Future Depth at OL

[Bob_Loblaw]

We have been recruiting the OL position very hard over the last 3 seasons and have been lucky to acquire quite a bit depth. It'll be fun watching these guys push people around the next few seasons...

2009 class:
Ed Olson
B. Michel
Z. Mottla
B. Haney
E. Jacques

2010 class:
M. Eggen
Z. Epping
Jimmy Gjere
M. Lenkiawicz
J. Ragoo

2011 class:
Campion
McAvoy
McAvoy
Bush
Haughton-James
T. Olson

-These are the guys who have legitimate chance to contribute, there are others who are more walk on calibers who likely won't contribute, but all of these guys will be fighting for PT over the next few seasons.

 

[Redbeard]

Any of these guys going to be switching to the D line, or are we just building up our depth here?

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Any of these guys going to be switching to the D line, or are we just building up our depth here?

I don't think any of them will be switching to DT. The only real possibilities would be the smaller of the two McAvoy's, Eric Jacques, and possibly Zac Epping but I think they are all going to be on the offensive side of the ball.

 

[PushingBackAgain]

The problem hasn't been depth its been talent and coaching. Now I am NOT saying those kids won't be good or bad but to just blindly say that because you have a lot of lineman you will be good is just foolish.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

The problem hasn't been depth its been talent and coaching. Now I am NOT saying those kids won't be good or bad but to just blindly say that because you have a lot of lineman you will be good is just foolish.

Oh i'm not, terrible coaching and we are in trouble.

However, all of our bad offensive lines had a couple things in common: lack of depth and lack of experience. Our 1-11 team was extremely young and shallow at the OL position. Each season we got a bit more experienced and a bit deeper to the point where we fielded a pretty decent OL last season (one of the better pass blocking OL and a much improved run blocking unit). The fact that we have depth in three straight classes means that we will likely have an experienced offensive line three seasons in a row. There is also the fact that our liklihood of finding good offensive lineman improves by sheer numbers.

Could these guys all turn out to be busts deep into their career at the U? Possibly. However, it is considerably less likely and a definite step in the right direction towards building a strong offensive line year in and year out.

 

[uagain]

A nice recovery from 2008, when Brewster signed no offensive linemen--zero. With injuries and defections, it took the Gophers two full years to overcome that.

 

[sonnygarcia]

A nice recovery from 2008, when Brewster signed no offensive linemen--zero. With injuries and defections, it took the Gophers two full years to overcome that.

This right here should have been the first clue that even Brew's "recruiting abilities" were over-rated. I mean who the he!! doesn't sign a single O lineman in a given class??

 

[gold04]

I see next year being a tough year for the O-line. We lost a group of seniors that finally had a decent performance their last year. I'm glad we will have a mobile quarterback like Gray because he will be dodging a lot of defensive linemen.

 

[corcoran1]

I think this post is right. Mason's last two classes and Brewster's first left a big hole in the development of o-linemen. Worst position on the team to have a multi-year recruiting failure. Takes multiple years to recover. Year after next we should start being in good shape for several years. this assumes Limegrover is as good an o-line coach as I think he is. I feel reasonably confident in that part of the program.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

I see next year being a tough year for the O-line. We lost a group of seniors that finally had a decent performance their last year. I'm glad we will have a mobile quarterback like Gray because he will be dodging a lot of defensive linemen.

Losing Wills will certainly hurt, but we are starting to finally build some depth and experience along those lines.

We will have some issues with lack of experience returning at certain spots, but fortunately for us we have 3 SRs who will see significant amount of time (Wynn, Bunders (who looked really good), and Orton). All of these kids finished the season pretty strong.

I also feel pretty confident in Ed Olson.

But you are right, we will be a bit younger than i'd prefer (that is why the future looks better than the present), but we should have depth and a couple guys with some experience.

 

[GopherSOB]

Does anyone know if Ryan Wynn would possibly be eligable for a medical redshirt year due to missing all of the 2009 season with a back related injury/problem ? If so he could possibly have two years of playing time left.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Does anyone know if Ryan Wynn would possibly be eligable for a medical redshirt year due to missing all of the 2009 season with a back related injury/problem ? If so he could possibly have two years of playing time left.

Very unlikely.

There seems to be some debate about how medical RSs work, but here is how I understand it.

-In almost all cases a player gets 5 years to play 4 seasons. They have a RS season which is used in situations where a player doesn't play at all and is RS for the season without losing a year of eligibility.
-There is a medical hardship waiver (see Rallis), these guys essentially started playing a season but got injured right away, so even though they played in a few games, that season can still be used as their RS season because they played so little.
-In very few circumstances, there is a 6th year granted. These conditions are when a player is essentially hurt for 2 years. Hypothetically, if Rallis injury two years ago would have cost him that year and THIS past year, he would be possibly eligible for a 6th year. The rule of thumb is that the same injury needs to cost you TWO seasons to get a 6th year. For instance, Beal missed the 2008 and 2009 season in Florida for the same injuries (torn ACL and neck issues). Those injuries cost him two seasons so it appears that he will be granted a 6th season.

 

[ShushPush]

This right here should have been the first clue that even Brew's "recruiting abilities" were over-rated. I mean who the he!! doesn't sign a single O lineman in a given class??

I jumped up and down over this issue and got repeatedly shot down because we had a fairly deep senior class at the time. Apparently, many had the foresight to discuss the next 15 minutes but nothing beyond that. I blamed Brewster for being incredibly short sighted. Well, it took me two more years before I called for his head.

 

[60's Guy]

higher rated

I could be wrong...but my perception of the red shirted linemen and the incoming guys is that pretty much all of them are more highly rated than we historically are used to. True or false?
I'm pretty confident our line is going to be alright early and pretty good as we move along.

 

[50PoundHead]

I could be wrong...but my perception of the red shirted linemen and the incoming guys is that pretty much all of them are more highly rated than we historically are used to. True or false?
I'm pretty confident our line is going to be alright early and pretty good as we move along.

Just did a quick Rivals survey and you're right (at least according to Rivals). It was a split between 2-star and 3-star guys. Setterstrom, Brinkhaus (the elder), Burris, Ruckdashel, Tavale, and Shidell were 3-stars.

The thing I noticed is that Mason and Brewster didn't sign OL commits consistently: 5 in 2002, 4 in 2003, 0 in 2004, 4 in 2005, 3 in 2006, 4 in 2007, 0 in 2008, 4 in 2009, and 5 in 2010. This year appears to be an "up" year with 5 or 6 (or maybe even 7).

Count me as among those who believe you should recruit at sign at least four every year and have as many as possible red-shirt. Build the pipeline.