future of o-line

#53
#53
therickbol said:
Guys with his combination of size, length, smarts, and ability to move are rare. He checks every box except physical strength. Thankfully for him that is one thing that can be gained. This offseason with new S&C coach will be huge for him.
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Disagree slightly. He is a good athlete for his size, no doubt about that. But after watching a lot of football and then the combine this past weekend, I don't think his size and athletic ability is particularly rare. Not sure about how smart he is....do we know that he's smarter than most of his contemporaries? And how does that show up in his play? Certainly believe his strength can and should be improved.

Perhaps my bias against CT here has a lot to do with the fact that he's been a consistent piece the last 3 years of a woefully bad OL that hasn't looked worthy of the SEC. That, and I've just seen him get pushed and shoved around too many times to believe he's the caliber player we need to get our OL over the hump. He just doesn't seem to have the requisite toughness and tenacity imo.
 
#54
#54
With Trey Smith staying at LT, it will be interesting battle this spring with him and Richmond.
 
#56
#56
#57
#57
KBVol said:
Love hearing that, he has great potential.

I'll just throw this out there. Assuming Trey Smith truly is the stud he's said to be, I'd like to see this OL....

LT- Smith
LG- Richmond
C- Jones
RG- Robertson
RT- Hall

Who knows, just a thought.
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it has Potential, thats for sure KB! fingers crossed that trey really is the truth.... (i think we all have reason to believe he is)
 
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#58
#58
wesleydmartin said:
it has Potential, thats for sure KB! fingers crossed that trey really is the truth.... (i think we all have reason to believe he is)
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Thanks Wes, who knows, just guessing a bit.

I've heard Drew is immensely talented, just likely better suited to play guard. So, if like you said, Trey is the truth, partner those guys up on the left side. Then, slide senior Jashon over to right guard, where he played as a freshman, paired up with Hall, who showed even as a true freshman that he can really play/more than hold his own. Finally, I'd love to see a nasty, physical Jack Jones anchor everything at center, assuming he can make all the calls, which I'll trust he can in year three.
 
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#59
#59
KBVol said:
Thanks Wes, who knows, just guessing a bit.

I've heard Drew is immensely talented, just likely better suited to play guard. So, if like you said, Trey is the truth, partner those guys up on the left side. Then, slide senior Jashon over to right guard, where he played as a freshman, paired up with Hall, who showed even as a true freshman that he can really play/more than hold his own. Finally, I'd love to see a nasty, physical Jack Jones anchor everything at center, assuming he can make all the calls, which I'll trust he can in year three.
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preaching to the choir buddy, preaching to the CHOIR, whew lemme calm down i try and stay even keel over the off season :)

(but i agree i want those big uglies dominating the other side of the line making holes big enough for mac trucks)
 
#60
#60
KBVol said:
I seriously doubt that. Perhaps he gets drafted late.....I don't think there's any way he's an all-sec player after 2017. Jmo.
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Completely agree KB. I like Thomas but he would have to have some kind of other wordly type of season to be all SEC. It could happen, but more than likely it wont.
 
#61
#61
KBVol said:
Thanks Wes, who knows, just guessing a bit.

I've heard Drew is immensely talented, just likely better suited to play guard. So, if like you said, Trey is the truth, partner those guys up on the left side. Then, slide senior Jashon over to right guard, where he played as a freshman, paired up with Hall, who showed even as a true freshman that he can really play/more than hold his own. Finally, I'd love to see a nasty, physical Jack Jones anchor everything at center, assuming he can make all the calls, which I'll trust he can in year three.
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Jack is the man.. I like him next to Chance at RG though.. they are bois.. freakin hogmolleys!
 
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#62
#62
BigOrangeTrain said:
Completely agree KB. I like Thomas but he would have to have some kind of other wordly type of season to be all SEC. It could happen, but more than likely it wont.
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Sometimes the impending reality that his college career is coming to an end propels a player to significantly up his level of play, especially if a potential lucrative NFL career is in play. Perhaps that happens here with CT and I hope it does, because I'm 90% certain Jones will have CT out there come hell or high water based on what we've seen the last 3 years. I just want the best guy out there so we can win.
 
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#63
#63
KBVol said:
Love hearing that, he has great potential.

I'll just throw this out there. Assuming Trey Smith truly is the stud he's said to be, I'd like to see this OL....

LT- Smith
LG- Richmond
C- Jones
RG- Robertson
RT- Hall

Who knows, just a thought.
Click to expand...

Intriguing lineup, for sure. A lot of times last year I felt that Richmond was better suited to play OG. If Smith plays well enough at OT and guys like Tatum, Niehaus, and Brooks can provide reasonably good depth, a move inside would be good for him IMO.

I just hope the days of our coaches having basically all of our OTs cross train at RT/LT/OG are over. The top OTs just need to stick in one spot and focus on getting really good there rather than learning to be a stopgap at 3 positions.
 
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#64
#64
Darth_Shiveman said:
I don't really see it either, unless his injuries in 2016 were much worse than we were led to believe.


He's looked good when we move him around and let him block smaller guys out in space. He hasn't faired as well against the better DTs he's faced though. Especially in pass protection.


Hopefully the light comes on for him and he becomes a more complete player in year 4 with the coaching change and all his experience thus far.
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We've seen Thomas very, very good and downright awful but not much in-between.
 
#65
#65
KBVol said:
Thanks Wes, who knows, just guessing a bit.

I've heard Drew is immensely talented, just likely better suited to play guard. So, if like you said, Trey is the truth, partner those guys up on the left side. Then, slide senior Jashon over to right guard, where he played as a freshman, paired up with Hall, who showed even as a true freshman that he can really play/more than hold his own. Finally, I'd love to see a nasty, physical Jack Jones anchor everything at center, assuming he can make all the calls, which I'll trust he can in year three.
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Drew made great gains the last 5 or 6 games and I'm sure you can mention the drop-off in talent with our opponents but I think the game started to slow down for him and he will make even more strides next year.

BTW, someone mentioned Kendrick was recovering from an injury. What injury? I missed that one amongst the other 50 injuries last season.
 
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#66
#66
UTVOLS1614 said:
past 2017 what do u think will pan out of the offensive line

my prediction for 2018

LT- richmond( rs JR)
LG- boulware(rs JR)
c- jones (sr)
rg- hall (sr)
RT- smith (soph)

mays will be a freshman backing up either tackle spot
tatum will be depth at tackle
locklear back up center
moseley guard depth
ryan johnson maybe guard depth?
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Not bad. If we are speculating beyond 2017, don't forget Niehaus and Calbert.
 
#67
#67
HuntlandVolinColo said:
Drew made great gains the last 5 or 6 games and I'm sure you can mention the drop-off in talent with our opponents but I think the game started to slow down for him and he will make even more strides next year.

BTW, someone mentioned Kendrick was recovering from an injury. What injury? I missed that one amongst the other 50 injuries last season.
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Kendrick torn 2 ligaments in his left ankle in last years spring game. Drs decided to not operate and try to rehab hope they healed. Keep getting worse throughout the season to the point that a tendon in the ankle was popping out of place. Surgery after bowl game expected back in June.
 
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#68
#68
Darth_Shiveman said:
Intriguing lineup, for sure. A lot of times last year I felt that Richmond was better suited to play OG. If Smith plays well enough at OT and guys like Tatum, Niehaus, and Brooks can provide reasonably good depth, a move inside would be good for him IMO.

I just hope the days of our coaches having basically all of our OTs cross train at RT/LT/OG are over. The top OTs just need to stick in one spot and focus on getting really good there rather than learning to be a stopgap at 3 positions.
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Agree wholeheartedly with your sentiment there on the cross training. Don't ever want to see a center looking like a turnstile at right tackle because he's supposedly "one of our best 5". Give us the best center, the 2 best guards and the 2 best tackles and lets roll. Specialize the guys and then create quality depth at each position so that if a guard goes down we put the next best guard in to replace him....not move a center or tackle over, that makes no sense to me and surely doesn't look like it's been working.
 
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#71
#71
I can tell you right now that Kendrick (if healthy) will see the field before Richmond, regardless of position.

Somebody is redshirting and I think Jack Jones is the best candidate.
Boulware has passed Robertson, unless he gets healthy and turns it on in spring.
 
#72
#72
HuntlandVolinColo said:
We've seen Thomas very, very good and downright awful but not much in-between.
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The only time I remember him looking very very good is on plays we pulled him to lead block in space on outside runs or on screen passes.

I've never seen him look very, very good moving DTs off the ball.
 
#73
#73
Roustabout said:
I can tell you right now that Kendrick (if healthy) will see the field before Richmond, regardless of position.

Somebody is redshirting and I think Jack Jones is the best candidate.
Boulware has passed Robertson, unless he gets healthy and turns it on in spring.
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Kendrick can not play tackle... he get smoked by the speed rush
 
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#74
#74
Roustabout said:
I can tell you right now that Kendrick (if healthy) will see the field before Richmond, regardless of position.

Somebody is redshirting and I think Jack Jones is the best candidate.
Boulware has passed Robertson, unless he gets healthy and turns it on in spring.
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Not sure why we overrate Kendrick. Appreciate the toughness and hard work but don't see where the equity stems from.
 
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