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Bcat2

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Posted: 6/10/2014 12:59 PM

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Blog, Phil Steele Returning starts across the OL

http://www.philsteele.com/Blogs/2014/JUNE14/DBJune10.html

Ohio has 39, Ohio State 21, Stanford 26, but, Bowling Green 55, Marshall 64, CMU 90, Buffalo 100, Toledo 100, NIU 106.

Last Edited: 6/10/2014 2:19:24 PM by Bcat2

OUcats82

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Posted: 6/10/2014 4:02 PM

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Yikes, most of the teams I cheer for are in the right hand column!

Hopefully that list-leading number that Appalachian State has helps to ease their transition to full D-1.

L.C.

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Posted: 6/10/2014 6:09 PM

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Given that the Offensive Line is nearly 1/4 of the team, this is a much more important number than most people realize. Obviously Phil does, which is no doubt part of the reason why he, year after year, leads the prognosticators in accuracy. (Here's a comparison of accuracy over the last five years).

His number combining returning experience with performance is not doubt an even better indicator than just raw returns. Recalling Ohio's inability to run the ball last year, Ohio was probably low in terms of offensive line performance last year, too, so I suspect Ohio is near the bottom in this important rating even after adjusting for performance..

MAC East
Buffalo 100
Miami 87
BG 55
Akron 55
Kent 44
Ohio 39
U.Mass 30

Mac West
NIU 106
Toledo 100
EMU 90
CMU 90
WMU 60
Ball State 44

Casper71

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Posted: 6/11/2014 9:50 AM

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And people wonder why I keep saying get more BIG nasty linemen on both sides of the ball and we will be fine. Say what you want about skill players but if I have a line that can block well and one that can really tackle I will be in every game.

This is one of the reasons I am really concerned about this year. if the OL doesn't come thru I see a very disappointing season in our future.

OUcats82

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Posted: 6/11/2014 4:18 PM

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Casper71 wrote:expand_more

A strong, cohesive, and nasty offensive line can make average talent at the skill positions look good. While the Tom Brady and Peyton Mannings of the world are great talents, their lines are a big reason.

As long as I have watched Ohio football I've always felt like our lines looked on the smaller side (which was partly by design in the Grobe era). Here's to hoping the size of the fight in the cat is bigger than the size of the cat in the fight this year.

L.C.

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Posted: 6/11/2014 5:50 PM

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Besides starts, another way to look at the returning linemen is based on their number of snaps. Not counting the bowl game last year it looks like:

Gone:
Prior 495
McGrath 437
Lechner 298
Johnson 34
Smith 10
Welter 3
Curtis 3

Out with Injury
Gibbons (Redshirt So) 117
Haser (Redshirt Jr) 10

Returning
Lucas (Redshirt Jr) 738
McQueen (Redshirt Jr) 643
Powell (Redshirt Jr) 636
Watson (Redshirt So) 390
Wood (True Sophomore) 267
Everhart (Redshirt Jr) 71
Williams (Redshirt Sr) 6

In theory, last year was supposed to be a veteran line, featuring Prior, Mark Smith, Lechner, Sam Johnson, and McGrath, all of whom had a lot of experience. Unfortunately all of them were hurt for a substantial portion of the year and younger players who weren't expected to play that much were forced into starting roles.

I have a lot of confidence in Lucas and Powell, who I thought played well last year. McQueen, Watson, Wood, and Everhart all have potential, and played well at times, but struggled at others. Playing in key times as Freshmen and Sophomores, that isn't too surprising. This year most of them will be Redshirt Juniors, and now they have a experience. I'm hoping for a big jump in performance over last year. I'm also hoping that all of the linemen in the 2014 recruiting class will get to redshirt, but one or two may very well play.

By the way, if the starters remain healthy, and all 5 start say, 13 games next year, that will add 65 starts to the 39 Ohio currently has, and on next year's list Ohio will be near the top.

OhioCatFan

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