OL Recruiting

[Doggie_Style]

While we didn't always get the numbers of OL every year under Mullen he did a decent job overall...

In the last 5 recruiting cycles we brought in 16 OL's. Of those 16, 12 are still on the team. 1 went to NFL, 1 graduated and 2 were busts. Of the 12 still on the team, 8 are making significant contributions this year, 2 are red-shirting(Dolla Bill, Kam. Jones) and 2 are sitting (Suggs, Champion).

Of those 16 recruits only 2 were 4*'s. (Martinas Rankin, Dolla Bill).

In summary I would say the previous staff did a good job of finding SEC caliber talent even if they didn't always get the numbers we needed. Hopefully our current staff can do as well.

[ShotgunDawg]

Other than 2015, OL play has not been a deficiency. That doesn't mean it's been anywhere close to good enough to compete for championship, but it's been top half of the conference for a while

[BrunswickDawg]

Other than 2015, OL play has not been a deficiency. That doesn't mean it's been anywhere close to good enough to compete for championship, but it's been top half of the conference for a while

I am still not sure that OL was bad all-around. Clayborn, Desper, & Senior were all Jrs., Malone and Warren were SRs. Senior, Desper, and Malone had all started in '14. Clayborn had started all of '13, and Warren had played a ton.
They had 2 issues. The depth was very young, and they were road graders asked to pass-block because we had no RB and Dan went all air-raid and Holloway up the middle instead of making Shump and Williams into better backs in trial by fire.

[msstate7]

I am still not sure that OL was bad all-around. Clayborn, Desper, & Senior were all Jrs., Malone and Warren were SRs. Senior, Desper, and Malone had all started in '14. Clayborn had started all of '13, and Warren had played a ton.
They had 2 issues. The depth was very young, and they were road graders asked to pass-block because we had no RB and Dan went all air-raid and Holloway up the middle instead of making Shump and Williams into better backs in trial by fire.

We had bear and Ross who were top 6 receivers in the Sec that year. In addition, we had Fred brown, dear, Myles, and even Holloway (33 rec 396 yds 5 td)... I think our best chance to win that year was air raid.

[Cooterpoot]

Other than 2015, OL play has not been a deficiency. That doesn't mean it's been anywhere close to good enough to compete for championship, but it's been top half of the conference for a while

OL play has been inconsistent with the change in scheme. They've struggled to pass block in the new scheme. I think our tackles need upgrading, and they will be.

[thf24]

OL recruiting seems to be somewhat of a crap shoot outside of the tip-top maxed out 5-stars. For that reason, I don't think there's cause to get too upset about individual offers outside of obvious red flags (ie 5'10" 220 lb private school kids).

[BrunswickDawg]

We had bear and Ross who were top 6 receivers in the Sec that year. In addition, we had Fred brown, dear, Myles, and even Holloway (33 rec 396 yds 5 td)... I think our best chance to win that year was air raid.

I don't disagree with that. But, we all know our OL is built around run blocking. If Josh Robinson had stayed another year, that OL looks a lot better because we would have been running an offense more similar to '14, which our personnel was better suited for.

[Tbonewannabe]

I am still not sure that OL was bad all-around. Clayborn, Desper, & Senior were all Jrs., Malone and Warren were SRs. Senior, Desper, and Malone had all started in '14. Clayborn had started all of '13, and Warren had played a ton.
They had 2 issues. The depth was very young, and they were road graders asked to pass-block because we had no RB and Dan went all air-raid and Holloway up the middle instead of making Shump and Williams into better backs in trial by fire.

Dan being labelled a dumb ass but now is a genius. Holloway has to be the toughest SOB to put on the Maroon and White along with Mike "Glass bones" Henig. Both of those guys got killed on a regular basis and somehow went through 4 years of getting abused.

[BrunswickDawg]

Dan being labelled a dumb ass but now is a genius. Holloway has to be the toughest SOB to put on the Maroon and White along with Mike "Glass bones" Henig. Both of those guys got killed on a regular basis and somehow went through 4 years of getting abused.

How is that saying Dan was a genius? Holloway up the middle as our primary RB was dumb as hell, but in Dan's mind it was better than Shump and Ares. And it isn't intended as a knock on Holloway. He did everything he was asked to do and is tough as they come. MSState7 is also right that without going with that approach, we probably would have lost more because our passing game was a strength that year compared to our running game.