Solich mentioned this in the recruiting press conference yesterday... Between the guys we have now and the lineman we are bringing in, this group is really starting to resemble the group we had in 2011. The freshman coming in this year might not NEED a redshirt year but with our depth, I think that might be the best route. Especially with how great 5th year lineman are.

Frank clearly decided to make OL a point of emphasis with this class. We only graduate 3 and we signed 6. Also we do need to strengthen this group for us to take full advantage of our talented RB's. He also made mention that he thought this group was physically ready to play based on their strength levels.
What we also need for next year is fewer injuries at key positions.




GO BOBCATS

I agree that the WR were good, but recruiting quality offensive linemen, like the ones in this class will also help with future QB recruiting. The last couple years Ohio QBs had to run too often, or throw too early, because of lack of protection.

A RB doesn't get shit without a quality O-Line in front of them, but that's common sense, not many here expect you to grasp such a concept.

I'd say it goes beyond that. A QB is going to look much better behind a quality offensive line than he is behind a poor one. In fact, the whole offense is going to look better behind one. I find it odd that so many people overlook their importance. If you count the tight end as 1/2 offensive line, and 1/2 receiver, they constitute 5.5 players, fully 1/4 of the entire team, and 1/2 of the offense.

To me the biggest shortcoming of the teams under Solich at Ohio has been inconsistency of the offensive lines. Under Lightner, for whatever reason, they never managed to build the depth they needed to be consistently good from year to year, and to be able to replace injured players. It's always seemed to be a scramble to come with a starting five.

After seeing the progress that the offensive line has made the last two years under Johnson, I'm optimistic that that progress will continue into the future, and that it will no longer be a weakness. If the offensive line is as good next year as I believe they can be, all the running backs are going to roll, and the QBs will be just fine.

Teams will put 8 in the box if we are ineffective in the passing game or if we show fear with our usually conservative play calling. The coaches will need to put together new offensive schemes and become less conservative in the play-calling department. Our QB's don't stink, they are just stinking average. At times Sprague has looked decent, lets hope we have someone on the roster that can beat him out or that he goes to another level.

Interesting take!

If you are scared to throw down field or ineffective throwing down field, the last thing you want to see is an eight man front. It depends on the play calling.

I'd agree with that in general, though when Ohio lines up with an H-back and a TE, they will likely see an 8 man box. In any case, you're totally right that the times Ohio has had trouble has been when teams beat them up front, and were able to stop the run with a 6-man box. The best (worst) example was CMU in 2014. Ohio couldn't run at all against CMU's nickle defense, so Ohio elected to throw into double coverage all day, and that didn't work well, either. WMU is the other team that was able to beat Ohio badly up front the last couple years.

I do think there are a lot of fans out there that would rather watch 7 on 7 than the full game, but if Ohio can get the kind of Offensive line that I think they can, a lot of other problems will cease to exist.

As I said with most of our formations, never said all of them. The other factor that would play besides the formation would be the tendency charts of personnel grouping and formations

I know. We agree.

Bcat2's book has Ohio's fourth-string, fifth-year senior offensive guard on the MAC's first team and a future NFL first-round draft selection.