Predictions state of the offensive line

[shabby 1,958]

Step forward or step backwards or more of the same

Seems like more inexperienced this year but maybe more Talent as well. I'm thinking more the same but I hope I'm incorrect in that assessment. Thoughts? Seems like this will be the most crucial Factor and what kind of year we have next year

[autigeremt 6,643]

Step forward. 

[creed 1,640]

Better based on a real LT body with sec experience to protect the qb. 

[Mikey 16,622]

Probably somewhat better. Lets remember, the bammers spent all of last season griping about their O-line and it was backed by years of 5* recruiting. No O-line is as good as its fans want it to be.

[ArgoEagle 1,790]

I thought our Oline was much improved last year from 2022.  Seemed they gave PT adequate time to find an open receiver (most of the time.)  Problem was our receivers were piss poor at getting separation, so the opposing defenses just stacked the box on us making it very difficult for us to run, which in turn made our Oline look like they couldn't run block very well.

I believe we get a better gauge on how good our Oline is if we have a much better passing game this year.  If not, it's not going to matter.  It's going to look the same as last year. 

[Hank2020 3,207]

4 minutes ago, ArgoEagle said:

I thought our Oline was much improved last year from 2022.  Seemed they gave PT adequate time to find an open receiver (most of the time.)  Problem was our receivers were piss poor at getting separation, so the opposing defenses just stacked the box on us making it very difficult for us to run, which in turn made our Oline look like they couldn't run block very well.

I believe we get a better gauge on how good our Oline is if we have a much better passing game this year.  If not, it's not going to matter.  It's going to look the same as last year. 

I think along with wr separation, QB accurate passing ability has equal responsibility for our poor passing last year. QB must be accurate and have confidence in the process to throw the ball. The choice last year was to hold the ball.

[AUpreacherman22 3,888]

I think OL is set up to be better in 2024, continuing to make progress!!!

Yes!   OL, WR, and QB have all played significant roles in our passing game being garbage for the last several years!!!  
I really hope we see very positive strides this year.   OL should be better, WR is much improved talent-wise, but man they sure are young!   Those 2 improvements alone should at least make the QBs look better.  Improvements at the QB position in addition to the other improvements should lead to some success in the passing game….coupled with a strong run game, we could actually have a fairly decent offense this year, which we haven’t seen around here since 2017.  

[aucanucktiger 1,794]

QB protection on paper could be better than 2023 and with our HUGELY better receiver corp, that's significant. Youth in SEC o lines often means dicey run blocking. Feel for our runners who might be lucky to combine for 1k yds between the tackles in 2024.

[Chaotic_zx 1,044]

Cole Pinkston stated that the OL gave up 31 sacks last season. I agree with him that some of that is Thorne holding the ball too long and some of it being attributed to bad WR play. This year I feel the OL will be improved and coupled with the WRs being better that just leaves one part of the equation that needs to be balanced. Let us see if Thorne improves. To answer the question, I believe the OL will be better. I'm hoping that they make a marginal leap forward and half the sack total from last year and produce a better running game.

[bigbird 60,564]

Huuuge step forward!

Moving Wade to LG has been a great decision. 

Senda is another to watch out for.

TJ is making a lot of noise, he was a great steal from TxTech

[JuscAUse! 1,416]

On 3/6/2024 at 8:02 AM, Mikey said:

Probably somewhat better. Lets remember, the bammers spent all of last season griping about their O-line and it was backed by years of 5* recruiting. No O-line is as good as its fans want it to be.

It's also the hardest position(s) to evaluate. I bet we see plenty of low 3 stars transferring from smaller schools to power 5 schools as juniors and seniors in the near future.

[ToomersStreet 795]

On 3/5/2024 at 3:44 PM, shabby said:

Step forward or step backwards or more of the same

Seems like more inexperienced this year but maybe more Talent as well. I'm thinking more the same but I hope I'm incorrect in that assessment. Thoughts? Seems like this will be the most crucial Factor and what kind of year we have next year

Well we signed just two high school linemen for our position group of greatest need

[AUwent 3,754]

Ridiculous to say inexperienced. 🤷‍♂️ 

[shabby 1,958]

48 minutes ago, AUwent said:

Ridiculous to say inexperienced. 🤷‍♂️

Aren't we losing four starters on the offensive line? Next your offense line will have less Collective years of experience

[AUwent 3,754]

2 hours ago, shabby said:

Aren't we losing four starters on the offensive line? Next your offense line will have less Collective years of experience

Are you talking 24 or 25? I’m so confused!

We return three starters in 2024 incl. a pretty damn good transfer who will enable one of those returning starters to move in a position he’s more comfortable with. In 2025 we should return two, since apparently Wright and Muskrat (only one of which should start in 2024) are juniors.

[shabby 1,958]

1 hour ago, AUwent said:

Are you talking 24 or 25? I’m so confused!

We return three starters in 2024 incl. a pretty damn good transfer who will enable one of those returning starters to move in a position he’s more comfortable with. In 2025 we should return two, since apparently Wright and Muskrat (only one of which should start in 2024) are juniors.

I thought we were losing stutts Britton and Jones and returning wade and Wright....  evidently i'm not seeing the whole picture

[mustache eagle 2,406]

We’ll be better at every position on the line.  We’ll start the season with our OL better than any point last year.

i think Percy Lewis is our most important addition on the team.  Percy will be better than wade at LT.  wade better than anyone at LG.  Lew will be much better and he was already good at C.  Too tall will be better at RT.  And the slew of guys possible at RG will be at worse a push from last year.

im pumped.  Nix coaching will allow Freeze to be a more effective play caller.  Our RB’s will take a step forward.  Our Wr group will be much better.  Our TE should be at worse a push but probably better.

freeze won’t worry about our D getting tired and won’t slow the O down.  We are going to go for it on O and Thorne will magically look like one of the top half of the qb’s in the sec.

my biggest concern is needing 2-3 solid bodies on the D front.  Preferably at least one stud - unless we think we have one about to step up.

[Mikey 16,622]

9 hours ago, mustache eagle said:

We’ll be better at every position on the line.  We’ll start the season with our OL better than any point last year.

i think Percy Lewis is our most important addition on the team.  Percy will be better than wade at LT.  wade better than anyone at LG.  Lew will be much better and he was already good at C.  Too tall will be better at RT.  And the slew of guys possible at RG will be at worse a push from last year.

im pumped.  Nix coaching will allow Freeze to be a more effective play caller.  Our RB’s will take a step forward.  Our Wr group will be much better.  Our TE should be at worse a push but probably better.

freeze won’t worry about our D getting tired and won’t slow the O down.  We are going to go for it on O and Thorne will magically look like one of the top half of the qb’s in the sec.

my biggest concern is needing 2-3 solid bodies on the D front.  Preferably at least one stud - unless we think we have one about to step up.

I do like a positive approach, and you are most likely correct.

[AUwent 3,754]

16 hours ago, shabby said:

I thought we were losing stutts Britton and Jones and returning wade and Wright....  evidently i'm not seeing the whole picture

We return Lew, Wade and “Too Tall” Miller this year. As I said, next year we should return Lew and Wright/Muskrat.

Edited March 9 by AUwent

[bigbird 60,564]

Don't forget about Senda. He and Tyler Johnson are making waves. 

[Cardin Drake 1,834]

There's cause for optimism, but it's really just too early to tell.  I thought Coach Freeze and company did a near miraculous job last year cobbling together a serviceable line.  But while the run blocking was pretty good, the pass blocking left a lot to be desired.  We'll be better if a few young guys step up and Percy Lewis does a good job at left tackle. But I'm going to have to see it to believe it.

[AUloggerhead 2,238]

On 3/5/2024 at 1:44 PM, shabby said:

Step forward or step backwards or more of the same

Seems like more inexperienced this year but maybe more Talent as well. I'm thinking more the same but I hope I'm incorrect in that assessment. Thoughts? Seems like this will be the most crucial Factor and what kind of year we have next year

Last season was the one small step.  This year is the giant leap forward.  

[weagl1 1,785]

It’s been bad for so long I am generally don’t hold out much hope for improvement. 

[Randman5000 4,229]

Any word on Percy or the kid from UT?