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pharmacygopher

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Apologies if discussed but couldn't find it looking through a few threads.

Any insight on the right side of the OL? Was it Lewis at guard and Carroll at tackle the whole game?

I thought reports were Carroll had been moved inside to guard which fit his skill set better and Lewis was exclusively working at tackle. Just turned on the replay and saw them flipped and was surprised.
 

Someone on this board used to look at a replay of the game and give a fairly in-depth analysis of each individual OL performance. That would be terrific to see again.
 


pharmacygopher said:
Apologies if discussed but couldn't find it looking through a few threads.

Any insight on the right side of the OL? Was it Lewis at guard and Carroll at tackle the whole game?

I thought reports were Carroll had been moved inside to guard which fit his skill set better and Lewis was exclusively working at tackle. Just turned on the replay and saw them flipped and was surprised.
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I too was surprised to see Carroll at tackle and Martes at guard. Decisions were made.
 



Maybe as we move towards more traditional defensive alignments they can move back. Otherwise we’re going to need someone to step up.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
Out of respect for GI I won't repost the exact PFF grades, but will say Ersery graded out the highest of the OL, and was #1 in run blocking & #2 in pass protection, with Carroll right behind him, at #1 in pass protection, and #2 in run blocking. There was a big drop off to Cooper, Boe & Lewis.
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My layperson's reaction/observation was that they blocked pretty well in pass protection, not as well in the run game.

Did PFF analysis contradict this? I ask because I generally trust their analysis.
 

RememberMurray said:
My layperson's reaction/observation was that they blocked pretty well in pass protection, not as well in the run game.

Did PFF analysis contradict this? I ask because I generally trust their analysis.
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This is what I thought as well.
 

on the Gopher Gridiron post-game podcast, Derek Burns said that he thinks Carroll is a better pass-blocker than Lewis. with the Gophers relying more on the passing game, the belief is that the coaches wanted the better pass-blocker at OT, so they moved Carroll back to tackle and slid Lewis inside to guard.
 



I’d like to see Johnson and Nelson at guard and then Boe and Shaw can fight it out for center. Neither of the centers will be particularly good, but I don’t think we’re grooming any youngsters at center right now. I think Nelson and Johnson both have “it”. Might as well get them on the field now.
 

Gopherchase said:
I’d like to see Johnson and Nelson at guard and then Boe and Shaw can fight it out for center. Neither of the centers will be particularly good, but I don’t think we’re grooming any youngsters at center right now. I think Nelson and Johnson both have “it”. Might as well get them on the field now.
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I don’t know what Lewis has, but I doubt it is “it”.
 

RememberMurray said:
My layperson's reaction/observation was that they blocked pretty well in pass protection, not as well in the run game.

Did PFF analysis contradict this? I ask because I generally trust their analysis.
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Yes. As a group (the core OL 5, not tight ends), the average PFF score for pass blocking was 75.9 with 4 of the 5 above 70, while the run blocking average was 59.7 with only 1 of 5 above 70. So, yeah, you are correct in that the run blocking sucked.

Edit add: give some credit to Nebraska's defensive front. They were hard on the Gophs last year too as well as other teams.
 

Gopherchase said:
I’d like to see Johnson and Nelson at guard and then Boe and Shaw can fight it out for center. Neither of the centers will be particularly good, but I don’t think we’re grooming any youngsters at center right now. I think Nelson and Johnson both have “it”. Might as well get them on the field now.
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I agree. Get Johnson and Nelson in there right away and see what they’ve got.
 

I thought both guards really struggled. It was both of their first games starting, so I'll be interested to see how they look next week. In so many ways, that game reminded me of the Georgia Southern, SDSU, Fresno State games from a couple of years ago.
 

Panthadad2 said:
Yes. As a group (the core OL 5, not tight ends), the average PFF score for pass blocking was 75.9 with 4 of the 5 above 70, while the run blocking average was 59.7 with only 1 of 5 above 70. So, yeah, you are correct in that the run blocking sucked.

Edit add: give some credit to Nebraska's defensive front. They were hard on the Gophs last year too as well as other teams.
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That’s really weird to hear that the rush blocking was so much worse than the pass blocking. Do you think Minnesota has the talent to become a pass first offense? I think Athan is still very high variance but I hope that he can shine!
 

Again --

the reason the interior line had more struggles than the tackles, beyond the obvious that the tackles are much more experienced starting at those positions, is largely because of the scheme they had to try to prepare for and go against.

The same reason they "struggled" in run blocking. The scheme is designed to be difficult to run against.

It's going to pick up. Once we start going against the more normal defensive alignments - 40 Over fronts - things will pick up for the interior as well.

No, they're not going to start a true freshman this year, even if he did come in early for spring. Would bet he's already being penciled in to take over for Cooper for next year, though.
 

RememberMurray said:
My layperson's reaction/observation was that they blocked pretty well in pass protection, not as well in the run game.

Did PFF analysis contradict this? I ask because I generally trust their analysis.
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Spot on. We were crappy in run blocking, even the guys who scored highest, and overall we did well in pass protection.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
on the Gopher Gridiron post-game podcast, Derek Burns said that he thinks Carroll is a better pass-blocker than Lewis. with the Gophers relying more on the passing game, the belief is that the coaches wanted the better pass-blocker at OT, so they moved Carroll back to tackle and slid Lewis inside to guard.
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There's no doubt that Carroll is a better pass blocker than Lewis. He's also a better run blocker than Lewis. Carroll got a bad rap because he sucked the 1st half of last season in pass protection. He was one of our top guys in pass protection the 2nd half of last season though, and our top guy in the finale against Wisconsin & the bowl game against Syracuse. However, many fans had already decided he was horrible at pass blocking, and will probably always see it that way. Carroll was Honorable Mention All-B1G last season at RT. That's above average, and not too shabby for a guy coming off a serious knee injury & acclimating to the B1G. My 0.02 is that Carroll is already a good RT, but could be a great RG. The problem is there's no one to spell him at RT. The drop off is a big one.
 
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Gopherchase said:
I’d like to see Johnson and Nelson at guard and then Boe and Shaw can fight it out for center. Neither of the centers will be particularly good, but I don’t think we’re grooming any youngsters at center right now. I think Nelson and Johnson both have “it”. Might as well get them on the field now.
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Nelson's a Left Tackle, and will probably never play anywhere else on the line. He is Ersery's heir apparent at the position.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Ashton Beers, or even Greg Johnson get some run at Guard as the season goes on, and they gain experience.

Cade McConnell is inline to take over at C next season, and Jerome Williams is getting a look behind him I believe?
 

Sure, for mop up duty, like hopefully against E Mich, Louisiana, NW, etc. They're going to be too far behind now to fully replace Cooper or Lewis, save for injury.

Gotta be really disappointing for Guedet, if the dropoff from Carroll is too far to even send him in at all. In a parallel universe where Carroll never transfer home (and they don't bring some other tackle in), would be interesting if he would've started at RT and if he would've held it down. I recall coaches raving about him in spring ball early in his career.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
There's no doubt that Carroll is a better pass blocker than Lewis. He's also a better run blocker than Lewis. Carroll got a bad rap because he sucked the 1st half of last season in pass protection. He was one of our top guys in pass protection the 2nd half of last season though, and our top guy in the finale against Wisconsin & the bowl game against Syracuse. However, many fans had already decided he was horrible at pass blocking, and will probably always see it that way. Carroll was Honorable Mention All-B1G last season at RT. That's above average, and not too shabby for a guy coming off a serious knee injury & acclimating to the B1G. My 0.02 is that Carroll is already a good RT, but could be a great RG. The problem is there's no one to spell him at RT. The drop off is a big one.
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Ryan Burns agrees with you. he says he thinks Carroll's best position is Guard - but that only works if the Gophs have someone who is good enough to play RT. the interesting thing is that - according to reports - Lewis was playing RT and Carroll was at RG during the Spring practices and almost all of Fall camp. So the decision to flip the two positions must have been made fairly late in the process.
 


Costa Rican Gopher said:
Nelson's a Left Tackle, and will probably never play anywhere else on the line. He is Ersery's heir apparent at the position.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Ashton Beers, or even Greg Johnson get some run at Guard as the season goes on, and they gain experience.

Cade McConnell is inline to take over at C next season, and Jerome Williams is getting a look behind him I believe?
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I’m aware that Nelson is listed at LT. Slide him down and let the kid play. Why have him sit one or two years when he can help us now. If the Lewis/Carroll flip showed us anything it’s that kids can get moved around on the OL.
 

MplsGopher said:
Again --

the reason the interior line had more struggles than the tackles, beyond the obvious that the tackles are much more experienced starting at those positions, is largely because of the scheme they had to try to prepare for and go against.

The same reason they "struggled" in run blocking. The scheme is designed to be difficult to run against.

It's going to pick up. Once we start going against the more normal defensive alignments - 40 Over fronts - things will pick up for the interior as well.

No, they're not going to start a true freshman this year, even if he did come in early for spring. Would bet he's already being penciled in to take over for Cooper for next year, though.
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We had all summer and fall to prepare for the scheme if that’s why we failed to run the ball that’s disappointing. The run blocking scores seem to tell us that our guys were getting beat Mano-a-Mano but then again I suppose blown assignments, et al factor in, too. Good to keep in mind regardless that the pass blocking was good and we needed it to be.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Ryan Burns agrees with you. he says he thinks Carroll's best position is Guard - but that only works if the Gophs have someone who is good enough to play RT. the interesting thing is that - according to reports - Lewis was playing RT and Carroll was at RG during the Spring practices and almost all of Fall camp. So the decision to flip the two positions must have been made fairly late in the process.
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Might have been one time for Nebraska defense.
 

callahan is going to have to work some quick magic this season
 


That's just to keep a fire lit under someone's butt.

We're not starting a true freshman at Guard over a 5th year or 4th year guy. Eslinger/Setterstrom not withstanding, from like 20 years ago, there is just wayyyyyy too much physical and mental maturity that needs to take place in an 18 year old to be ready to start at OL in the Big Ten.
 

MplsGopher said:
That's just to keep a fire lit under someone's butt.

We're not starting a true freshman at Guard over a 5th year or 4th year guy. Eslinger/Setterstrom not withstanding, from like 20 years ago, there is just wayyyyyy too much physical and mental maturity that needs to take place in an 18 year old to be ready to start at OL in the Big Ten.
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Perhaps and kind of sounds like you may be have some inside info. I think talent matters more. We didn’t recruit a lot of Big Ten caliber players on the OL for a couple of years and these are the kids who are Jr and Sr this year. So, do you go with the plodding older kids who really have no playing experience or do you go with the much more athletic younger kids? Either way, there will be some struggles. I’d rather run with young guys it’s likely a wash this year and will help in the future.
 

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