slightly in over their heads starting, mainly due to recruiting and developmental busts. That this coaching staff has them doing so much pass blocking, which is harder to do than run blocking, is absolutely baffling to me. 

[DAG 33,955]

Yes. Call Art Briles and sprinkle his principles into what you want to do. Unfortunately it isn’t a talent thing. This guys are just getting pushed around..I don’t know how a coach can fix that besides try to hide deficiency.

[AUsince72 11,084]

Maybe they're taking the Offense and Defense to two different movies the night before the games...

They take the D to see Gladiator and the O to see Winnie the Pooh?

[clwn 336]

Juice em up.

[selias 2,398]

14 minutes ago, DAG said:

Yes. Call Art Briles and sprinkle his principles into what you want to do. Unfortunately it isn’t a talent thing. This guys are just getting pushed around..I don’t know how a coach can fix that besides try to hide deficiency.

Stunts and twists completely befuddle our guys on the OL not to mention a lack of a mean streak

[au302 2,669]

I feel like Horton and Driscoll have to be benched. Troxell and Ashley have to be better than this. We need a spark.

[gr82b4au 5,568]

Here is my solution: 

1) keep brahms, Harrell, and prince. Replace the other two with Ashley and trox. Take our lumps now while the schedule is easier. 

2) replace kam martin.  I do not know what the love affair is with Martin but he needs to be a backup for now. Play whitlow and shivers 

3) get in the face of stidham and make him understand that he needs to quit getting happy feet and hit the open receivers. He has the talent. He needs to be a gamer. Be a leader! There are times when he has guys wide open and has time but he is so skittish. 

4) throw more quick slants - like the Washington game

5) run the omac play several times 

6) throw to the TE. Nobody will expect it. 

[gr82b4au 5,568]

Also I am starting to wonder if the blocking scheme under the Chip L offense is just not going to work with this OL. 

[doc4aday 1,887]

3 minutes ago, gr82b4au said:

Here is my solution: 

1) keep brahms, Harrell, and prince. Replace the other two with Ashley and trox. Take our lumps now while the schedule is easier. 

2) replace kam martin.  I do not know what the love affair is with Martin but he needs to be a backup for now. Play whitlow and shivers 

3) get in the face of stidham and make him understand that he needs to quit getting happy feet and hit the open receivers. He has the talent. He needs to be a gamer. Be a leader! There are times when he has guys wide open and has time but he is so skittish. 

4) throw more quick slants - like the Washington game

5) run the omac play several times 

6) throw to the TE. Nobody will expect it. 

who do we have now at TE? I think Shenker might be the only one left. Does Gus know this?

[kd4au 1,145]

Great question Doc and I don't have the answer. But to me none of the O-linemen are playing winning football. Harrell seems to be playing the better of the group so I wouldn't move him, Brahms may have been slightly better than Kim but would have to watch the game again to see. Tega so so Horton needs to sit and give Ashley a try but I'm not sure he will be any better, same with Driscoll let Trox have a turn and see if he can do better. I do know the o-line is at the root of the offenses problems and until thay improve the o will struggle.

[kd4au 1,145]

6 minutes ago, gr82b4au said:

Also I am starting to wonder if the blocking scheme under the Chip L offense is just not going to work with this OL. 

You may very well be right. There was talk of change to the blocking scheme. Also I think the  D coordinators have figured out some things and our coaches have not adjusted. Chavis is no slouch, he knows how to run a D. Same for the guys at LSU and UW. We have played some very good D coordinators this year and will face more.

[Auburn2Eugene 2,317]

27 minutes ago, gr82b4au said:

Here is my solution: 

1) keep brahms, Harrell, and prince. Replace the other two with Ashley and trox. Take our lumps now while the schedule is easier. 

2) replace kam martin.  I do not know what the love affair is with Martin but he needs to be a backup for now. Play whitlow and shivers 

3) get in the face of stidham and make him understand that he needs to quit getting happy feet and hit the open receivers. He has the talent. He needs to be a gamer. Be a leader! There are times when he has guys wide open and has time but he is so skittish. 

4) throw more quick slants - like the Washington game

5) run the omac play several times 

6) throw to the TE. Nobody will expect it. 

I agree with most... 

However, Tom Brady would struggle behind this OL. Not even Brady would be able to find his guys, open or not when you have a whopping 3 seconds or less before the pocket collapses. And this is on Gus... He had Grimes, forced him out, hired his buddy Herb Hand, Auburn gave up record sacks under his tutelage... Just as Penn State did before Gus hired him... Then Gus goes back to the OL coach who he forced out. Grimes didn't magically learn to recruit the couple years while Hand was here. Grimes can coach, but is a lackluster recruiter... Which is what prompted the Hand hire... Then Gus hires back the OL coach who he had just forced out... Bringing back the very same issues that were here before Hand was hired. 

And for the love of everything, people need to drop the old "he left to coach with his son" nonsense. Grimes was offered an off the field position. Hand was going to be hired whether Grimes was still on staff or not. Grimes didn't like the idea of being in an off the field position, so he left. He didn't leave to coach with his son. He didn't leave due to his health. He left because he was forced out. 

Lastly, the only decent TE we had just left. No TE remaining on scholarship has much talent. So unless we do something like moving Marquis McClain to TE, that's simply not going to happen this season. Moving McClain to TE could benefit the team. It could also benefit him, which could help keep him on the roster. But unless we move someone, it will be next year before we get any production out of the TE, and those guys will be true freshmen, and relying on a true freshman can be.... Well... Iffy... 

[gr82b4au 5,568]

Did Sal leave? 

[TigerEyez13 46]

Gus does not use tight ends, and often only has one back sets with 3 or more WRs.

 

If your O Line is having trouble, you need to get more big bodies on the line to help out. Then you can double team tough D linemen. 

 

Keep more backs by the QB to pick up defenders who break through. They can block a blitzer and also be a safety valve for a quick dump off if the QB is in trouble.

 

Since Gus relies on short passes anyway, why we are determined to have a lot of WRs running around down field where they do little good is baffling. A running team with a weak O line has to get more mass and blocking power near the running back.

[around4ever 4,139]

38 minutes ago, gr82b4au said:

Also I am starting to wonder if the blocking scheme under the Chip L offense is just not going to work with this OL. 

Are we running a Chip L offense?  It sure looks an awful lot like the Gus offense with a sprinkle of Chip added in.  That may be part of the problem, the two offenses don't work together.  

[Auburn2Eugene 2,317]

12 minutes ago, gr82b4au said:

Did Sal leave? 

If so, it would of had to of been today, recently as I haven't seen any reports today about him leaving and I know that I saw him lined up out wide yesterday. 

[around4ever 4,139]

15 minutes ago, gr82b4au said:

Did Sal leave? 

No.  He is listed as a WR not TE. 

[AUght2win 6,816]

I have a hard time believing Calvin Ashley isn't one of the 5 best offensive linemen on the roster. Get him at RT or LT or a guard. He deserves a shot with our lackluster run blocking this far.

[around4ever 4,139]

I think Gus would be playing CA if he had proven in practice that he was better than any of the four who are playing.  I still maintain that it is scheme and design and the understanding of assignments. 

[IronMan70 3,277]

LG- Leave Harrell for now. Does an adequate job.

OC- Leave Brahms for now, he was an improvement.

LT, RG, RT- open it up to competition at all 3 positions this week. Light a fire under those 3 players and see if Ashley and/or Trox can make a move.

Give them all a few 'attitude' sessions this week with Coach Grimes, Takeo Spikes or some tough ass Marine drill instructor and bring out the 'mean' in them. I am actually more than half serious on that last one.  

[CR 2,427]

More talent needed for sure. But I watched Missouri, who is usually ranked 13th or below in SEC recruiting, put out a quality effort on the O Line and offensively as a whole against a really good UGA defense. We're not going to be very strong on O line this year, that's obvious.
But expecting this line to convert on a run up the middle on 4th and short in multiple games shows either stubbornness or inability to grasp the obvious. Call plays to try and help them out not magnify their weakness.

[Auctoritas 2,826]

I keep seeing "Leave Harrell, he's doing an adequate job." I think he did not have his best game last night (he seemed to be getting beat a lot), and he is WAY too slow to be a pulling guard. There were several screen passes or RB tosses last night that would have gone for yardage had he made it to his block.

[oracle79 3,569]

6 hours ago, AUght2win said:

I have a hard time believing Calvin Ashley isn't one of the 5 best offensive linemen on the roster. Get him at RT or LT or a guard. He deserves a shot with our lackluster run blocking this far.

Remember this guy?