Trenches

[gators4224]

Imo, winning the trenches plays a key factor in determining who wins a football game.
With two nice offensive lineman commits, and two nice defensive lineman commits, I think we have a nice class coming along on both sides of the LOS. BUT, I think we need one more offensive lineman and two more defensive tackles. Who do you think we land as the last olineman and two DT's?

....Also, if James Robinson and Adarius Lemons are eligible to get into UF, I think we could definitely use their skillsets. Robinson is big and physical, and would be a beast of a redzone target. (Riley Cooper -esque?) Lemons also seems to have a rare combination of size, power, and burst/speeed. I can't really think of a rb comparison for lemons, he is a very unique talent. The closest I can come up with is LE'VEON BELL. IMO, they both have crazy potential. I'M talking two elite offensive threats, that could get us over the hump and beat BAMA.

 

[GatorJ]

I agree about Lemons and Robinson. As for who will we get on the lines, it's very difficult to guess. Just because we keep missing on so many kids that seem to be leans. The good news is the staff had done a very good job with their plan B's.

I would say Herbert on the o-line. But it will be hard. I think he's teammates with Marco Wilson? If we can get him and one more O-line (4) we should be good to go.

I wouldn't mind one more elite DE. But it's not necessary.

We need two more DTs. The loss of Hansard was really tough.

One more linebacker. Another elite DB.

And an elite safety like Hunter would be ideal.

That would be around 9-10 kids and would pretty much fill out the class.

 

[aka]

Waiting for one of these in 3..2..1..

 

[CU-UF]

Dont you know, we suck? And this staff is already done. Now we are just killing time.

 

[Concrete Helmet]

The bowl game is the last chance to make a favorable impression IMO....Go out and get waxed by Iowa and we'll be fighting to keep the kids we already have and you can pretty much kiss Mac and his staff bye bye, although they'll still be here next year....News flash to those who haven't been paying attention, Muschamps defensive 4 and 5 star recruits are GONE.....If I'm missing a reason to believe next years offense can hang with anyone in a shootout please point that out to me....

 

[Concrete Helmet]

BTW has this staff even bothered to reach out to a true LOS TE? I'm not talking about another 215# project Hback hybrid either. I'm talking about the type who can use his 245-260# to seal a DE or crush a OLB and be a viable threat in the passing game.....Still not sure how you play power football without one?

 

[gators4224]

BTW has this staff even bothered to reach out to a true LOS TE? I'm not talking about another 215# project Hback hybrid either. I'm talking about the type who can use his 245-260# to seal a DE or crush a OLB and be a viable threat in the passing game.....Still not sure how you play power football without one?

I think Zech byrd can fill that void imo. He has good size for a LOS TE, and I think resembles a true power I TE. Although, he'll probably need to add more weight/bulk, but I think he has the frame to do it.

 

[GatorJ]

BTW has this staff even bothered to reach out to a true LOS TE? I'm not talking about another 215# project Hback hybrid either. I'm talking about the type who can use his 245-260# to seal a DE or crush a OLB and be a viable threat in the passing game.....Still not sure how you play power football without one?

Yes. To my understanding tight ends don't want to come here because of Nord. Some posters were saying that on some other threads.

 

[ergator920103]

As MooseDump so eloquently stated, the SEC is a Line Of Scrimmage league. So, we should be signing at least four OL & DL in every class.

This issue I see on the OL is that Summers is not a good OL coach.How many times this year has Mac said we can't block anyone for it to sink in that our OL is a weakness? Also, we have OL depth but, in my opinion, the vast majority of that OL depth, is not SEC caliber OL depth - so, we really have no depth.

 

[gators4224]

As MooseDump so eloquently stated, the SEC is a Line Of Scrimmage league. So, we should be signing at least four OL & DL in every class.

This issue I see on the OL is that Summers is not a good OL coach.How many times this year has Mac said we can't block anyone for it to sink in that our OL is a weakness? Also, we have OL depth but, in my opinion, the vast majority of that OL depth, is not SEC caliber OL depth - so, we really have no depth.

You're right, minimum 3 on each LOS each year but 4 would be more ideal just don't know if that's feasible to do numbers wise each year.

 

[Concrete Helmet]

Yes. To my understanding tight ends don't want to come here because of Nord. Some posters were saying that on some other threads.

How could I forget.....Hey I got an idea, if I were the coach whose offense was being held back by lack of a key position in my offensive structure I would fire the guy who chases the good prospects away....right?

 

[Swamp Donkey]

This issue I see on the OL is that Summers is not a good OL coach.How many times this year has Mac said we can't block anyone for it to sink in that our OL is a weakness? Also, we have OL depth but, in my opinion, the vast majority of that OL depth, is not SEC caliber OL depth - so, we really have no depth.

Im going to disagree to an extent. Id say he is reasonably competent. Remember Chimp left him with only a handful of OL, one of which is a failed DT and another is a project from Ariz who is really a 1aa or Div 2 kid. Given that he has been forced to play 3 freshmen OL last year and 4 freshmen OL last year, the fact that we dont get a sack every play has been a minor miracle. Getting freshmen ready to play in the SEC is a huge task

That being said, he is obviously a terrible, terrible recruiter. Id like to see him as a quality control assistant, kept on staff to cut practice tape ans correct the kids. Quality guys can actually have more contact than the position coach due to bizarre, archaic NCAA rules.

You can get by with one poor recruiter on the staff if he is a good coach.

You cant get by with a whole offensive staff full of guys who are poor recruiters. Even the "stars" of this staff are at best mediocre recruiters and are poor coaches.

 

[Concrete Helmet]

Im going to disagree to an extent. Id say he is reasonably competent. Remember Chimp left him with only a handful of OL, one of which is a failed DT and another is a project from Ariz who is really a 1aa or Div 2 kid. Given that he has been forced to play 3 freshmen OL last year and 4 freshmen OL last year, the fact that we dont get a sack every play has been a minor miracle. Getting freshmen ready to play in the SEC is a huge task

That being said, he is obviously a terrible, terrible recruiter. Id like to see him as a quality control assistant, kept on staff to cut practice tape ans correct the kids. Quality guys can actually have more contact than the position coach due to bizarre, archaic NCAA rules.

I agree with this, he's not a terrible line coach given the circumstances. I just wish he was a better recruiter.....The offensive line may end up being the best position group on the teams next year.....

 

[gators4224]

I agree with this, he's not a terrible line coach given the circumstances. I just wish he was a better recruiter.....The offensive line may end up being the best position group on the teams next year.....

It should be they'll all have depth and experience.

 

[Concrete Helmet]

It should be they'll all have depth and experience.

Agreed, that can't be overstated when it comes to offensive lines....talent is important but experience, depth and playing together are HUGE...

 

[ergator920103]

I agree with this, he's not a terrible line coach given the circumstances. I just wish he was a better recruiter.....The offensive line may end up being the best position group on the teams next year.....

Summers is the reason for these circumstances. Kids do want to play for him. And, he is a terrible recruiter. The OL played well in the second half against LSU but, other than that they were sh*tty. halF asS U destroyed our OL.

 

[Concrete Helmet]

Summers is the reason for these circumstances. Kids do want to play for him. And, he is a terrible recruiter. The OL played well in the second half against LSU but, other than that they were sh*tty. halF asS U destroyed our OL.

I won't disagree with that as they are still a work in progress, BUT average QB play can hide a lot of warts on a pigs a$$ and we haven't seen even average QB play since Will Grier got suspended....

 

[TheBigClaw]

Im going to disagree to an extent. Id say he is reasonably competent. Remember Chimp left him with only a handful of OL, one of which is a failed DT and another is a project from Ariz who is really a 1aa or Div 2 kid. Given that he has been forced to play 3 freshmen OL last year and 4 freshmen OL last year, the fact that we dont get a sack every play has been a minor miracle. Getting freshmen ready to play in the SEC is a huge task

That being said, he is obviously a terrible, terrible recruiter. Id like to see him as a quality control assistant, kept on staff to cut practice tape ans correct the kids. Quality guys can actually have more contact than the position coach due to bizarre, archaic NCAA rules.

You can get by with one poor recruiter on the staff if he is a good coach.

You cant get by with a whole offensive staff full of guys who are poor recruiters. Even the "stars" of this staff are at best mediocre recruiters and are poor coaches.

Completely agree with you here. Summers is a pretty decent coach but obviously a terrible recruiter. As you said, keep him on the staff as a quality control coach, this way he can continue to help develop the kids but doesn't have to recruit.

 

[Swamp Donkey]

Our OL was destined to be terrible bc of all the 2 OL classes we have recruited starting in the Daz years. Those 2011 guys should have been redshirt seniors in 2015. Imagine how different the season would have been with redshirt seniors and juniors in 2015.

The problem perpetuates itself we then are forced to play kids too soon. Injuries happen at a higher rate because they are playing before they are even big enough to play in the SEC and they forced to continue playing (Trip Thurman) even when injured due to lack of depth.

This says it all. Due to injuries and lack of development, you absolutely MUST sign 5 OL per year.

2009:
Halapeno (starter, started too soon due to lack of depth)
X Nixon (starter, started too soon due to lack of depth, left early)
Harrison (eventual starter)
Koehne (depth, injured multiple years
Alavajajay (transferred)

2010:
Green (starter)
Silberman (transfer)

2011:
Thurman (injured basically his whole career, tried to play anyway)
Tommy Jordan (injured, left team)

2012:
Humphries (played too soon due to lack of depth, left early)
Dunkerman (injured, left team)

2013:
Dillard (started too soon, seems like he may develop into a competent lineman)
Trent Brown (Juco, starter)
Rod Johnson (injury, left team)
Octavious Jackson (injury, left team)
Trevon Young (joke, basketball player)

2014:
David Sharpe (started to soon due to lack of depth, left early)
Kavaris Harkless (depth)
Travaris Dorsey (injured, left team)
Nolan Kelleher (injured, left team)
Drew Sarvary (injured, left team)
Andrew Mike (joke, not SEC level talent)

2015:
Jordan
Sandifer
Desir-Jones
Fred Johnson
Ivey
Buchanan

2016:
Forsythe
Heggie
Taylor

As you can see, 2009 was the last decent class. I guess 2015 may develop. At least the numbers are there, although the talent is questionable.

 

[GatorJ]

How could I forget.....Hey I got an idea, if I were the coach whose offense was being held back by lack of a key position in my offensive structure I would fire the guy who chases the good prospects away....right?

You'd think