Changes to O Line?

[huskysupporter]

This can't go on. If a player is struggling, the coaches have to give another player a chance.

I think step one is putting Rutheford in for Levy at LT. Heck, I would open up a competition in practice this week.

 

[whaler11]

If the first string is that bad the idea that the second string is better... seems impossible.

 

[huskysupporter]

If the first string is that bad the idea that the second string is better... seems impossible.

Honestly, they cannot possibly be worse. They need to get some other guys in there. I don't care if it is a rotation.

 

[whaler11]

Honestly, they cannot possibly be worse. They need to get some other guys in there. I don't care if it is a rotation.

They can and I imagine they are.

 

[BNich]

Honestly, they cannot possibly be worse. They need to get some other guys in there. I don't care if it is a rotation.

It's been a rotation and that clearly hasn't worked.

 

[huskysupporter]

It's been a rotation and that clearly hasn't worked.

Only for a series here and there the last two games. Need to get some different bodies in there. Cruz had a decent game, but Levy and Mateas were destroyed. Samra struggled again, and Knappe is a liability.

 

[Dooley]

Scrap the OL altogether. Run the wildcat with Foxx and read-option the out of our offense.

 

[BNich]

Only for a series here and there the last two games. Need to get some different bodies in there. Cruz had a decent game, but Levy and Mateas were destroyed. Samra struggled again, and Knappe is a liability.

When they rush 3 and drop 8 in coverage, and still get pressure, the whole line is to blame.

 

[Oxford Bob]

Frosh and Sophs should be seeing 30-40% of the snaps the next couple games, unless they are a true frosh and haven't burned the redshirt yet. Srs that are productive should see the same amount of snaps as they have been. This season is pretty much done might as well develop the future. If they get their ass kicked so be it. We already look pathetic, might as well do it with the youngsters.

 

[jdb50]

Knappe escorts the defender to the quarterback quite well. Undersized guys with quicker feet would be an option if we abandon the power run game. Our guys are missing blitzers and blocking air again in pass pro. With all the time they spend on football it is mind boggling.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

I don't know if there are answers here. It's scary right now.

 

[CoachUConn]

Levy needs another year at least. Samra hasnt developed at all over his three years and Gifford/Knappe are a bad combination. Would like to see Hopkins out there

 

[ATLDYKA]

Go with the last 5 out there, next 5 up. Rutherford, Hopkins, Bucheloh, Crozier and Gifford.

 

[upstater]

It's the coaches, not the players. Hey, I got an idea, roll out the QB right into the DE who is running straight upfield because he knows you like slow developing plays and 11 step drops.

 

[noeynox]

They can and I imagine they are.

I saw a player jogging off during the Boise game, who looked like he was literally having problems jogging. I thought who the heck is that kid that looks so unathletic and big. I looked up the number and it was Tommy Hopkins. I immediately thought, no way that kid ever playes tackle here. Few weeks later we learn he was moved to guard.

We need to go back to recruiting 255 lb offensive tackles in HS and bulking them up ala Hashemi. Kids that move well. At the level we recruit it makes no sense to recruit these behemoths in HS like Levy and Hopkins, work to take weight off them, when even still they may not have good enough feet. Kevin Friend, Will Beatty, Zach Hurd all came in the 250, to 265, weight range. That should be target for the level of kid we recruit. An added bonus if they play hoops as well as those kids tend to have good feet.

 

[huskysupporter]

Levy needs another year at least. Samra hasnt developed at all over his three years and Gifford/Knappe are a bad combination. Would like to see Hopkins out there

Levy looks like he can put on at least 30 pounds with that frame. He has been playing very poor at left tackle, especially pass blocking. They might want to try moving him to guard. He is completely lost when put on an island.

 

[upstater]

Levy looks like he can put on at least 30 pounds with that frame. He has been playing very poor at left tackle, especially pass blocking. They might want to try moving him to guard. He is completely lost when put on an island.

Can we first ask the coaches to show they have any sense of what's going on before blaming the young players?

 

[huskysupporter]

Can we first ask the coaches to show they have any sense of what's going on before blaming the young players?

Blaming young players? I am pointing out that Levy struggled mightily. The coaches are at fault thinking he could be left alone to block a d-end, no question. But the fact remains, he can't block outside rushers.

I said in another thread. Our struggles this year are a combination of X's and O's and Jimmie's and Joe's.

 

[upstater]

Blaming young players? I am pointing out that Levy struggled mightily. The coaches are at fault thinking he could be left alone to block a d-end, no question. But the fact remains, he can't block outside rushers.

I said in another thread. Our struggles this year are a combination of X's and O's and Jimmie's and Joe's.

The coaches, because they don't know what they're doing, are putting their players in maximum position to fail. Until they get that corrected, I'm not going to blame anyone. Maybe Whitmer deserves some blame because he's not following coach's instructions, and he's bailing the pocket too quickly causing all the mayhem, but I don't know that's the case. If it is, the coaches should have dealt with that already.

Until I see the coaches have some sense of what to do out there, it's on them. The mistakes have been repeated OFTEN since game 1, and they continue. Weist figured it out with a much worse offensive line.

 

[huskysupporter]

The coaches, because they don't know what they're doing, are putting their players in maximum position to fail. Until they get that corrected, I'm not going to blame anyone. Maybe Whitmer deserves some blame because he's not following coach's instructions, and he's bailing the pocket too quickly causing all the mayhem, but I don't know that's the case. If it is, the coaches should have dealt with that already.

Until I see the coaches have some sense of what to do out there, it's on them. The mistakes have been repeated OFTEN since game 1, and they continue. Weist figured it out with a much worse offensive line.

The lineman are getting consistently beat on simple one on one match ups as well. Not much you can change with interior blocking schemes, but you can absolutely give Levy or Knappe help when asking them to pass block a player one on one. Have the back chip, have the tight end bump before releasing. . . etc.

 

[Pudge]

The coaches, because they don't know what they're doing, are putting their players in maximum position to fail. Until they get that corrected, I'm not going to blame anyone. Maybe Whitmer deserves some blame because he's not following coach's instructions, and he's bailing the pocket too quickly causing all the mayhem, but I don't know that's the case. If it is, the coaches should have dealt with that already.

Until I see the coaches have some sense of what to do out there, it's on them. The mistakes have been repeated OFTEN since game 1, and they continue. Weist figured it out with a much worse offensive line.

This is crazy.

Do you realize how many years Jimmy Bennett & Steve Greene was around. And Friend.

This current group might not be the right guys; but undeniably, they are playing at this level for the very first month. Weist had game experience.

 

[uconndogs]

This is crazy.

Do you realize how many years Jimmy Bennett & Steve Greene was around. And Friend.

This current group might not be the right guys; but undeniably, they are playing at this level for the very first month. Weist had game experience.

That's exactly right. Moreover, as bad as the OL has been this season, the turnovers have been absolute killers. They put us behind early and a young team like this cannot play from behind. We beat USF without the turnovers and have an outside shot yesterday without them. The offense literally handed Temple 19 points yesterday. That is simply crazy.

Whitmer does not read pressure and the pocket. He never has and he is never going to. He's get athletic skills, but not the head. Boyle may be better, but hard to gage at this point.

 

[upstater]

This is crazy.

Do you realize how many years Jimmy Bennett & Steve Greene was around. And Friend.

This current group might not be the right guys; but undeniably, they are playing at this level for the very first month. Weist had game experience.

With Friend you're right. But go back and see who was playing and what happened to Bennett and Greene. I say the same deficiencies were there last year. But they worked through them. They had and have people who can do some damage at WR. As limited as Whitmer is, he's better than this, but the play-calling puts him and the tackles in the absolute best possible position to succeed.

I recognize the problems with the tackles, though I'm much less harsh on Levy than I am on Knappe. Levy is in a no win position while Knappe has allowed backside pressure, or inside moves. The problem is the same though. An offense without a rudder.

Seriously, we've been talking about Whitmer's crazy back to the play fakes and rollouts into pressure for 4 straight weeks now. I mean, what the hell?

 

[upstater]

The lineman are getting consistently beat on simple one on one match ups as well. Not much you can change with interior blocking schemes, but you can absolutely give Levy or Knappe help when asking them to pass block a player one on one. Have the back chip, have the tight end bump before releasing. . . etc.

And yet more than 10 people on this board have suggested changes.

Nothing you could do?

I watched the DE on Levy's side rush the same exact way 9 out of 10 times. Never a change in the mode of attack which was always off the edge and straight upfield. No tackle is going to spring upfield with a DE. Ain't going to happen. Yet when your QB is going to roll into pressure 10 yards downfield, then suddenly you label that a whiff by the LT. No, sorry.

The LTs job is not to give up quick pressure to the inside and to push or even hell guide the DE downfield beyond the pocket. LTs are not supposed to block DEs ownfield.

 

[uconnflyer88]

Can we first ask the coaches to show they have any sense of what's going on before blaming the young players?

I hate this argument:

Bockeloh - 22 years old
Cruz - 24 years old
Gifford - 22 years old
Knappe - 23 years old
Levy - 22 years old
Mateas - 23 years old
Samra - 21 years old

I know it's all relative but these are grown men