ESPN OL Rankings

[Big4Dawg]

http://espn.go.com/blog/sec/post/_/id/84151/sec-position-rankings-offensive-line-5

Ranked 7th. About what I expected.

7. Mississippi State: The heart and soul of Mississippi State?s line a year ago, mammoth guard Gabe Jackson, is gone, but look for senior center Dillon Day to fill that role in 2014. The Bulldogs also return junior Blaine Clausell at left tackle and senior Ben Beckwith at right guard. One of the keys will be junior Justin Malone staying healthy after missing most of last season with a foot injury. He brings experience, size and talent to the interior of that line.

Clausell is a senior. And Malonee doesn't bring anything to the interior.

[Esmerelda Villalobos]

If we really have the 7th best OL in the sec, we might go undefeated.

[Coach34]

I've been trying to tell you people our OL is solid

[dickiedawg]

That's what I'm thinking. Certainly our biggest question mark (besides Kicker) and maybe the only thing between us and ELITE status. If it's top-half of the conference, look out.

[Johnson85]

http://espn.go.com/blog/sec/post/_/id/84151/sec-position-rankings-offensive-line-5

Ranked 7th. About what I expected.

7. Mississippi State: The heart and soul of Mississippi State?s line a year ago, mammoth guard Gabe Jackson, is gone, but look for senior center Dillon Day to fill that role in 2014. The Bulldogs also return junior Blaine Clausell at left tackle and senior Ben Beckwith at right guard. One of the keys will be junior Justin Malone staying healthy after missing most of last season with a foot injury. He brings experience, size and talent to the interior of that line.

Clausell is a senior. And Malonee doesn't bring anything to the interior.

Kind of hard to fault them for thinking Malone will stay at guard. If we had/have a right tackle we're comfortable with, he probably would stay at guard. Then we'd have three solid guards and three solid tackles.

[engie]

Malone has always been a tackle.... Hev just teaches the offensive line inside out, and our situation was dire at guard in terms of depth the past 2 years. Now that we've got depth there, we can allow him to transition to his natural position...

[Coach34]

Malone has always been a tackle.... Hev just teaches the offensive line inside out, and our situation was dire at guard in terms of depth the past 2 years. Now that we've got depth there, we can allow him to transition to his natural position...

exactly

Malone is 6'7, 300+ and has great feet. He is a natural OT

[Political Hack]

Malone has always been a tackle.... Hev just teaches the offensive line inside out, and our situation was dire at guard in terms of depth the past 2 years. Now that we've got depth there, we can allow him to transition to his natural position...

agree. that dude was made to play RT in the NFL.

[msstate7]

I feel we'll breeze thru our first 3 games. That said do you think we'll continue to play guys like Malone in games we're dominating to get them ready for lsu?

[War Machine Dawg]

If anyone was worried about our first 6-7 OL, they were crazy. Clausell, Clayborne, Day, Malone, Beckwith, and Joc Johnson is a very good group of OL. It's the OL from 8 and after that is the concern. We all know Damien Robinson is a bust. People are raving about Justin Senior, but he hasn't shown it on the field yet. Jake Thomas is still very young. If we get any more than 1-2 serious OL issues, we're in trouble. One of the biggest keys to the season will be staying healthy up front.

[maroonmania]

7th is definitely generous and I would take that all day. We have 2 proven guys in Day and Clausell (not all-SEC like Jackson but solid) and then beyond that its all pretty much unproven guys that we hope can get the job done.

[smootness]

7th is definitely generous and I would take that all day. We have 2 proven guys in Day and Clausell (not all-SEC like Jackson but solid) and then beyond that its all pretty much unproven guys that we hope can get the job done.

I wouldn't really call the rest unproven. They haven't necessarily proven that they're All-SEC caliber, but we know quite a bit about Clayborn, Beckwith, and Malone.

[maroonmania]

I wouldn't really call the rest unproven. They haven't necessarily proven that they're All-SEC caliber, but we know quite a bit about Clayborn, Beckwith, and Malone.

Even though a walk on, I agree that at this point Beckwith is not unproven. Clayborn and Malone both have great potential but both have played very limited snaps in the SEC with one playing some as a RFr before injury and the other playing some as a true freshman so I certainly wouldn't call them proven.

[Coach34]

Even though a walk on, I agree that at this point Beckwith is not unproven. Clayborn and Malone both have great potential but both have played very limited snaps in the SEC with one playing some as a RFr before injury and the other playing some as a true freshman so I certainly wouldn't call them proven.

Malone has started 7-8 games. Thats a little more than "limited"

[Thick]

What about Desper?

[engie]

7th is definitely generous and I would take that all day. We have 2 proven guys in Day and Clausell (not all-SEC like Jackson but solid) and then beyond that its all pretty much unproven guys that we hope can get the job done.

I count 6 proven guys that have gotten over lots of snaps in SEC games. We're one of the top 30 most experienced OLs in the country in terms of starts.

Senior started and played an entire SEC game last year at LT. No one even noticed. That's how you know a player is going to be good. We sure noticed when Robinson was on the field. Malone had 5 starts and played in 13 games as a rsFR. Clayborn played a bunch of snaps last year. We know what Beckwith is after 12 starts last year.

Then, you've got Johnson as a JUCO, Desper and Carter entering their 3rd and vital years, Muniz and Robinson who are decent depth guys as upperclassmen, and you've got Flowers and Thomas in their second year.

Our OL situation is the best it's been under Mullen depthwise -- bar none.

[EdDawg]

Depth wise on the interior, yes our oline is solid. However, if Malone doesn't pan out at tackle or we for some reason have to move him back inside and start Robinson it may turn into one of the worst olines in Mullen's tenure. It's like taking 5 tests in a class, sure you got 2 A's and 2 B's but that one F you got really pulls your grades down.

[BeardoMSU]

If we really have the 7th best OL in the sec, we might go undefeated.

This^^^^^^

[Johnson85]

If anyone was worried about our first 6-7 OL, they were crazy. Clausell, Clayborne, Day, Malone, Beckwith, and Joc Johnson is a very good group of OL. It's the OL from 8 and after that is the concern. We all know Damien Robinson is a bust. People are raving about Justin Senior, but he hasn't shown it on the field yet. Jake Thomas is still very young. If we get any more than 1-2 serious OL issues, we're in trouble. One of the biggest keys to the season will be staying healthy up front.

Is Joc Johnson really a can't miss solid JUCO transfer? I agree that Clausell, Clayborne, Day, Malone, and Beckwith are all proven to be adequate to good. But that is basically a one deep. Hopefully Johnson is good and relying on Engie's comment about Senior playing an entire SEC game and nobody noticing, I would say that means Senior is probably another.

[Coach34]

I think Warren is someone else that is going to get better quickly as he gets more reps

[Johnson85]

exactly

Malone is 6'7, 300+ and has great feet. He is a natural OT

If Senior is good enough to be a swing backup OT, that means we need either Malone or Joc Johnson to be able to play guard, correct? Do we know whether it will be Malone or Johnson acting as the third guard? Or do we have a underclassman guard the staff feels like is ready to pair with Clayborne and Beckwith?

[Coach34]

I think Flowers or even Johnson are going to be the back-up Guards.

Robinson and Warren are likely to be Malone's back-ups at RT
Senior gonna back-up Clausell
That leaves Flowers and Johnson backing up Clayborn and Beckwith

[Political Hack]

Depth wise on the interior, yes our oline is solid. However, if Malone doesn't pan out at tackle or we for some reason have to move him back inside and start Robinson it may turn into one of the worst olines in Mullen's tenure. It's like taking 5 tests in a class, sure you got 2 A's and 2 B's but that one F you got really pulls your grades down.

I can understand that point of view too. If something happens at OT this year, we could be screwed.

[engie]

Depth wise on the interior, yes our oline is solid. However, if Malone doesn't pan out at tackle or we for some reason have to move him back inside and start Robinson it may turn into one of the worst olines in Mullen's tenure. It's like taking 5 tests in a class, sure you got 2 A's and 2 B's but that one F you got really pulls your grades down.

Sure, if we lost 2 of the 3 tackles that would play ahead of Robinson...

Why focus on worst case scenario? No one in the country can survive losing multiple tackles to injury. No one..

[engie]

I think Flowers or even Johnson are going to be the back-up Guards.

Robinson and Warren are likely to be Malone's back-ups at RT
Senior gonna back-up Clausell
That leaves Flowers and Johnson backing up Clayborn and Beckwith

Exactly. The pecking order is pretty clear everywhere other than where Johnson will actually play.

[Madisonmd]

Another O-lineman tells me Johnson was lost in spring and facing possible RS, wouldn't factor him in just yet

[dawgs]

If anyone was worried about our first 6-7 OL, they were crazy. Clausell, Clayborne, Day, Malone, Beckwith, and Joc Johnson is a very good group of OL. It's the OL from 8 and after that is the concern. We all know Damien Robinson is a bust. People are raving about Justin Senior, but he hasn't shown it on the field yet. Jake Thomas is still very young. If we get any more than 1-2 serious OL issues, we're in trouble. One of the biggest keys to the season will be staying healthy up front.

Anyone that has 3+ serious OL injuries, especially overlapping, is going to have trouble.

[Coach34]

Anyone that has 3+ serious OL injuries, especially overlapping, is going to have trouble.

exactly

[Political Hack]

Another O-lineman tells me Johnson was lost in spring and facing possible RS, wouldn't factor him in just yet

tend to agree here.

[War Machine Dawg]

I think Warren is someone else that is going to get better quickly as he gets more reps

Forgot about Warren, but I agree. Converted TEs seem to do well at T once they get the scheme down.

As for Joc Johson, you don't sign a JUCO unless you believe he's at the very least capable of playing a significant number of snaps, but most likely capable of starting. I trust Mullen & Co to evaluate JUCO guys capable of helping us. We haven't had any real huge misses in that department so far. Yes, Autry wasn't up to the hype, but he wasn't terrible, either.

[Johnson85]

Forgot about Warren, but I agree. Converted TEs seem to do well at T once they get the scheme down.

As for Joc Johson, you don't sign a JUCO unless you believe he's at the very least capable of playing a significant number of snaps, but most likely capable of starting. I trust Mullen & Co to evaluate JUCO guys capable of helping us. We haven't had any real huge misses in that department so far. Yes, Autry wasn't up to the hype, but he wasn't terrible, either.

Missed on trapp. But I'm not as worried about them misevaluating Johnson as I am worried he was down their board to begin with. I was thinking we picked him up after missing on several other choices.

[Johnson85]

I think Flowers or even Johnson are going to be the back-up Guards.

Robinson and Warren are likely to be Malone's back-ups at RT
Senior gonna back-up Clausell
That leaves Flowers and Johnson backing up Clayborn and Beckwith

I was hoping that we'd upgrade at guard enough for Beckwith to be a back-up. Just figured since he was backing up Malone before, it would be a good sign if he ended up a back-up guard as far as the quality of our at guard.

[engie]

Missed on trapp. But I'm not as worried about them misevaluating Johnson as I am worried he was down their board to begin with. I was thinking we picked him up after missing on several other choices.

Johnson committed May 22nd last year. Backup plans don't get to commit 7 mo before their(early) signing period...

He was the #1 or #2 overall JUCO OL on our board last year along with Gennessy...

[Coach34]

I was hoping that we'd upgrade at guard enough for Beckwith to be a back-up. Just figured since he was backing up Malone before, it would be a good sign if he ended up a back-up guard as far as the quality of our at guard.

well, he was a back-up because Jackson and Malone are real ****ing good. Beckwith played solid ball last year.

[Political Hack]

Clayborne, Day, and Beckwith will be one of the better interior OL combos in the league.

Having Clausell, Malone, Senior, Warren, Johnson, Flowers, Jake, and Robinson to fill two OT spots and a few back up slots is pretty solid. I'm more worried about OT next year, but that worry may go away during this season. Robinson is probably 7-9 in the rotation by the time the season starts, which is notable since he's been a top 6-7 guy for more than 1 year now.

[Big4Dawg]

At least we are far removed from starting a converted DT at LT

[Johnson85]

Johnson committed May 22nd last year. Backup plans don't get to commit 7 mo before their(early) signing period...

He was the #1 or #2 overall JUCO OL on our board last year along with Gennessy...

Not sure why I thought that. Maybe I just remember us missing on some other JUCO targets and didn't realize Johnson had already committed.

[Bubb Rubb]

I've been trying to tell you people our OL is solid


What do you mean, "you people"?

[Johnson85]

well, he was a back-up because Jackson and Malone are real ****ing good. Beckwith played solid ball last year.

I don't have any complaints about how Beckwith played last year although I realize my comment probably looks like I did. My main concern is RT, and Beckwith being the backup G would make me feel better because it would mean either Malone ended up back starting at guard, which would indicate the coaches felt like we were solid at right tackle that we didn't need to move Malone over or somebody like Johnson ended up starting at guard, which would indicate that we could be moving Malone over just as much because we are set at G and RT is his natural position, not because we have to move him because we don't have another option at RT.

[War Machine Dawg]

Anyone that has 3+ serious OL injuries, especially overlapping, is going to have trouble.

Totally agree. Just trying to state the obvious that OL depth is a tricky thing in general and staying healthy is key. Overall, I'm not too worried about it, other than how RT shakes out. I'm convinced we'll be solid at the other 4 spots.

[War Machine Dawg]

I don't have any complaints about how Beckwith played last year although I realize my comment probably looks like I did. My main concern is RT, and Beckwith being the backup G would make me feel better because it would mean either Malone ended up back starting at guard, which would indicate the coaches felt like we were solid at right tackle that we didn't need to move Malone over or somebody like Johnson ended up starting at guard, which would indicate that we could be moving Malone over just as much because we are set at G and RT is his natural position, not because we have to move him because we don't have another option at RT.

I get what you're saying and agree, as I felt that way myself this offseason. If Beckwith was back to being a swing guy on the interior, that would indicate to me we're f'n loaded on the OL and feel very good about our depth there. But I've got no problem with him starting, because he proved last year that he's SEC quality up front.

[War Machine Dawg]

Missed on trapp. But I'm not as worried about them misevaluating Johnson as I am worried he was down their board to begin with. I was thinking we picked him up after missing on several other choices.

So we've missed on 1 JUCO in Mullen's 5 years to date. I'm more than willing to live with that ratio. And wasn't Trapp an injury situation or am I pulling that out of my ass?

[engie]

So we've missed on 1 JUCO in Mullen's 5 years to date. I'm more than willing to live with that ratio. And wasn't Trapp an injury situation or am I pulling that out of my ass?

Trapp was a distant backup plan. We had zero luck in JUCO OL recruiting in the first couple of classes. Was a bridesmaid a bunch of times...

[Barking 13]

in all of these OL threads, there is hardly any mention about Carter.. is he really that bad?

[mic]

in all of these OL threads, there is hardly any mention about Carter.. is he really that bad?
Carter was running 2nd team left tackle a lot in the spring..

[Barking 13]

Hometown boy.. but hardly making a splash like his predecessor, Derek Sherrod.... Carter has a cousin that was going to be highly recruited center until he got his knee blown out a year ago as a soph. (sucker hit) I don't even know if he'll play this (SR) year or not.. He has shined at several previous camps and probably would have been getting an offer by now, but, I know one thing, he sure hated Hevesy....