Offensive Line speculation, projections, and interest

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husker70

husker70

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It seems we are moving on to the spring game. Everyone has their own two deep, but if the offensive line does not improve dramatically we will see more of the same on offense. Hopefully, Coach Davis has his starting five ready and working out. Wills and Alford fell short last year. Wills couldn't move anyone, and Alford could hit anyone. Tell me we have candidates, or that these two have been in the weight room and conditioning since the season ended. The only offensive lineman who played up to his potential last year was Mr. Burris. As a leader in the weight room, he maybe the leader on the field. The team missed Ryan Wynn, and I have heard, read, or seen nothing on his return. To pencil him in is pure speculation. Trey Davis is facing a make or break year. He needs to grab the opportunity and make it his own. I have serious questions about Mr. Carufel. He is workman like, but not the mauler we need. Orton, Bunders, and can Olson be added to the mix inside?
And that takes us back to the offensive tackles. Can Gjere actually battle for a starting positon on the offensive line? Michael anyone? Wills and Alford are not the answer.

This comes down to Coach Davis's evaulation, and coaching. Can he put the pieces together?
And just exactly is our offensive philosophy? Are we going to run the ball effectively, or merely pay lip service.
 

To basically say that Wills is worthless is foolish. Are you looking for an all american or a reliable lineman? He needs one more year of weight training and needed that one year of experience with his hand on the ground to get better with his run blocking. Was I the only one that saw Wills almost never get beat towards the end of the season? I think he's definitely our best option - and, at times, was our best lineman. No disrespect to Olson or Michael... but I doubt they are taking any spots from our starters.
 

O-line - Wills, Caurfel, Burris, Wynn, Dom. They will dominate this year.
 

We were running to the right side of the line at the end of last season

Husker that should tell you something in relationship to who the coaches trusted would make holes, Wills and Carufel. They were making holes, the backs were not hitting them. Alford did some good things in the bowl game and the Iowa game. These guy's are the leaders of the line on the field and Wills and Alford were the two most improved players in pass protection as the season progressed. Both were playing dinged if you didn't notice one with a really gimpy shoulder the other with a fairly gimpy wheel and they were still our best players at tackle, even hurt. I'm not worried about the tackle's, Alford just need's to not to forget to keep his feet moving instead of getting flatfooted and caught trying to reach and grab. I think if the incumbent guy's work hard, they will come into camp in good shape, they will be the best we can put out there until we build up the young guns. I'm looking forward to seeing Olson compete at guard, he has that nasty streak your looking for in driving the D-lineman into the ground making them not wanting to come anymore. Sounds like Michel and Mottla will bring some competition to the front which we need. We need to get to the point where we are putting out Juniors and Seniors that are reliable and have some depth, let them build it to that point. This has what has killed us since the Eslinger and Setterstrom day's not being able to build up depth and say next man up when people leave.

Where we really need to worry and should be concerned about is running back, we need better vision and a little more want to back there in breaking tackles and creating some more on there own. Eskeridge show's flashes but no consistency, same with Bennett. Relying on freshmen can be a recipe for lack of success. Hopefully that Lipscomb kid can get the grades and get in school from JUCO because we need a power back in the worst kind of way.
 

I agree.....

The line at the beginning of the year was terrible (especially against Cal & Wisconsin).

From the Penn State game to the end of the season, I thought the OL got better, particularly in pass protection. Run blocking was pretty subpar. I started blaming the OL less & less & felt the fault lied with Weber more & more. And Wills was the biggest improvement in that. Compare Wills in the Cal game to the end of the season. Almost like two different players.

I could see one of the youngsters taking over on the left side, perhaps not right at the beginning of the season, by seasons end. But Wills will be one of the constants.

Wynn
Alford/Bunders
Burris/Davis
Carufel
Wills

Olson/Michael should allow for good depth & decisions for the coaches. No longer will guys stay in because "nobody's available to replace them."
 


Wills was good as a run blocker last year, but seemed to struggle against fast DE's as a pass blocker. I'm hoping the coaches can improve his footwork and help his use his hands and strength better to improve in that area. A kid that big should be a force, and hopefully he'll turn into one.

I'm also intrigued to see if Gjere is good enough to play right away, or at least compete for playing time. The more competition the better, I say.
 

I think the entire starting line from last year needs to drop 10-15 lbs a piece. They played too slow and lacked athleticism. Their lack of athleticism hindered their ability to get to the second level on runnning plays and against speed rushers in the passing game. Brewster praises speed and athleticism but that doesn't just apply to skill positions. Get the hogs to a better weight and there will be a difference in their playing. Adding mass just for the sake of adding mass is suicide against the talent on the d-line these days.
 

Olson and Michel dominated in practice last year, but due to red shirting -- did not play. They will start this year, no doubt. Wynn was hurt, and therefore also overlooked. He will be back as the center this year. Carufel and Wills should've been the reliable combo and looked better towards the end of the year, however both are suspect heading in this year. I predict:

Michel - Olson - Wynn - Carufel/Davis - Wills/Orton
 




Based on hype I'd expect Olson to be in the mix. I'm not sure if Wynn will make the line up. I'm guessing backproblems will be the reason. I'd expect the

I'd make a wild prediction with
Michel
Olson
Burris
Carufel
Wills
 

monk10 said:
Based on hype I'd expect Olson to be in the mix. I'm not sure if Wynn will make the line up. I'm guessing backproblems will be the reason. I'd expect the

I'd make a wild prediction with
Michel
Olson
Burris
Carufel
Wills
Click to expand...

I'd be careful when plugging 2 freshmen next to each other, it probably won't happen.
Burris and Wills seemed to improve late in the year, I think Burris gets the nod at center, Wills and Carufel man the right side, though Carufel isn't the beast we were lead to expect, he's servicable, but not much above average.
The left side will be interesting, I think Alford probably gets the opener start, he better be ready to play well from the get go. Michel to me seems a better fit for the right side, but maybe he could switch up down the road. Bunders at LG to me was the weak link in a pretty weak chain last year. He was just too slow and stiff to do much. Picking up stunts, pass blocking, pulling just wasn't his forte, and may never be. If he comes in at camp around 300 and has improved his quickness he'll be in contention.

Olson gets my bold prediction for the start at LG, he looked really athletic and lean last fall whenever I saw him, I would think he can move pretty well and will bring a quickness and speed aspect to tosses and trap blocks. The weak side toss became a nice play for Whaley late in the year, Bunders missed several blocks that would have sprung big gains, maybe the same play this year can be more successful for whoever is pegged as Whaley's replacement in the scheme.

Alford-Olson-Burris-Carufel-Wills
Michel-Bunders-Davis-Davis-Orton

2012 Oline
Gjere-Olson-Epping-Olson-Michel
Eggen-Lenkiewitcz-Campion-Campion-Ragoo
 

Jeffrick said:
I'm also intrigued to see if Gjere is good enough to play right away, or at least compete for playing time. The more competition the better, I say.
Click to expand...

Usually linemen aren't ready for prime-time for a couple of years. If he is capable of pushing for a starting spot this year, all the better for the team (and for him). I will have my fingers crossed, but I think he will be really good given some time.
 

Ole said:
I'd be careful when plugging 2 freshmen next to each other, it probably won't happen.
Click to expand...

Valid statement. I didn't have time to watched dvr games this year, so I had time understanding where the miscommunication came from on the right side of the line. If I guess both R.freshman and one starts at least I guessed one correct :p
 



I think they'll look hard at replacing Bunders barring a huge improvement by him. I also think a healthy Wynn starts at C. If Wynn isn't ready, i'd say the spot belongs to Davis. Burris should be a good depth player in the middle.

Let's not discount the fact that there could be some huge leaps forward from guys that weren't great last year. Wills could be much better with a year of Big 10 action under his belt. Coming in from a JC is still a huge jump. I expect him to be much better.
 

magpie said:
Olson and Michel dominated in practice last year, but due to red shirting -- did not play. They will start this year, no doubt. Wynn was hurt, and therefore also overlooked. He will be back as the center this year. Carufel and Wills should've been the reliable combo and looked better towards the end of the year, however both are suspect heading in this year. I predict:

Michel - Olson - Wynn - Carufel/Davis - Wills/Orton
Click to expand...

Are you saying they were by far the best two OL but did not play because it was more important to redshirt? I thought redshirting, especially at a FB program like the U, was mainly intended to allow players a year to develop into contributors. If they're already dominating what we have why would they sit?
 

Max,if at all possible it is best to redshirt most Fr. Some skill kids can step right in ,but not linemen. Gjere will redshirt! I'm guessing the two RS Fr.will play but not start. And I agree with an above post on Wills, he really came on at the end. Still needs to shed some fat and gain muscle, as do most of the line. Puss Guts don't cut it.
 

maxwellsmart said:
Are you saying they were by far the best two OL but did not play because it was more important to redshirt? I thought redshirting, especially at a FB program like the U, was mainly intended to allow players a year to develop into contributors. If they're already dominating what we have why would they sit?
Click to expand...

As was stated, red-shirting is always the ideal situation. These kids come in at 18 years of age and are still not done growing (up and/or out). In the case of Olson and Michel, they both dominated based on their pure talent and technique. The red-shirting was to give them a year to get to the proper size and buff them up some.

Brewster was just on a local radio show and when talking about the OL, he only named those two players. Expect them to be our starters (which would be awesome, considering they'll be here 4 more years).
 

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