JessN: South Carolina wrap-up: Defense saves Tide's hide, but a misfiring offense hit its shot late

[rolltd]

@JessN

Do you think our oline issues are due to a talent issue, a coaching issue or both? I'm just at a loss to understand why at this point in the season we're not seeing much improvement at all from them.

They were picked as one of the top O-lines in the country pre-season.... so much for that, talent is there

 

[JessN]

Thanks, Jess! You are spot on, as usual. I do worry about the OL. It is disheartening, when I see their defensive tackle easily push all 259 lbs of Proctor aside, and rush in to our quarterback. Ty sometimes just did not have a chance.

@JessN

Do you think our oline issues are due to a talent issue, a coaching issue or both? I'm just at a loss to understand why at this point in the season we're not seeing much improvement at all from them.

To answer these as best I can ...

* Proctor is fine when he locks up. Brooks Austin does a great job on the Film Guy Network on YouTube with breakdowns and there are two Proctors, the one that gets hands on people and kills them, and the one you can run around. Formby is somewhat the same at RT (someone else mentioned he's played well recently; he's actually outgraded Michael Carroll there for back-to-back weeks and was close 3 weeks ago).

* I think it's a little bit of both. Remember that Kap was brought in when the UW OL went with Grubb to Seattle. I thought at the time it looked more like a reactionary pick (Kap had been let go at Michigan State and had agreed to go to Baylor but then we offered). I'm not saying he needs to go, but in the realm of whether he's the best we can get, probably not. He did bring VanDeMark with him and Carroll's grades tend to go way up when he has VanDeMark next to him.

Talent-wise, I thought Dewberry was an odd add over the offseason. He looks like the kind of OL we had under Saban, not the kind DeBoer prefers. Opinions vary on how good he's been; he has yielded 0 pressures in multiple weeks, but run blocking has been scattered. Oddly enough, Brooks Austin really likes him. I think we're better with VanDeMark there and Jaeden Roberts at RG. We should still work Carroll in but I'm OK with Formby based on the last month and Carroll doesn't know the whole playbook nearly as well. If you're going to play Roberts at RG, you have to have Formby at RT. The wild card somewhat is Will Sanders because of his athleticism; he played tight end at A-Day because we needed bodies. With Roberts, VanDeMark and Dewberry all out of eligibility after this year, next year's guards will either be Sanders and Alinen or they'll move Formby to RG and start Carroll at RT, with Sanders and Alinen probably rotating at LG. Someone mentioned Roq Montgomery lately but unless he's hurt (they haven't said), he has (literally) disappeared. He did not dress for either Vandy or UT.

 

[arthurdawg]

I'd love for them to pick up both a quality OL or two in the portal. Although, we seem to have a number of young guys that just need time in the system too.

Same on the DL, could use a couple of large guys for the middle if the younger guys don't make progress.

The JUCO DL dude is massive, along with the big but really raw OT guy, it unfortunately sounds like both have miles to go learning before being ready.