The Offensive Line Thread

[History Geek]

I am generally bullish on the OL given two more years to lift and learn technique. Now I'm spooking myself thinking about their relative youth. According the publically shared pics/videos, and staff comments, it appears at this time the first team OL consists of Van Demark (5th year playing college football IF you count last year), Haynes (3rd year), Walker (3rd year, first two juco), Niedrowski (3rd year), and Lundt (2nd year). Optimally they all would be 4th year/5th year guys, but of course that isn’t where we are now. The rest of the rotation will be as young or younger. I know the unit should be better. But will it be good enough?

 

[blue93]

On paper I’d agree with the hesitation, but Edsall teams are typically strong up front. Add in a former NFL offensive line coach at OC and it should never be a concern.

 

[History Geek]

I share your optimism to a great extent, but I still need to see first hand what improvements these guys have made same with the rest of the team obviously.

 

[History Geek]

Given that, I think RVD is special. Started as a underweight true freshman who held his own, then developed nicely in 2018 and 2019. Two years of drills and lifting later and I’m excited to see him lead the OL in 2021. I think he personally will have a great year and has a great chance of playing on Sundays. I bet even after this year he still as some room to develop.

 

[Blades]

RE in his recent interview, mentioned he's got 11 OL he could play. Guess the other 6 battling it out for the 2 deep will be even younger. Alot of FR or RS FR. I guess it's Senn & Brown for the 2 OT's, and a combination Fortin, Rooney (RS-So), Rochester, Ofori-Nyadu (RS-So) with the converted DL Pace (JR) as the only upperclassman. Or even younger if any of the true FR have jumped up. Also looks like he has the true FR Yakiri Walker working as a C with the 3's.

 

[ktuck911]

This group excites me because of one important thing we were able to do over the last few years...develop depth.
I believe the ceiling is higher than our current level of play. Glass Half full mindset fellas.
I gotta feeling we're shocking some folks this year.... our play, across the board...

OL will be fine...

And we'll see it in 18 days

 

[History Geek]

Back in the day I was a center so quality OL play gets me all warm and fuzzy inside. I hope to feel that way again watching UConn this year. Its been a while.

 

[Palatine]

I am generally bullish on the OL given two more years to lift and learn technique. Now I'm spooking myself thinking about their relative youth. According the publically shared pics/videos, and staff comments, it appears at this time the first team OL consists of Van Demark (5th year playing college football IF you count last year), Haynes (3rd year), Walker (3rd year, first two juco), Niedrowski (3rd year), and Lundt (2nd year). Optimally they all would be 4th year/5th year guys, but of course that isn’t where we are now. The rest of the rotation will be as young or younger. I know the unit should be better. But will it be good enough?

The first, last and most important thing about offensive line play is coordination. Good communication and knowing each other is more critical to this unit than any other on the field. A group of average linemen with seamless teamwork can make the average exceptional.

I say this because these lineman have not played together in a long time. How quickly this line comes together will determine their success. And without a strong offensive line, it's tough to have a good offense. The offensive line is one place where the whole can be much larger than the sum of its parts.

 

[RSTuthill]

Good thread. What is the format for Saturday? If it is controlled scrimmage, we should be able to draw some conclusions about the OL and how it plays. OL performance can also influence which QB ends up number one.

 

[Nextmanup]

The first, last and most important thing about offensive line play is coordination. Good communication and knowing each other is more critical to this unit than any other on the field. A group of average linemen with seamless teamwork can make the average exceptional.

I say this because these lineman have not played together in a long time. How quickly this line comes together will determine their success. And without a strong offensive line, it's tough to have a good offense. The offensive line is one place where the whole can be much larger than the sum of its parts.

The 5 starting linemen have been together for a year. Sydney is the newest lineman at center and he’s been practicing with the same 4 since last year.
The scrambling is in the 2s and 3s.. The ones are a solid group and I expect they will play as a great cohesive unit come game day..

 

[Duncan Idaho]

RE in his recent interview, mentioned he's got 11 OL he could play. Guess the other 6 battling it out for the 2 deep will be even younger. Alot of FR or RS FR. I guess it's Senn & Brown for the 2 OT's, and a combination Fortin, Rooney (RS-So), Rochester, Ofori-Nyadu (RS-So) with the converted DL Pace (JR) as the only upperclassman. Or even younger if any of the true FR have jumped up. Also looks like he has the true FR Yakiri Walker working as a C with the 3's.

Think we saw some of Fortin playing with the 1s in the spring.

 

[History Geek]

It definitely won’t be the same 5, especially earlier in the season. I doubt we see 11 regularly, but i could envision 7-8.

 

[Jimdish255]

Our depth really starts to come into play next year. The year after even better. For now I'm nervous because it only takes one weak link on the line or on a given play to create negative yardage, turnovers or a QB impact. It will be a credit to the staff if we can keep our mistakes to a minimum and develop a cohesive unit out of the gate or even by midseason. But midseason should be the goal. I really want to be wrong and see these guys on the same page protecting and getting a push with no laundry flying. It could make or break the offense.

We should also be working hard to get our OL some NIL opportunities. It's one area where we could get a leg up by being creative and bringing in new recruits.

 

[History Geek]

I love the the idea of NIL opportunities for the big uglies

 

[NYtoCT]

Interested to see if Valentin Senn makes an impact since he had two years to develop in a P5 program. I realize he never really played but he still had the opportunity to learn from the program and players around him at Colorado.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Wonder how Danny A. is doing?

 

[BlueDogs]

I would love to see a powerful OL, which was a RE hallmark in the heyday. If we can control the first 5 yards and pass effectively enough to keep the D from loading the box, we can keep drives sustained.

 

[Stinger92860]

I would love to see a powerful OL, which was a RE hallmark in the heyday. If we can control the first 5 yards and pass effectively enough to keep the D from loading the box, we can keep drives sustained.

I hope we are able to open things up. I’m not interested in heyday RE run/run/pass. However, I’m more concerned about winning, so whatever it takes.

 

[Blades]

I would love to see a powerful OL, which was a RE hallmark in the heyday. If we can control the first 5 yards and pass effectively enough to keep the D from loading the box, we can keep drives sustained.

Speaking of, I remember this quote after the Huskies beat Baylor and RGIII, 2 years in a row: "They've got some big ol' boys that can play football," Bears linebacker Joe Pawelek said. "In first-down situations, they were getting five, six yards. ... We got too many second-and-shorts, third-and-shorts. That's something that's real hard to stop."

 

[BlueDogs]

I hope we are able to open things up. I’m not interested in heyday RE run/run/pass. However, I’m more concerned about winning, so whatever it takes.

I’ll takes Ws however we can get them too.

 

[hardcorehusky]

For RE - a balanced Offense is the key. If you can establish the run, you make the passing game better. LB's can't get as deep a drop and you can get in behind them for bigger plays. If we can't establish the run, the D Line gets to T off on the QB and rush us. Also, this helps get the D off the field.

 

[History Geek]

For RE - a balanced Offense is the key. If you can establish the run, you make the passing game better. LB's can't get as deep a drop and you can get in behind them for bigger plays. If we can't establish the run, the D Line gets to T off on the QB and rush us. Also, this helps get the D off the field.

Ding ding dng

 

[History Geek]

When I attend football games, I like sitiing in the end zone about 10 rows up rather than along the sideline*. You get to see the game as the players do, especially what the OLs and DLs do. My friends think Im weird #biguglielife

*only exception — my friend’s season tix are two row up right behind where the OL sit when they are off the field. Watching/listening to them make their adjustments is fascinating

 

[Pudge]

Senn? my thought is he was told in Colorado that his skillset currently and the depth chart (and thereon the HC security) was not conducive to his development. At UCONN, he will get a chance to get near the Ones ... but develop over a few years to solid OT. Connecticut today is a better fit for him. Boulder is Boulder.

My other curious notion was reading the BC coaching staff bios. Was Matt Applebaum really a two year OLINE starter at UCONN?

 

[hardcorehusky]

Senn? my thought is he was told in Colorado that his skillset currently and the depth chart (and thereon the HC security) was not conducive to his development. At UCONN, he will get a chance to get near the Ones ... but develop over a few years to solid OT. Connecticut today is a better fit for him. Boulder is Boulder.

My other curious notion was reading the BC coaching staff bios. Was Matt Applebaum really a two year OLINE starter at UCONN?

I thought he was one year and a fill in starter the others.