Ekiyor did not play today. I know the bonehead announcers said he did, but #55 was never on the field.
The lineup was Leatherwood, Neal, Dickerson, Womack, Wills
Question: What will fix our OL problems?
- Thread starter Tide&True
- Start date
The lineup was Leatherwood, Neal, Dickerson, Womack, Wills
To me, we just don’t appear “settled “ on the O line. We may not be until Brown is back, assuming he’s slotted to start. Has he been working with what would be the 1s in practice? Sure hope so.
Obviously the OL was less than stellar...still in development. However, it is puzzling to me that our "superior athletes" cannot consistently block "inferior" ones. I do realize that the RB'***** the wrong hole sometimes -- especially Harris. (Early on if he had cut left instead of diving headlong into the pile he would have run all the way to Mississippi.) That being said, we were playing with out 3rd string center and at least our 2nd team RG. With DBrown out the dominoes start to fall...and in missing 2 more Saturday they fell even more.
If you take away KRob's run and HRugg's run/catch...we would have less than 150 yards against a very inferior line -- at least on paper.
Still puzzling...and with the SEC coming up no more easy DL's...I'm no Eyeor...but as Jess said we will live and die with our passing game.
If you take away KRob's run and HRugg's run/catch...we would have less than 150 yards against a very inferior line -- at least on paper.
Still puzzling...and with the SEC coming up no more easy DL's...I'm no Eyeor...but as Jess said we will live and die with our passing game.
I am sure this won't be a popular response but, IMO, this goes back to relying on Tua to be the offense which has relegated the running game to simply a diversionary tactic. This is why I have been a vocal critic about the running game and OL play when we face LSU, Auburn and UGA if we make it to Atlanta.
For those old enough to remember the Wishbone era, this is eerily similar. In those days we had 5 QBs, 12 RBs and an absolute road grader OL. We overpowered everyone and only threw the ball when we wanted some diversion. Occasionally though we faced a team, Nebraska, ND, and Southern Cal that had equal talent and we could not just run over and around them. We had to pass the ball to get 8-9 out of the box. Against those teams we could not do that and lost several times. This is beginning to look like the same situation.
Well, I'm not buying that because the OL can't pass block very well right now either. If not for Tua's superior footwork, vision and quick release we wouldn't be completing many passes right now.
OL is just weak all the way around right now.
Just be glad our schedule is such that it really won't matter until November. If it can't get fixed by then I would say it's time to start worrying. But until then, we should be able to work on it and still comfortably win all games between now and November.
Not to pile on but I see teams with way less talent that work together and get the maximum out of their ability.
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I agree, except for Oct 12 at Texas AM. They did not look good vs Clemson but they have time improve just like we do. Mond is unpredictable with his play, so who knows what kind of game he will have.
Main thing is to protect Tua while our O line is still a "work in progress". I just don't think Mac Jones is the answer to beat Texas AM, LSU, or Auburn if Tua is hurt. I would say we could rely on the run game for those games but I don't feel confident with that either yet.
You are probably right...but we'll find out next week I guess against some medium level SEC talent if we are starting to improve.
The most disturbing thing though is all the talk about returning to the Bama standard, which most of us interpreted as a return to controlling the LOS. We thought that would mean an aggressive running game that would give balance to our incredible passing game. So far...not happening.
I know we'll win 11 or 12 games because of Tua's arm and our receivers talent, but that's not the goal.
Agreed. We're not winning an SEC championship (much less a national title) with the current Oline performances. Just not going to happen. A lot of kinks to workout to do that.
We're legit threatening to be a 9-3 team with the OL performance right now. It ought to improve but it ain't there yet.
If we're going to see this oline performance in November, I agree. We'll drop three games this season. I just don't see us not improving at all. Worst case scenario, Saban realizes at some point in the season the Oline is what it is and we completely scrap trying to be a power running team and begin using elements of the passing game to compensate for not being able to run the ball. Heck, the Patriots ran through an entire season and won a super bowl one year doing this. At some point in the season you realize "we are who we are" and go with it.
Based on recruiting rankings the OL players we sign are mostly all 4 stars with a couple of 5 stars and 3 stars sprinkled in. They get to Tuscaloosa and somehow we never hear of them again. I am concerned that possibly we are misjudging the OL recruits or we do not have an OL coach who can develop the talent on hand. I still feel that the turnover in the staff over the past 3 years and what looks to be the total reliance on the passing game has put our NC chances in a precarious situation.
I think it's coaching to be honest. I really do. For whatever reason we have struggled to get an OL coach who can effectively develop offensive linemen as a unit. Yeah, we've got some individually talented players on the line but the more important thing is they work and develop as a unit. Which as we all have seen, they haven't. We out talent most teams so it isn't as glaring. But as we play teams that are closer or equal to talent as we are it becomes more glaring.
I've said it before in other discussions but Alabama has had a reputation in NFL scouting circles - for almost a decade now - that we just throw 5 big athletes out there and out-talent college competition. Our reputation is that we don't really develop technique and our OL prospects are risky picks accordingly. This was not the case under Pendry and Stoutland but it has become the reputation since their retirement and rise to the NFL ranks respectively.
Eh.. we had two linemen drafted last year.. One the first OT taken in the draft and another taken in the 5th round who earned a rookie contract. The year before that Bozeman was drafted and made the league and is still on an NFL roster. Cam Robinson was taken in the 2nd round in 2017.
I wonder how much moving from a power run oriented offense to almost a pass-first offense has affected the line play? I.e., focused on knocking people off the ball versus, as Coach Bryant called pass blocking, rubbing bellies?
I still think it goes back to what some others have said. We pass so much that when we decide to run the O-line has a difficult time switching gears. They need a nasty attitude ALL the time not just when we try to run the ball. Hopefully we are already making adjustments and teaching those that have missed too many assignments to show them where to improve. RTR
OL coach position has turned over yearly for last few years. The same is true for the offensive coordinator. Maybe Saban needs to start tying these coaches pay to a bonus system where they get big checks for staying 3 years.
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