If everybody on this board can see the OL issues why in the world can multimillion dollar coaches not see and fix it???? I get that the OL needs to be leaner, but even Proctor can move pretty quick for his size. I don't understand it.
Do you really think you or I or the other laymen on this board really know more than these “multi million dollar coaches”? I can assure you we don’t. That doesn’t mean they know all or have maximized Alabama’s potential but they aren’t part of the college football ignorami.
IMO, as I’ve stated several times, Alabama fans are overstating the incompetence of their OL in pass protection. The following list showing the SEC sack rate will help illustrate this.
Keep in mind that this OL was in the final cut prior to the top 10 for the Joe Moore award. According to Jimmy Stein, they do extensive film study and statistical analysis. I assume by experts. (I remember many were really down on the 2015 OL who won the award. I do agree Henry probably made it look better than it was. But these JM award people are serious.)
Sack rate per pass attempt (The rates are based on numbers for the entire team. I added the names of the main passers for reference.)
(I guess because I’m on an IPhone, I couldn’t enable the tbl function. Sorry)
1.A&M—-3.16% Reed
2.OM——-3.81% Chambliss
3.UTn—--4.12% Aguilar
4.UGA——4.53% Stockton
5.Ala——-4.95% Simpson
6.Van——-4.99% Pavia
7.UF———5.08% Lagway
8.UTx——-5.61% Manning
9.LSU——-5.66% Nussmeier/Van Buren
10.OU—-—5.81% Mateer
11.Ark—-—7.07% Green
12.UK———-7.30% Boley
13.Miz———7.63% Pribula
14.MSU——-9.95% Shapen
15.AU———-10.40% Arnold/Daniels
16.USC———11.17% Sellers
This table doesn’t tell the whole story but it is significant relative to the OL. Of course the OL is usually blamed for RB protection failures. E.g., Of the 4 sacks given up in the OU game, 2 were on the RBs: one on Miller, one on Hill.
Alabama is in the top third of the SEC.
I will add, and of course this is just anecdotal, every college football fan base I encounter dislikes their OL, most despise theirs. There probably is one, but I can’t think of an exception.
In the AU game Alabama gave up 3 sacks and 6 hurries in 35 attempts. (That’s according to PFF, who I don’t have great confidence in but those are the only numbers I’m aware of. They are probably in the ballpark and somewhat match my intuition.) That’s a sack rate of 7.89, not as good as usual, but AU has a very good pass rush. 3 sacks about 1 sack above Alabama’s avg of 1.83 per game.
Ty contributes to the effectiveness of the OL in pass pro because he’s clever and elusive in the pocket. OTOH, he occasionally drifts back in the pocket and occasionally holds the ball too long. But the SEC is full of elusive QBs and full of QBs who hold on to the ball too long.
In summary, IMO, and according to the numbers, the OL is better than many here think - certainly relative to the SEC.