Is our Offensive Line Going to Be Better Next Year?

I am not knowledgeable enough to be a good judge of talent on offensive line. What i saw from an everage person's point of view this year was a line that dominated crummy competition but really struggled against good teams. That struggle seemed to limit the number of plays our offense could run successfully.



So going into next year we lose Reynolds, Thorson, and Brown. I have heard conflicting rumors about ryker mathews and whether he is going on a mission or not.



After losing brown and reynolds do we get better next year? I would love to see an offensive line that is better at run blocking. Any opinions more educated than mine out there about what to expect form our offensive line next year? I feel like this is what is stopping us from getting to the next level on offense against better teams.

*No. But....



Nelson should be near his ceiling which is good enough.

Doman will have a year of experience (he's already much better than he was early).

The O-line was overhyped and probably there won't be a huge dropoff.

etc etc etc.



*I'm going to keep expectations low and be surprised rather than be blown away with the ineptitude that the offense exhibits in the first couple weeks (e.g. 2011)

you look at the number of starts this line has and we have a very veteran core of guys up front. Anytime you lose that, they'll be some adjustments especially at the beginning of the year. Good thing that's when all our hardest games are... =(



Part of the O-line struggles this year were also schematic. play-calling, and coaching so yes, we'll drop off next year even if we have some great guys coming up.

I know a good OL coach that is probably looking for a job.



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[quote="declocoug]The O-line was overhyped and probably there won't be a huge dropoff.

etc etc etc.

[/quote]



I am going to say yest for this reason. O-line won't be hyped, they are going to work harder, the coach will push them harder, and with all the big names on the schedule they know they will need to be their best.



Just like the humbling effect of 2008, no one will be talking about NC in 2012 and the O-line can surprise like it did in 2009.

It comes down to experience and talent. We lose a lot of both and still have a relatively inexperienced OC. We may have a more dominant fullback and we will have more experienced tight ends. Those latter two things can make an OL look better.



Overall - I just don't see a deep pool of talented guys who have been getting experience rotating in. We certainly need Ryker. There could be some sleepers in the bunch.



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Thorson wasn't a starter, so we really only lose two starters, and if you plug Matthews back in, then there's only one spot to fill. I don't see the OL being any worse than this year, and could be a bit better. If Alisa, Pritchard, and Hine can give us a dominant running game, with both power and speed, the OL doesn't need to be overpowering, just good enough to open some holes, and the QBs shouldn't be under so much pressure.

We were not great this year. yes, they did well on pass blocking, and we had few sacks. But they did not ever just take a big game over. In the three losses, they allowed plenty of pressure and many sacks. And I judge a line based on how they play in the big games, not how they play against the weakest competition.



I think we will be better. We are recruiting well. I just think we need to make them play more physical in camp and practices early in the year to get their groove going. We go shells and no hitting far too often for our line to really do what it needs to get it done.

Lawboy wrote:

I think we will be better. We are recruiting well. I just think we need to make them play more physical in camp and practices early in the year to get their groove going. We go shells and no hitting far too often for our line to really do what it needs to get it done.

Couldn't agree more! I remember after the 08 season the players went and told Bronco they needed more hitting in practice. I think Jan Jorgensen was the guy that spearheaded the idea. If you don't practice physical, you don't play physical. Get guys hitting and playing hard so when it comes game time it doesn't take ten minutes for them to get acclimated.



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BYU's O-Line always comes into the season over-hyped. My latest working theory is that this off-season hype is the fruit of Dick Harmon's buddy-buddy relationship with Lance Reynolds.

Harmon definitely stokes the hype fires. In 2012, I am not buying.



I think coaching philosophy is a source of internal strife with the staff. Specifically with the team doing less live action, more shells. I think Bronco needs to realize he has more depth now than in years past, so he can go live more, and if a guy goes down in practice as a result, the drop off will not be huge like it was 2-3 years ago. Time for Bronco to take the kid gloves off his team. He can do it now. And his staff would like to see it as well.

I like this talk of getting shells on and off faster. The sooner we're physical, the more physical we'll be playing in games.



I think there will be a noticeable drop-off for next year. We'll struggle early, but I think we will be able to manage somewhat by the end of the year. Since the games are mostly won or lost in the trenches, I would think that we get 10 or 11 wins next year.

trueblue72 wrote:

I think we will be better. We are recruiting well. I just think we need to make them play more physical in camp and practices early in the year to get their groove going. We go shells and no hitting far too often for our line to really do what it needs to get it done.

Couldn't agree more! I remember after the 08 season the players went and told Bronco they needed more hitting in practice. I think Jan Jorgensen was the guy that spearheaded the idea. If you don't practice physical, you don't play physical. Get guys hitting and playing hard so when it comes game time it doesn't take ten minutes for them to get acclimated.



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AMEN to this brother!

Ryker Matthews will definitely not be going on a mission. Baptism is required for mission service.



Another thing that needs to change for there to be better OL play is a change in the OL coach. Weber is not working out. I anticipate a change there.

I had not idea that Ryker was not baptized?



Anyway, the whole shells things is interesting. Given that our big games are in the front of our schedule having them in full pads with full contact in fall camp is probably even more important than usual. It is a fine line.



I would have surely helped heaps to take his green jersey off and go live with full contact.

Ryker's mom is LDS, his father is not. No idea on membership status, just that he had no plans to serve when he entered as a freshman. I know his HS trainer, and he still works out with him in the summers. They do Strongman stuff. Ryker is gonna be a beast. Trust me.

stuckinbig10country wrote:
Ryker Matthews will definitely not be going on a mission. Baptism is required for mission service.



Another thing that needs to change for there to be better OL play is a change in the OL coach. Weber is not working out. I anticipate a change there.

The one thing Weber does seem good at is recruiting. Didn't ryker state that is weber was gone he would reconsider his commitment?