Offensive line

magpie

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The offensive line is beyond suspect. The ends are atrocious. How do we provide better protection in Big Ten play?
 


F-ing atrocious is the only way to look at it. They manhandled us. Just look at their defensive line and how they look compared to ours. There is no comparison.
 

Faalele and Dunlap are redshirting, and I think Blaise Andries is going to be very good before he is done here.
 

Remember when people thought Greene could be drafted???
 


Our o-line needs to look in their mirrors tonight and decide if they ever want to step on a football field again. They got abused all game long.
 

Right and Left tackles not good today. # 80 the tight end clueless blocker. Only center and Left guard are playing Big 10 caliber right now. None of the backs know how to block, chip or release, they are young guys but need to learn to help pick up pressure. They converted zero third down plays in the first half not a sign of good offense. Johnson drops and lousy blocking is not worthy of captains C. You wear the C your expected to be leader and make plays. I get it they lost a teammate and it probably weighed heavier on the team then I thought. Thought they would be excited for game. Zach # 5 throws were off today. Chalk it up to a bad football game, and a lesson Big 10 games will be tough all year. Big 10 games are a grind, Maryland had it far too easy with home run plays. Team needs to improve a lot the next two weeks or season will be a bust. Health and recuperation, needed. Game tape show the mistakes then burn the film.

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Ok here is a big thing — and they’re going to see this on film — having the TE stay in and go 1-on-1 with a bull rushing DE or even blitzing LB is a recipe for disaster!

This happened a couple times at least. And people probably just assumed it was the OT. No, it was the TE!


Now that doesn’t mean that the actual OTs didn’t get abused on pass pro. They did, badly at times. But just wanted to make this point, as it was a bit mind boggling at times. This is something that needs to be fixed.
 

The tackles, Kieft were bad on my first watch but I just watched 64 get schooled as well on my rewatch.
 



The tackles, Kieft were bad on my first watch but I just watched 64 get schooled as well on my rewatch.

Kieft (#42) got bulldozed a couple times at least. Having him stay in to pass pro a rusher off the edge is ludicrous. They will see this on film, and HOPE change the scheme.
 


Today is part of the reason that I am more than a little perplexed on why we only have one lineman commit in the 2019 class. We simply don't have the talent or size to be going thin on O-Line recruits imo.
 

Faalele and Dunlap are redshirting, and I think Blaise Andries is going to be very good before he is done here.

we cant afford that they need to play the rest of the season.
 



we cant afford that they need to play the rest of the season.

Everyone assumes there two are ready to start based on ??? Maybe they are, but I think this team is building for 2020. Not 2018. We’ll be happy they redshirted.
 


Today is part of the reason that I am more than a little perplexed on why we only have one lineman commit in the 2019 class. We simply don't have the talent or size to be going thin on O-Line recruits imo.

This. You can never have enough offensive linemen.

I have always thought, so do other people that we have a suspect O-Line. Part of this is the legacy classes have a big gap of missing OLs. That is why PJ Fleck signed 7 in 2018.

They are going to get better. I know that PJ Fleck's darlings are the WR as he has gotten three WR commits for 2019 as well as 2018. The problem is we have only one OL commit for 2019, and the top targets have gone or will go elsewhere.
 

Linemate who started against Maryland last year is dead. Funeral soon. Good to have bye this coming weekend. Forget about this crap day.

Go Gophers!
 

Today is part of the reason that I am more than a little perplexed on why we only have one lineman commit in the 2019 class. We simply don't have the talent or size to be going thin on O-Line recruits imo.

This had been a complaint of mine as well, but I think i understand the thinking now. We took 6 in last years class so if they pan out, we will have good numbers and depth in a few years. We have 2 commits in this class, and would likely add a 3rd if we can get a blue chip prospect.
 

Our lack of quality upperclassman on the lines is maddening. If It is this sad by Flecks fourth year he will be out of a job soon after. As much as I was a killer fan, the QB and OL recruitment and development were a frustration for me.
 

This o-line, specifically the right side but with both Ends, have been beaten bad by every team we played. Watching NMSU best then to get to Zach, i knew we were in trouble..
 

This had been a complaint of mine as well, but I think i understand the thinking now. We took 6 in last years class so if they pan out, we will have good numbers and depth in a few years. We have 2 commits in this class, and would likely add a 3rd if we can get a blue chip prospect.

Tyler Cooper is a walk-on. We only have one scholie commit - JJ Guedet. BUt, I guess I don't care if one of them is a PWO. We need two or three each class.

If you look at the Wisconsin OL classes, several OLs don't make it all the way to their Senior year. Career ending injuries and other factors come in play. If the Gophers end up losing two in a class, it can be a really big deal.

The Gophers OL hearts are probably heavy today with the impending funeral of one their own linemen. Yes, let them take this Bye Week off and the team attend the funeral of their fallen team mate.

I sensed that PJ Fleck is building a team that is really close, and I look forward to their future development and success on the playing field and in life.

Today's game is not as important. There is something more important in life than football as the team is probably feeling right now.
 

we cant afford that they need to play the rest of the season.
I'm pretty sure they will both get plenty of time in the last 4 games (and maintain their redshirts).
 

This o-line, specifically the right side but with both Ends, have been beaten bad by every team we played. Watching NMSU best then to get to Zach, i knew we were in trouble..
This. That is why that 9-3 talk was foolish. .500 will be tough. Also not interested in hearing how 500 is good enough for fans now two years after the team went nine and four. Claeys wouldn’t have coached last year‘s team past five wins either. He wouldn’t have had much of a roster to work with either. His team this year would also have been quite young. Hopefully Fleck can get it built up. I think he’ll have time to do it, but if it doesn’t start up front it won’t get built. His top recruits this past year had better turn out and hopefully they can be solid already by their second year in the program.
 

Tyler Cooper is a walk-on. We only have one scholie commit - JJ Guedet. BUt, I guess I don't care if one of them is a PWO. We need two or three each class.

If you look at the Wisconsin OL classes, several OLs don't make it all the way to their Senior year. Career ending injuries and other factors come in play. If the Gophers end up losing two in a class, it can be a really big deal.

The Gophers OL hearts are probably heavy today with the impending funeral of one their own linemen. Yes, let them take this Bye Week off and the team attend the funeral of their fallen team mate.

I sensed that PJ Fleck is building a team that is really close, and I look forward to their future development and success on the playing field and in life.

Today's game is not as important. There is something more important in life than football as the team is probably feeling right now.

Cooper is a potential gray shirt and will be a scholarship player either next year or in 2020. I agree we should take 3 o-linemen every class, and we still might be able to in this class.
 

This o-line, specifically the right side but with both Ends, have been beaten bad by every team we played. Watching NMSU best then to get to Zach, i knew we were in trouble..

Our tailgating crew thought the same thing.
 

The offensive line is beyond suspect. The ends are atrocious. How do we provide better protection in Big Ten play?

It's amazing to me that you made this post 4 minutes BEFORE you started the thread which I won't even bother to name. You have identified one of the main issues with the team (the offensive line) and yet, you wonder about the head coach. How exactly did you expect the head coach to fix an offensive line by the first B1G game of his second year on the job? Go back to 2015 and look at that recruiting class of players that should be your Redshirt Juniors on the OL: Nick Connelly had to give up football due to concussions and sadly passed away, Tyler Moore transferred and then gave up football, Ted Stieber left the team and I assume gave up football, Bronson Dovich is a backup who can't get on the field, and Quinn Oseland is a backup that can't get on the field. Go back to 2014 and you get Jared Weyler as a redshirt senior in your starting lineup and Connor Mayes and Luke Rasmussen as guys who left the program. This program hasn't had an Offensive Lineman drafted in a decade and not being able to match up physically in the trenches is nothing new at Minnesota. It takes time to develop Offensive Lineman, and it you didn't have good prospects already being developed when you got the job, you aren't magically going to have a solid Offensive Line in year two of your program.

The Defensive Line is in much the same position. The Gophers took a grand total of two Defensive Lineman in 2015 in the (then and still) undersized Winston DeLattiboudere and the since transferred Mose Hall. They didn't have another power 5 offer between them. 2016 featured Carter Coughlin who is the only End doing anything right now, Merrick Jackson who had an unspectacular career as a JUCO, Tai'yon Devers, and TaMarion Johnson who was kicked out of school. Those two years combine for exactly zero DT's still on the roster and 3 defensive ends who are all built more like LB's than DE's. Is it any surprise that B1G teams run through the Gophers?

We don't know how Fleck is recruiting in the trenches yet, because guys (with the exception of JUCO's, Ben Davis looks like a miss) are too young to be expected to play yet. Almost of equal importance is that the jury is still very much out on Dan Nichol as strength coach. Can he get this group looking like the Wisconsin's and Iowa's of the world? In many cases, there lineman have looked both bigger AND leaner than the Gophers for a long, long time.
 

It's amazing to me that you made this post 4 minutes BEFORE you started the thread which I won't even bother to name. You have identified one of the main issues with the team (the offensive line) and yet, you wonder about the head coach. How exactly did you expect the head coach to fix an offensive line by the first B1G game of his second year on the job? Go back to 2015 and look at that recruiting class of players that should be your Redshirt Juniors on the OL: Nick Connelly had to give up football due to concussions and sadly passed away, Tyler Moore transferred and then gave up football, Ted Stieber left the team and I assume gave up football, Bronson Dovich is a backup who can't get on the field, and Quinn Oseland is a backup that can't get on the field. Go back to 2014 and you get Jared Weyler as a redshirt senior in your starting lineup and Connor Mayes and Luke Rasmussen as guys who left the program. This program hasn't had an Offensive Lineman drafted in a decade and not being able to match up physically in the trenches is nothing new at Minnesota. It takes time to develop Offensive Lineman, and it you didn't have good prospects already being developed when you got the job, you aren't magically going to have a solid Offensive Line in year two of your program.

The Defensive Line is in much the same position. The Gophers took a grand total of two Defensive Lineman in 2015 in the (then and still) undersized Winston DeLattiboudere and the since transferred Mose Hall. They didn't have another power 5 offer between them. 2016 featured Carter Coughlin who is the only End doing anything right now, Merrick Jackson who had an unspectacular career as a JUCO, Tai'yon Devers, and TaMarion Johnson who was kicked out of school. Those two years combine for exactly zero DT's still on the roster and 3 defensive ends who are all built more like LB's than DE's. Is it any surprise that B1G teams run through the Gophers?

We don't know how Fleck is recruiting in the trenches yet, because guys (with the exception of JUCO's, Ben Davis looks like a miss) are too young to be expected to play yet. Almost of equal importance is that the jury is still very much out on Dan Nichol as strength coach. Can he get this group looking like the Wisconsin's and Iowa's of the world? In many cases, there lineman have looked both bigger AND leaner than the Gophers for a long, long time.

+1000
 

It's amazing to me that you made this post 4 minutes BEFORE you started the thread which I won't even bother to name. You have identified one of the main issues with the team (the offensive line) and yet, you wonder about the head coach. How exactly did you expect the head coach to fix an offensive line by the first B1G game of his second year on the job? Go back to 2015 and look at that recruiting class of players that should be your Redshirt Juniors on the OL: Nick Connelly had to give up football due to concussions and sadly passed away, Tyler Moore transferred and then gave up football, Ted Stieber left the team and I assume gave up football, Bronson Dovich is a backup who can't get on the field, and Quinn Oseland is a backup that can't get on the field. Go back to 2014 and you get Jared Weyler as a redshirt senior in your starting lineup and Connor Mayes and Luke Rasmussen as guys who left the program. This program hasn't had an Offensive Lineman drafted in a decade and not being able to match up physically in the trenches is nothing new at Minnesota. It takes time to develop Offensive Lineman, and it you didn't have good prospects already being developed when you got the job, you aren't magically going to have a solid Offensive Line in year two of your program.

The Defensive Line is in much the same position. The Gophers took a grand total of two Defensive Lineman in 2015 in the (then and still) undersized Winston DeLattiboudere and the since transferred Mose Hall. They didn't have another power 5 offer between them. 2016 featured Carter Coughlin who is the only End doing anything right now, Merrick Jackson who had an unspectacular career as a JUCO, Tai'yon Devers, and TaMarion Johnson who was kicked out of school. Those two years combine for exactly zero DT's still on the roster and 3 defensive ends who are all built more like LB's than DE's. Is it any surprise that B1G teams run through the Gophers?

We don't know how Fleck is recruiting in the trenches yet, because guys (with the exception of JUCO's, Ben Davis looks like a miss) are too young to be expected to play yet. Almost of equal importance is that the jury is still very much out on Dan Nichol as strength coach. Can he get this group looking like the Wisconsin's and Iowa's of the world? In many cases, there lineman have looked both bigger AND leaner than the Gophers for a long, long time.

This post is spot on and should be read by everyone. Great analysis.
 

It's amazing to me that you made this post 4 minutes BEFORE you started the thread which I won't even bother to name. You have identified one of the main issues with the team (the offensive line) and yet, you wonder about the head coach. How exactly did you expect the head coach to fix an offensive line by the first B1G game of his second year on the job? Go back to 2015 and look at that recruiting class of players that should be your Redshirt Juniors on the OL: Nick Connelly had to give up football due to concussions and sadly passed away, Tyler Moore transferred and then gave up football, Ted Stieber left the team and I assume gave up football, Bronson Dovich is a backup who can't get on the field, and Quinn Oseland is a backup that can't get on the field. Go back to 2014 and you get Jared Weyler as a redshirt senior in your starting lineup and Connor Mayes and Luke Rasmussen as guys who left the program. This program hasn't had an Offensive Lineman drafted in a decade and not being able to match up physically in the trenches is nothing new at Minnesota. It takes time to develop Offensive Lineman, and it you didn't have good prospects already being developed when you got the job, you aren't magically going to have a solid Offensive Line in year two of your program.

The Defensive Line is in much the same position. The Gophers took a grand total of two Defensive Lineman in 2015 in the (then and still) undersized Winston DeLattiboudere and the since transferred Mose Hall. They didn't have another power 5 offer between them. 2016 featured Carter Coughlin who is the only End doing anything right now, Merrick Jackson who had an unspectacular career as a JUCO, Tai'yon Devers, and TaMarion Johnson who was kicked out of school. Those two years combine for exactly zero DT's still on the roster and 3 defensive ends who are all built more like LB's than DE's. Is it any surprise that B1G teams run through the Gophers?

We don't know how Fleck is recruiting in the trenches yet, because guys (with the exception of JUCO's, Ben Davis looks like a miss) are too young to be expected to play yet. Almost of equal importance is that the jury is still very much out on Dan Nichol as strength coach. Can he get this group looking like the Wisconsin's and Iowa's of the world? In many cases, there lineman have looked both bigger AND leaner than the Gophers for a long, long time.
Great post!

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It’s very possible and likely there is a talent deficit but the fact is none of those outside highly recruited Andries are freshmen and none are first year guys. It’s the coaches job to pull performance out of their guys or scheme a way to compensate. Having a largely immobile QB in there exacerbated the problems.
 




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