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OL Next Season

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Don't forget that the coaching shuffle might not have given our coaches time to evaluate and fully implement the techniques needed to get these guys on the same page with respect to timing and assignments. Years 1 and 2 both brought changes. If we can go through year 3 without coaching changes that cause further adjustments in those areas they can concentrate on development of timing, technique and assignments. That could be a bigger element than just the physical strength and conditioning, although we know Coach D isn't going to let any aspects of healthy living slip by.

OT: The timing couldn't be better:
http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn...ton-college-football-1014-20151013-story.html
And the depth chart:
http://www.bcinterruption.com/bosto...e-football-depth-chart-for-florida-state-game
 
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If Rutherford is not going to start next year, and he's as good as we kee hearing, I would hope that he would be able to redshirt next year, and have two years of eligibility when Levy and Knappe move on, rather than spend another year of eligibility blocking for place kicks and taking two or three snaps a game at FB.
 
I think with the line returning it's all mental. Physically the are fine, it's when,someone blitzes or stunts is when most of the problems occur. IF they can get that together they will be fine. And from what I've seen samra was one of the biggest offenders on inside blitzes and he will be done.
 
chuck shick said:
I think with the line returning it's all mental. Physically the are fine, it's when,someone blitzes or stunts is when most of the problems occur. IF they can get that together they will be fine. And from what I've seen samra was one of the biggest offenders on inside blitzes and he will be done.
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It is alot more than just mental. Technique and agility have been a problem. Strength as well.

Guys, the line was really bad.
 
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Put me down :

LT PEART
LG VECHERY
C CROZIER
RG ???
RT THOR
 
huskysupporter said:
I think Levy would be an above average guard. I keep saying it. I think putting him out on an island at LT hurts him.
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Agreed.

C - Crozier
G- Levy, Hopkins
T - Thor, Rutherford

If someone else steps up that's great. Having 1 solid backup ready at each position would be ideal. Bunch of guys should be in the mix as #2's.
 
I will wait until the spring game is done before jumping in on who starts or not, but my guess is that UConn will have a couple of new starters on the offensive line next September.


I think Rutherford will start somewhere along the line next year
 
huskysupporter said:
I think Levy would be an above average guard. I keep saying it. I think putting him out on an island at LT hurts him.
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I think moving Levy inside would benefit him and our team tremendously; HOWEVER, I don't believe putting Peart at starting OT is any better. That's Levy as a young pup all over again. He'll get eaten alive by those grown men DL from the other schools we play next season. We have a chance to have one of those magical seasons in 2016. Hopefully we can get a FBS P5 Grad OT where therw was a coaching change and the kid has some ability or a high level playing OL form the FCS level GS or a JUCO kid who can impact our OL now. We dont have tjat now.
 
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SAMCRO said:
I'm positive a lot will change come next Fall, but current depth chart is:

LT 71 Levy, Richard RS JR 65 Peart, Matthew FR
LG 62 Hopkins, Thomas RS SO 73 Hashemi, Steve SO
OC 58 Vechery, Brendan RS SO 75 Oak, Daniel RS FR
RG 60 Samra, Tyler SR 70 Bockeloh, Kyle RS JR
RT 53 Knappe, Andreas RS JR 77 Rutherford, Trey SO

Samra graduates, Crozier comes back from injury, and you get Peart and Cespedes taking off their redshirts. If Vechery and/or Oak can hold down the Center spot, and Crozier can play guard, could be interesting. Levy and Knappe need to improve a lot this Spring or they will get moved out by one of the young'ens.

If this group can gel and become consistently average (which, IMO, will be a big improvement) this team could be really good
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cespedes still has a long way to go, don't get me wrong he has come a long way from where he was this time last year, IE filled his frame out and his footwork seems a bit better but he still looks like an awkward body out there during warm ups, not quite used to his size/ body yet. it will all come with time, I would expect to see him maybe jr yr and on.
 
Sometimes I wonder about the effect of not playing the sport growing up or playing much later as a kid has on whole entire units of a team like the OL?
 
chuck shick said:
I think with the line returning it's all mental. Physically the are fine, it's when,someone blitzes or stunts is when most of the problems occur. IF they can get that together they will be fine. And from what I've seen samra was one of the biggest offenders on inside blitzes and he will be done.
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IMHO ... I wouldn't say it's all mental. but I think their struggles are 65% mental 35% physical. O-Line is one of the most difficult positions on the field to mentally prepare and game plan for. Try going from one side of the line to the other in mid season .... not a lot of guys can do that at the college level. It is a total mirror image of muscle memory and instinct. This is not the NFL where linemen have more time to adapt. It took Donald Thomas until his 4th year in the NFL before he could competently play both guard positions.

Physically man for man they pass the eye test. But most of their problems this year arose from blitz packages and stunting D-linemen. Protection recognition and reaction was a major weakness.

This was a young O-Line with a few years of catching up to do, and they definitely improved this season. The additional practices and the Bowl game will go a long way in helping their repetition, continuity, and familiarity. And the 2nd level of the depth chart is being pulled along too.

My guess L to R: Levy, Hopkins, Crozier, Rutherford, Knappe
 
Kgun7 said:
IMHO ... I wouldn't say it's all mental. but I think their struggles are 65% mental 35% physical. O-Line is one of the most difficult positions on the field to mentally prepare and game plan for. Try going from one side of the line to the other in mid season .... not a lot of guys can do that at the college level. It is a total mirror image of muscle memory and instinct. This is not the NFL where linemen have more time to adapt. It took Donald Thomas until his 4th year in the NFL before he could competently play both guard positions.

Physically man for man they pass the eye test. But most of their problems this year arose from blitz packages and stunting D-linemen. Protection recognition and reaction was a major weakness.

This was a young O-Line with a few years of catching up to do, and they definitely improved this season. The additional practices and the Bowl game will go a long way in helping their repetition, continuity, and familiarity. And the 2nd level of the depth chart is being pulled along too.

My guess L to R: Levy, Hopkins, Crozier, Rutherford, Knappe
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I agree with your prediction as to our 2016 starting offensive line. A big concern would be that we would be losing two starting tackles after the 2016 season. If Pert is slotted to be one of the tackles in 2017, then who would be the other tackle? If Diaco followed the advice of some of the members of the boneyard, Rutherford would be one of the starting tackles in 2016 and Levy would be moved inside. ( I don't see that happening but you would be losing only one starting tackle after the season if that move was made.) In any case it will interesting how the first string and back up lineman are slotted for next year.
 
Here's an older piece about the OL that as me thinking even a little more about Hashemi because of his growth between seasons and the athleticism we know he has. If that's been lacking he could be in the mix

http://runwayramblings.blogspot.com/2015/08/looking-at-center-position-at-uconn.html

Also as regards the Crozier injury (seems to be an an ACL) it's interesting that ND has a NT coming back from an MCL for their Bowl Game vs OSU. Giving Ryan the time he needs should make for a full Spring participation.
 
Peart may not be a starter from game 1, but something tells me he gets about 30-40 snaps/game at either tackle position. If he is up to weight, I wouldn't be surprised if he supplants Levy. As well as Vechery has played and how the staff had been touting Oak, They will probably be key to the rotation on the interior.
 
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Levy had some tough games. As a RS SR, i hope he can fix it this season. Samra also had some really rough spots, but he's gone.

Peart, and Rutherford will be pushing for time at the Tackle spots.

To me, in a perfect world (and because i'm a grass-is-always-greener kind of dude), the young guys will improve so much that they will supplant their older peers and the OL will look like:

LT- Peart
LG- Crozier
C- Oak or Vechery
RG- Vechery or Hopkins
RT- Knappe or Rutherford

But in my mind these things make sense...less so in real life
 
Here is my concern - if Rutherford had such an upside, why didn't we play him more. Have him split time with Samra, go to tackle? If we are in win now mode, the Redshirt Freshman backs up the senior until he shows he is better than the senior. So before we bestow starting spots to Rutherford and Peart, let's see them win in in practice and perform on the field.
 
Duncan Idaho said:
Sometimes I wonder about the effect of not playing the sport growing up or playing much later as a kid has on whole entire units of a team like the OL?
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I think its probably a matter of how fast a player can pick up things, and how well coaching can balance individual training and unit - group training.

OL's individually got to have feet like a boxer, and like anything else you got to have some natural ability and you got to train hard and properly. The more of both, the better. The taller, the heavier, the longer the arm reach - the better, but without the feet - like a boxer, nothing.

As a group, they got to be able to get along as a tight group. Communicate, know each others tendencies and personalities, and be able to motivate and pick esch other up and be accountable as a group.

Players and coaches that are not balancing individual develpment as well as development within a unit aren't going to get good results. Vice versa, they should get good results.

The question really, is whether or not you're putting an OL unit out on game days that is both individually and as a group performing at as close to a full potential as possible within the eligibility window of 5 years. I think 2-3 years is plenty development time from scratch given the requisitevsize and physical ability with the feet.

The problem we've had since 2009, is that we've been progressively replacing seasoned players that were well developed individually and within a unit, with less developed players, less cohesive units.

I'm thinking that a consistency in offensive coaching and a lineup is going to see a steep improvement next season. We're also recruiting adequately again for going on 4 years now again, and that helps.
 
If any of those OL can catch a punt let alone catch and return a punt 10 yards or more, it will be huge. Or, even teach a man to fish. Massive! All joking aside, starting and trying to block with bad field position and almost no punt return yardage hasn't made the job easier for the OL nor the O in general.
 
Why would anyone think that Oak and Rutherford, who couldn't beat out young Hopkins or Vechery this year, are likely to next year? I understand the hope that Peart will be a stud, and I expect a healthy Crozier to start, but why aren't Hopkins and Vechery likely to improve as much as Oak and Rutherford?

My guess for next year, left to right: Levy, Hopkins, Crozier, Vachery or Rutherford and Knappe. And it will play significantly better than last year in large part to continuity of their coaching for the first time in forever.
 
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I know it's been awhile since but did Coach Cummings change his mind about keeping Rutherford on the outside?

I was curious about sophomore Trey Rutherford, who showed the ability to play a variety of positions on the offensive line as a freshman but Cummings said he wants to keep Rutherford, who is listed as a second-string right tackle, playing on the outside.

"We kind of have to settle down where he plays and I think it really will help him to solidify one spot," Cummings said.
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businesslawyer said:
In the last third or so of the season, Rutherford got a few snaps at RG for Samra.
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Thanks not sure I'd read too much into that given the issues we had, but it does go against his stated preference.
 
ibleedhuskyblue said:
Levy had some tough games. As a RS SR, i hope he can fix it this season. Samra also had some really rough spots, but he's gone.

Peart, and Rutherford will be pushing for time at the Tackle spots.

To me, in a perfect world (and because i'm a grass-is-always-greener kind of dude), the young guys will improve so much that they will supplant their older peers and the OL will look like:

LT- Peart
LG- Crozier
C- Oak or Vechery
RG- Vechery or Hopkins
RT- Knappe or Rutherford

But in my mind these things make sense...less so in real life
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Knappe was Mr False Start too so both OT spots need improvement

And why wouldn't you pencil back in as starting C? He was our best guy there before he went down. So much better that Vechery, a walk on at the time turned into a starter.
 
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