We don't need to hire Bain to tell us OL recruiting has been poor, and we certainly don't need them anywhere near our OL operations and coaching. #Iightingmoneyonfireiscool
I hope not. We have a 4-star guard who will be a RS-Soph (Roberts), a 4-star guard who will be a RS-Fr (Wattenberg), and some other guys who could also take a big step forward in the offseason.
I realize people still have PSD from Sark's player development (or lack there of), but just because a linemen has not cracked a starting spot by his 2nd year in the program does not mean he never will.
We need to put Henry Roberts picture on a milk carton. Where the fuck is he? We could have used a decent RG. I love Nick, but he is our future center
He's a second year player. LIFPO. This board has gone full retard considering how well our OL played this year. We're only losing one guy from that unit. Calm the fuck down.
We need to put Henry Roberts picture on a milk carton. Where the fuck is he? We could have used a decent RG. I love Nick, but he is our future center
Roberts was 25+ pounds lighter than Nick Harris when he signed. After a year in the program, he was only slightly heavier than Harris was when he arrived. And Harris is a better natural athlete.
None of that means Roberts will never be good. Nor does it mean Harris will always be a better option. Players develop at different rates, particularly on the OL.
We need to put Henry Roberts picture on a milk carton. Where the fuck is he? We could have used a decent RG. I love Nick, but he is our future center
He's a second year player. LIFPO. This board has gone full retard considering how well our OL played this year. We're only losing one guy from that unit. Calm the fuck down.
Outside of Bama the OL did perform very well this year. The Bama game has been hashed to death but there is another lurking weakness/threat which has not been discussed: injuries.
UW's 2016 OL had 4.5 competent players. Harris gets a .5 because he wasn't physically ready yet. However the dropoff after those 5 players was immense and UW was very lucky not to sustain any injuries to the starters. The line would have looked very vulnerable with Kirkland at tackle instead of Adams or McGary or with Brostek at guard instead of Eldrenkamp. Can't expect the same luck next season.
You really need 7 competent OL with at least 2-3 of those being elite to be a championship contender. You need the left side of the line to dominate. And you need at least one backup on the interior and one backup on the outside.
Yes we only lose Eldrenkamp. But that loss is from a dangerously shorthanded group. We don't need just one player to step up- we need two or three. I don't see that happening with the current roster. The numbers are thin and among those thin numbers there are even fewer guys who were highly recruited or even lauded as having underrated size and athleticism. Unlike at other positions this staff doesn't have a good record of churning out diamonds in the rough at OL that weren't freakishly huge and/or athletic as recruits.
Brostek never panned out despite three years and a redshirt under this staff. Neither have James, Kirkland, John Turner, Sosebee, or Burleson yet. Strausser has a lot to prove next year. Between this group, Wattenberg, and Roberts we need two-three players to step up.
We need to put Henry Roberts picture on a milk carton. Where the fuck is he? We could have used a decent RG. I love Nick, but he is our future center
He's a second year player. LIFPO. This board has gone full retard considering how well our OL played this year. We're only losing one guy from that unit. Calm the fuck down.
This. I would have thought Roberts was a RS Junior by the way this board is freaking out how he hasn't played yet.
We need to put Henry Roberts picture on a milk carton. Where the fuck is he? We could have used a decent RG. I love Nick, but he is our future center
He's a second year player. LIFPO. This board has gone full retard considering how well our OL played this year. We're only losing one guy from that unit. Calm the fuck down.
Fucking this. For the first time in forever we smashed teams. Sample and Dissly are great blocking TE's.
"Yeah, but that was Stanford and Utah, not Alabama."
Alabama. Get some Fucking perspective. Cool, you have high expectations. The OL took a HUGE step this year. They should and will take another.
Our two bookend tackles are back. A four year starter is back at Center. No reason to think Harris, Wattenberg, Roberts, etc won't be better.
Our tackles are great... excited about both those dudes taking another step. Hopefully Harris is able to put on weight and really improve, but that's far from a sure thing. Then we have Shelton at center, who's pretty mediocre, and we're replacing Eldrenkamp with Twattenenberg?, a redshirt freshman who's never played a snap. I don't feel that great about the interior of this line going into next year.
Then as @FremontTroll astutely pointed out, that's all assuming these guys stay healthy all year, which is highly fucking unlikely. Because our OL depth behind those dudes is absolute fucking garbage.
There's a reason nobody's really freaking out about losing 75% of our secondary... It's because Coach Lake is actually capable of coaching AND recruiting.
Serious question... Do you think it would be a big loss for Alabama if their All American LT was injured?
We need better depth but pointing out that Trey Adams would be a huge loss is a true water is wet statement.
They'd slide Jonah Williams to LT, and insert a very good OL at RT. It would not come close to hurting them like it would us. Same could be said for a lot of the top teams because they have great depth on their OL.
Comments
Does he have a chance of taking a guard spot
I realize people still have PSD from Sark's player development (or lack there of), but just because a linemen has not cracked a starting spot by his 2nd year in the program does not mean he never will.
None of that means Roberts will never be good. Nor does it mean Harris will always be a better option. Players develop at different rates, particularly on the OL.
UW's 2016 OL had 4.5 competent players. Harris gets a .5 because he wasn't physically ready yet. However the dropoff after those 5 players was immense and UW was very lucky not to sustain any injuries to the starters. The line would have looked very vulnerable with Kirkland at tackle instead of Adams or McGary or with Brostek at guard instead of Eldrenkamp. Can't expect the same luck next season.
You really need 7 competent OL with at least 2-3 of those being elite to be a championship contender. You need the left side of the line to dominate. And you need at least one backup on the interior and one backup on the outside.
Yes we only lose Eldrenkamp. But that loss is from a dangerously shorthanded group. We don't need just one player to step up- we need two or three. I don't see that happening with the current roster. The numbers are thin and among those thin numbers there are even fewer guys who were highly recruited or even lauded as having underrated size and athleticism. Unlike at other positions this staff doesn't have a good record of churning out diamonds in the rough at OL that weren't freakishly huge and/or athletic as recruits.
Brostek never panned out despite three years and a redshirt under this staff. Neither have James, Kirkland, John Turner, Sosebee, or Burleson yet. Strausser has a lot to prove next year. Between this group, Wattenberg, and Roberts we need two-three players to step up.
"Yeah, but that was Stanford and Utah, not Alabama."
Alabama. Get some Fucking perspective. Cool, you have high expectations. The OL took a HUGE step this year. They should and will take another.
Our two bookend tackles are back. A four year starter is back at Center. No reason to think Harris, Wattenberg, Roberts, etc won't be better.
Then as @FremontTroll astutely pointed out, that's all assuming these guys stay healthy all year, which is highly fucking unlikely. Because our OL depth behind those dudes is absolute fucking garbage.
There's a reason nobody's really freaking out about losing 75% of our secondary... It's because Coach Lake is actually capable of coaching AND recruiting.
We need better depth but pointing out that Trey Adams would be a huge loss is a true water is wet statement.
Agree