I will say having played OL it's a lot harder than it looks. It's easier to avoid being blocked than it is to manage to stay in front of someone who is trying to avoid you. The who to block question also takes time to learn since it changes in a split second. Historically it would take at least 3 or 4 games to see the line starting to jell.
This year we seem to have some talent issues.
Seth McLaughlin was never going to be an NFL center but he was a pretty decent center and didn't have any snapping problems prior to this year. I'm not sure if there is a physical cause. I believe Dalcourt is the backup and he must be terrible at snapping or can't make the line calls or something. I don't believe Brockermeyer is ready to play yet.
Kadyn Proctor I really expected to be a guard, he's built for that road grader type of roll. I believe he's at tackle because we have no other option. Pritchett is seemingly not better at pass blocking. I believe the hope and prayer of the staff is that he will improve quickly enough to avoid getting our QB killed. I did sort of expect them to play Latham at Left Tackle. I'm not sure why they didn't. but in the end they are going to line up the best rusher against the worst tackle no matter where he lines up so the difference is going to be minimal.
Aside from that we just have a bunch of freshman and sophomores who are not ready. Some may have bright futures but it's going to take time.
When you fall behind on the OL it generally takes AT LEAST 3 seasons to fix. that's if you recruit and train well. For what ever reason you can shore up almost any position with the transfer Portal but It doesn't appear that great Offensive Lineman are common. You can take an 18 year old kid who never saw a football in his life and tell him to line up and go get the QB if he's athletic enough, but becoming a great offensive lineman takes talent and generally years of technique work. Plus you have to be tough as nails
That's why every NFL 1st round draft is chocked full of these big men from schools you never heard of. without them the rest of the offense just doesn't matter.
