OL Needs Some Work

[Irish2155]

He's out of position. Everett Golson would be the "weakest starter" if they lined him up at Mike linebacker. That doesn't mean he shouldn't start, it just means put him in the position to be successful.

I hope so. Move him, no more excuses to suck...right?

 

[wizards8507]

I hope so. Move him, no more excuses to suck...right?

I mean he DIDN'T suck last year as a true freshman.

 

[Irish2155]

I mean he DIDN'T suck last year as a true freshman.

Yeah, I know. Rephrased: move him to a position where he didn't suck in the past, then excuses will hopefully not be needed...cause he will succeed there again. At least in theory.

There is a big difference between tackle and guard...he just may not be ready for it, or his skills set is interior O-line.

 

[Wild Bill]

He's out of position. Everett Golson would be the "weakest starter" if they lined him up at Mike linebacker. That doesn't mean he shouldn't start, it just means put him in the position to be successful.

He's a good looking prospect, seems like a great kid and I think he develops into a fine player, but let's be honest here, he got his a$$ kicked Saturday against Purdue, looked bad against Rice and didn't do much against Michigan.

I'm not convinced the problem can be solved by sliding him to his left three feet and nothing I've seen this year suggests he's better than Hanratty.

 

[NDdomer2]

Or Stanley - Hanratty - Hegarty - Martin - Lombard

Stanley Elmer Hegarty Martin Lombard

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Stanley Elmer Hegarty Martin Lombard

I was just going to suggest that as the combination to which Mendoza was actually alluding! REPS!

Elmer played a good left-handed guard last year, and they might want to keep Martin at a right handed position, let alone the guard that has to trap and get to the second level, after combo block, often.

I think this would be a much stronger right guard and a strong enough center, a much stronger left guard, and a strong enough right tackle.

 

[wizards8507]

He's a good looking prospect, seems like a great kid and I think he develops into a fine player, but let's be honest here, he got his a$$ kicked Saturday against Purdue, looked bad against Rice and didn't do much against Michigan.

I'm not convinced the problem can be solved by sliding him to his left three feet and nothing I've seen this year suggests he's better than Hanratty.

He played almost the entire season at guard last year and he was really good at it. I think you're overestimating the similarities between playing guard and tackle.

 

[Irish#1]

I was just going to suggest that as the combination to which Mendoza was actually alluding! REPS!

Elmer played a good left-handed guard last year, and they might want to keep Martin at a right handed position, let alone the guard that has to trap and get to the second level, after combo block, often.

I think this would be a much stronger right guard and a strong enough center, a much stronger left guard, and a strong enough right tackle.

If there is going to be any shuffling on the O-line, I think you'll see it for the Syracuse game. With a bye, that gives the staff two weeks to implement any adjustments and let the players get reps in practice.

 

[Rhode Irish]

Mendoza has come off like a little bit of a helicopter parent over the last month or so.

 

[Wild Bill]

He played almost the entire season at guard last year and he was really good at it. I think you're overestimating the similarities between playing guard and tackle.

He started four games and looked promising. That's really not the issue. The issue is whether he's better than Hanratty, Martin or Hegarty. I'm not convinced he is right now. I'm not sure how anyone can be convinced given what we've seen this year.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

OFD's Lars just posted a great film breakdown of our difficulties running the ball so far. Highly recommended.

 

[Pops Freshenmeyer]

OFD's Lars just posted a great film breakdown of our difficulties running the ball so far. Highly recommended.

Thanks for posting that.

Getting schematically exposed by Purdue is probably a blessing. I'm guessing we will see a lot more pistol and Luatua against Syracuse.

 

[wizards8507]

Old Man Mike posted this in the "General Team Info" thread but it's largely brilliant and deserves quoting here.

The pass-blocking thing is complex. There is no "typical" play to my eyes. But what seems to happen more than most [when there is trouble] is that the opponents speed-rush BOTH DEs creating a container cup so Golson can't take off. Both Stanley and Elmer try to run with these DEs to push them as upfield as possible [i.e. the theory is to get them deeper than Golson] and have Everett step up and deliver. What then often happens to screw up the plan is: 1). the interior three OLine don't stone the DTs and the space in front of Everett gets too tight for his comfort, and 2). Everett is probably still not seeing some of the field because of his height. If he was 6'5", he'd probably be pulling the trigger "on time" almost every play.

So, even though Steve Elmer has trouble running-on-balance backwards [it's actually the ZMart dancer-shuffle he lacks], the "pressure" is not all his fault by a long shot. For example: in the third quarter of the Purdue game, we got a "classic" example of this Cup-and-collapse situation. Both DEs speed-rushed wide. Ronnie was fast enough to push his guy a little extra wide, but Everett saw double trouble from his right with both Steve's DE and a blitzer who was Folston's responsibility. Everett stepped into the gap created by Stanley running his guy wider than the DE wanted. Elmer's man was knocked off-balance by Steve and awkwardly dove [unsuccessfully] at Golson. Folston, who had made initial contact with the blitzer as he was supposed to, then decided to become a spectator, while his man kept hustling and sacked Everett. Elmer saw this happening and tried to clean up Folston's garbage, but it was too late. Because he was closest man to the tackler, doubtless everyone gave him the blame.

I overdid this play analysis to try to make the point that without a total eraser like ZMart [once in a decade folks] to void the outside of one half of the field, this team must have everyone operating at high levels and working till the play is over. And the particular play detailed above shows how the RBs MUST be on the job for this to work. The other thing that I believe Hiestand is seeing is that we can't survive against power with Hanratty and Hegarty at the guards. We are not stoning the DTs consistently enough. Maybe we can go with one of them, since then [usually] the center can help [as every team does against us] but the center can't help against BOTH DTs.

 

[Wild Bill]

OFD's Lars just posted a great film breakdown of our difficulties running the ball so far. Highly recommended.

While I only broke down a single play, the issues I highlighted here have plagued the Irish. The offensive line has done a poor job of maintaining blocks. My biggest concern is that many of the mistakes aren't mental, they are physical.

Or it's an effort issue. I find it difficult to believe our linemen were physically out-matched by Purdue.

coach Kelly also needs to look in the mirror. The run scheme is flawed and opposing coaches have figured it out.

I'm not so sure he used a great example to illustrate his point. When Bryant turned that corner, the Mike was four yards behind the line of scrimmage and had no angle on the ball carrier. Worst case scenario, Stanley never gets to him, Bryant uses his speed to turn up the field and picks up four yards. Best case scenario, Stanley cuts his backside leg and leaves Bryant one on one with the safety or Bryant cuts back, the Mike tries to turn back with him and Stanley knocks the snot out of him. I'll take either one.