kamoshika
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Signing only three OL today was a big disappointment. It won't hurt us this season but combined with our complete whiff last year, our future OL depth is looking downright scary.
Dooley's failure to sign even one OL last year may really come back to bite us in 2014: it was negligent at best and stupefyingly bone-headed at worst, especially since we knew we'd be losing four or five OL after the 2013 season. Ideally, Coach Jones wants 15 offensive linemen on the roster.
Barring injury, our backups next year probably won't get a lot of experience playing behind our seasoned veterans and in 2014, it's possible that we'll return only one player (Jackson) who's ever started a game. Here's what we're looking at right now, not including walk-ons (projected starters in blue):
* seniors: Stone, James, Fulton, Bullard
* juniors: Richardson (may declare after next year), Jackson, Pair (non-contributor)
* sophomores: Crowder, Posey, Kerbyson
* true freshmen: Wiesman, Kendrick, Sanders
If Richardson returns, we'll still be thin though he obviously would be a huge plus. But if we have any attrition at all due to quitting, transferring, or injuries, we'll be dangerously thin in 2014 and this could severely hamstring our offense. It's easy to say that we'll just have to sign 6 or 7 guys next year, and that's true. But true frosh OL are very rarely ready to play in the SEC, and juco OL guys usually don't make a big splash their first year, either.
Dooley's failure to sign even one OL last year may really come back to bite us in 2014: it was negligent at best and stupefyingly bone-headed at worst, especially since we knew we'd be losing four or five OL after the 2013 season. Ideally, Coach Jones wants 15 offensive linemen on the roster.
Barring injury, our backups next year probably won't get a lot of experience playing behind our seasoned veterans and in 2014, it's possible that we'll return only one player (Jackson) who's ever started a game. Here's what we're looking at right now, not including walk-ons (projected starters in blue):
* seniors: Stone, James, Fulton, Bullard
* juniors: Richardson (may declare after next year), Jackson, Pair (non-contributor)
* sophomores: Crowder, Posey, Kerbyson
* true freshmen: Wiesman, Kendrick, Sanders
If Richardson returns, we'll still be thin though he obviously would be a huge plus. But if we have any attrition at all due to quitting, transferring, or injuries, we'll be dangerously thin in 2014 and this could severely hamstring our offense. It's easy to say that we'll just have to sign 6 or 7 guys next year, and that's true. But true frosh OL are very rarely ready to play in the SEC, and juco OL guys usually don't make a big splash their first year, either.