Dennis_DeYoung
New Fish
I don't know, Roadie. Our primary back-ups at tackle that Strausser's recruited are Hilbers & Burleson. If that doesn't scare the shit out of you, it should.
James will be a redshirt junior this year... so if he's planning on being serviceable, he should probably get going with that pretty soon.
There's so much dead weight on this OL roster, and there have been so many misses on highly recruited guys. The top end talent (outside of our two starting tackles) is pretty fucking terrible. And our depth is alarmingly bad. When a 6"1 270lb true freshman beats out every other guard you've recruited/coached for the last three years... then you haven't done a good enough job recruiting or developing the position. At some point Strausser can't always get a free pass.
Decent OL class this year despite the misses. There are still a lot of younger guys that haven't really played yet.
I'm anxious to see how Wattenberg, Hillbers, and Roberts look. I expect Harris to be much better. Maybe Burleson comes around. My early guess is Wattenberg wins the LG job based on Strausser's comments.
The line will be very good next year. The arguments both ways are valid. We "may" have some depth issues and we didn't pull in the elite guys, but there should also be a realization that the
much maligned OL will probably be the best in the conference next year.
I agree that Strausser doesn't get a never ending pass, but he gets one until the OL sucks. We got mauled against Alabama. Hopefully this OL gets another shot to be tested in a game like that again.
I'm not sure the line will be 'very good' next year. Our tackles, provided there are no injuries, look fantastic. Strausser deserves credit for the way he's developed those two dudes. He also deserves some credit for the jump that Eldrenkamp made this season.
But on the interior next year, you have Coleman, who IMO is the very definition of passably average, at center. Then you have Harris, who was a 270lb true freshman this year at one guard spot, and Twattenberg, who has never played a single down of college football at the other guard. Combine that with the fact that everything behind them (Turner, Sossebee, Kirkland, James) has done positively fuck-all the last four years under Strausser.... and you have a lot of reason for concern.
We should both agree that if you're recruiting and developing your OL roster properly you shouldn't, four years in, be starting a guy who's never played in a game before (Twattenberg), on a team that's expected to compete for a playoff spot. Just like you never should've had to play/start a 270lb true freshman last year.
Strausser put together a solid OL this season... they got exposed by Bama, but Bama exposed a lot of people. But his OL's the previous 2 seasons certainly weren't anything special. That basically means you have a coach who has produced a good unit one out of his three seasons so far, while also proving to be a collossal liability on the recruiting trail.
Yet guys like Bananas & Waffle, who are really good poasters, have Straussers testes crammed so far down their collective esophagus (shout out to @EsophagealTestes!!1!)... that they literally believe the man can do no wrong. It's weird.
Gunt, you are a very good poster. I just can't get on board with the thought the OL won't be very good next year.
We mostly mauled teams last year. 4 of 5 starters are back. I don't love Shelton, but the coaches do and he is a preseason All Pac 12 player. The white TE's return. We are in a good place for next year.
What you are continually fail to understand is that any negative OL talk isn't about 2017 ... it SHOULD be just fine.
Have you thought about 2018 at all? What odds do you give to Adams leaving early? What about McGary? Odds of at least one? What about both?
Which of the following T prospects give you a lot of confidence going forward in 2018 (with their class at that point):
Matt James (RS SR), Jared Hilbers (RS JR), Devin Burleson (RS JR), Henry Bainivalu (RS Frosh), or Jaxson Kirkland (RS Frosh)? And if you listen to DDY, Bainivalu is likely a better G than T prospect.
Assuming that Nick Harris moves to C after Coleman Shelton's graduation, what guard prospects give you a lot of confidence going forward:
Jesse Sosebee (RS SR), Henry Roberts (RS JR), Luke Wattenburg (RS Soph), Cole Norgaard (RS Frosh)? Maybe you have hope for John Turner in his RS SR year?
At this point, I can say that I don't have a lot of confidence in James, Hilbers, Burleson, Sosebee, Roberts, or Turner due to their to date development and/or pedigree. You could twist my arm into saying that Hilbers and Roberts at least have some hope for it eventually clicking for them.
The 2017 class will likely be better than the balance of the last few years. It highlights how important it is for the 2018 class to be huge because the depth of talent in the OL right now isn't great.
We're heading to a point down the road where the underlying talent IF it doesn't develop is going to absolutely under mind the rest of the entire program.
I hate to be that guy... but we have some guys next year on our board who could be year-1 guys (Jaramillo, for example).
I am confident that, with the examples of Jake Eldrenkamp, Nick Harris, and Coleman Shelton, this staff can both evaluate and develop All-PAC talent.
Nick Harris was a 2* guard. Norgaard is a 2* OT. In 3 years, both those guys could be starters for a National Championship-level team.
Every single player up there with the exception of Norgaard is a higher rated recruit than Nick Harris- who was a PAC-12 starting guard for the best team in the conference as a freshman, on the best offensive line. Henry Roberts and Luke Wattenberg are both going to be very good to elite guards for us, as is Bainivalu. Norgaard and Kirkland are high-upside projects (esp. Norgaard), and Kirkland can start with 2 years of development and play well.
Because who the hell was Eldrenkamp 2 years ago? Nick who? Coleman Shelton is still on the team? 3* recruit Trey Adams at LT? Kaleb McGary isn't at LT???
Oh, look, that line was the best in the conference last year. That gives me complete and utter confidence in our offensive line's future.
So, short answer: Yes, it will develop, and will get better. Maybe we won't be Stanford (seriously? Little and Sarell?), but we can be elite.
I hate to be that guy but most of what you're saying in this is wrong and stupid.
1. We aren't getting Jaramillo or any other top rated kid unless something very unexpected happens. Playing true frosh on the OL says you don't know what you're doing unless you are getting ELITE players.
2. Coleman Shelton, if you actually watch the games, is average.
3. Norgaard is a 3-star kid (so was Harris).
4. Using Nick Harris as an example of anything but a failure to develop players in front of him is FS.
5. USC's OL was better than ours and Utah's was just as good. We had tremendous play on the left side of our line and good play on the right side against mid and lower tier opponents.
6. Kirkland isn't a project you fuckhead, he had shit grades. He's a fucking rare beast that would've had a lot more offers if his core wasn't a 2.05 at the beginning of his senior season.
7. Eldrenkamp 2 years ago was a guy who had gotten good reviews his whole time, was developing and took a starting spot when it was his time.
8. Trey Adams was a 4-star you piece of monkey shit (also, probably should've been a 5-star).
You are a fucking moron.