Anybody Else Concerned About OL?

Tideflyer

Hall of Fame
Dec 14, 2011
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Pass pro has been pretty good across the board so far, even on the interior. The bigger concern is opening up holes for the RBs.
Granted, but a tough assignment when the other bunch is throwing everybody almost at the running game. Not intimating that the interior 3 especially can`t do a better job, but with a primary focus of stopping the run ( 5 vs. 7 or 8 ), that`s a tall order to open holes consistently for an experienced, cohesive line, much less a group in new positions learning to work together, IMO.
 

LA4Bama

All-SEC
Jan 5, 2015
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The way coach Saban was talking last week it seemed he knew he was going to put Shank in the game. If Shank was just better, he should have started, but he didn't, so I was wondering is RP might have a slight injury that is undisclosed but hindering his push or reaction. It's possible he's dealing with a nagging injury and it gets worse as the game goes on

I'm not really worried, but of course there has to be improvement. I think the team, as a whole, is ahead of where it was last year at this point. Defensively our secondary is ahead of last year for sure. Offensive line is actually ahead of last you too, I think, but mainly because last year was atrocious at pass pro at this point. Our receivers are way ahead of last year at this point, as are the TE's I think. Even the QB situation is not behind last year. It's really only the running backs that are not as developed as last year, but we knew that was going to be the case.
 

tidefan39817

All-American
Jan 17, 2006
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as long as The Tide doesn't turn the ball over 5 times this weekend we should be good. all kidding aside if you think it is easy to move from LG to C then to RG, think again.
 

MobileBama84

Scout Team
Aug 30, 2016
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The way coach Saban was talking last week it seemed he knew he was going to put Shank in the game. If Shank was just better, he should have started, but he didn't, so I was wondering is RP might have a slight injury that is undisclosed but hindering his push or reaction. It's possible he's dealing with a nagging injury and it gets worse as the game goes on

I'm not really worried, but of course there has to be improvement. I think the team, as a whole, is ahead of where it was last year at this point. Defensively our secondary is ahead of last year for sure. Offensive line is actually ahead of last you too, I think, but mainly because last year was atrocious at pass pro at this point. Our receivers are way ahead of last year at this point, as are the TE's I think. Even the QB situation is not behind last year. It's really only the running backs that are not as developed as last year, but we knew that was going to be the case.
I don't think there is any injury to RP other than just Saban wanted Taylor to come in and get some reps after not playing in the first game of the year because of his suspension. Not to mention, I am sure Saban "needed" to see how well Taylor would do in comparison to RP during a live game in that position to see who performed better. According to the practice report, RP is still practicing with the "ones" and Taylor is still with the "two's." If RP did have any type of injury that truly hindered his performance, then I'm sure it would have been disclosed and Taylor would have moved up to the "ones" so far in practice. I just think Taylor was put in during the WKU game to get some live-game reps in.
 

glasscutter256

All-American
Jan 31, 2009
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I don't think our OL was very good last year about this time. It is hard to believe that Jonah Williams has only given up 1 Qb pressure. I recall Barnett getting sacked in the first series from the right side. Maybe he has given up 1 pressure, but multiple sacks. Bozeman just started playing center 1 wk before the season. Hasn't got many reps with this group as a center. Bozeman, Cotton, and Pierschbaker are all freshmen or sophmores. This OM defense has speed and can get after the qb. With 2 different OL coaches, Brent Key and Mario Cristobal, I hope we can make some fast improvement.
 

Moro Creek

All-SEC
Jan 21, 2014
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You bring up a good point. Mario coaches tackles and tight ends. Brent coaches centers and guards. It looks like tackles and tight ends are doing well, but what about guards and center?
 

mikeua69

All-American
Apr 16, 2002
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Seems to be a yearly trend that the OL struggles early in the year. I remember when we played WKU in 2012, the OL was terrible. We barely managed 100 yards rushing and AJ was sacked like 4 or 5 times. They obviously went on to become possibly the best OL in history. Hopefully this years unit will improve similarly.
 

ALA2262

All-American
Aug 4, 2007
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Cumming, GA
Seems to be a yearly trend that the OL struggles early in the year. I remember when we played WKU in 2012, the OL was terrible. We barely managed 100 yards rushing and AJ was sacked like 4 or 5 times. They obviously went on to become possibly the best OL in history. Hopefully this years unit will improve similarly.
LOL, that was the game where Fluker may as well have gone to the line and told them whether Bama was running or passing. His different stances for pass blocking and run blocking were pictures worth a thousand words. Cudos to WKU staff for picking up on it.
 

rgw

Suspended
Sep 15, 2003
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Piersbacher was a Freshman All-SEC and All-American while playing LG. I'm not so sure moving Piersbacher around was about Cotton being better than him but instead about Cotton being too good to keep off the field...and Piersbacher being experienced enough to handle the move. I really think the staff is all about getting this current starting 5 to gel and turn into a dominant unit. Shank has a ton of experience on his side but he's been in a back slide all off-season. Saban has flat out said Taylor's conditioning is not up to snuff right now.

I didn't expect the Piersbacher/Bozeman flip to stick before USC week and I was wrong on that one...so take this with a grain of salt: I don't expect any lineup changes this week. They really need Taylor in playing shape first and I doubt he will be there in a week's time.
 

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