I know we all spun the guy up into a combination of Chuck Norris and Zeus prior to the season, but it doesn't seem to be going very well. Discuss.
I guess talk of him leaving early for the NFL will slow down.
OL is tough, it takes time. The best thing I can say about them at this point is that they will all be back next year.
Fleck has been quoted as saying that are number 51 has the best feet of any offensive lineman I don't understand why they don't move the big tackle down to guard and move the other guy out to tackle you would be much more effective as a guard where he's not out in space and he could use his strength to get off the ball in his size and the guy with Good Feet is needed more on the outside.
Perhaps moving Andries to the other side wasn't such a good idea. Him and big Dan looked really good last year, now with Dunlop in that spot that side of the line isn't as strong right now.
"Should he be starting?" is a different question than "is he playing well?" Tough to argue he is playing well right now, but if he shouldn't be starting, that means we have someone on the bench who could do better. I'm not confident that that is the case.
How does Wisconsin do it?
Faalele wasn't an outstanding OT last year. He was a player with tremendous physical attributes who obviously has the potential to be outstanding. But he really wasn't much more or less effective than any other starter on the OL the second half of last year.
Like the entire team, he's not playing up to expectations right now.
That being said, I don't for one second believe they have someone on the team who would be better at RT.
Same thing for coaching. Last year's OL performed remarkably well, after Faalele was inserted. I mean, it was damn impressive. A lot of the credit for that has to go to OL coach Brian Callahan. So I ain't about to throw him off a cliff for a shaky start this year with two new starters. Patience.
There ain't much to be happy about so far this year. Other than the 3-0 record.
The next five games will likely explain what we've witnessed the last three weeks. Either we're a team that -- yes -- refuses to lose, or we're a team that can barely hold its own against the second tier.
I expect we'll see some of both.
JTG
Agreed with those pointing out that the question is ... who would be better?
I don't think there's a clear answer to that and I expect DF to remain a starter. I also expect Big Ten teams to pick on him a lot with speed rushers and line stunts until he and his linemates get it sorted.
I know we all spun the guy up into a combination of Chuck Norris and Zeus prior to the season, but it doesn't seem to be going very well. Discuss.
I don't think there's a clear answer to that and I expect DF to remain a starter. I also expect Big Ten teams to pick on him a lot with speed rushers and line stunts until he and his linemates get it sorted.
Yep. I think the film is out there now, and the blood is in the water: the way you beat these big MN boys is you run right around them with speed and stunts. They're too big and slow to stop it.
LOL, yeah I thought this after he got straight abused by a Sunbelt DE on that last drive. I shudder to think what Iowa's DL will do against us. That said, like much of the OL there's tons of raw talent there -- just no cohesiveness or consistency.