What people seem to forget is that we have started a majority of underclassman as lineman the past few years. This will be the first time that we will have a majority of third year plus players starting (1 Senior, 3 Juniors, and 1 Sophomore). Schools that have successful running games like Alabama and LSU don't usually start players until they are 3rd year players atleast (Junior, Redshirt Sophomore), unless they are just a complete stud. Skill players have an easier time of coming into college and contributing due to their abilities being based on speed, quickness, etc. A lineman's biggest hurdle when coming to the SEC is Strength. College weight programs are obviously very beneficial and the longer the players have to benefit the better. Lineman are built not recruited... These players have had the time to learn the schemes, they have had their 2+ years in the weight program, and they have had a lot of in-game experience. Time for them to show up and put it to use.
Another issue I have also pondered that I honestly don't know the answer to, is Bray's ability to audible, check off, etc. Simms was not a great QB when it came to passing, but for some reason we could always run better when he was in the game. Was he checking away from blitzes? Was he checking into runs when it looked promising? I have no idea, but you would think that the run game would have been better when Bray was in the game due to the defense having to respect his ability to pass. The opposite seemed true and Simms couldn't throw for shiz. If this theory has any legs, hopefully Bray will be in the film room learning how to play the mental side of the position because we all know he has the physical side going for him...
The third part of the puzzle I believe has to do with the blocking scheme. Zone blocking requires backs to be decisive and I think that is one of the things the backs have lacked. This maybe why they love DY so much. I just hope no matter what the problem is, someone fixed it...
