B1G Position Ranks - O Line

[knapplc]

Unsurprisingly, ESPN ranks Wisconsin's O Line #1 in the Big Ten, followed by Michigan, Michigan State, and the Huskers at #4. I'm a little surprised we're that high.

Their blurb about us:

4. Nebraska: The Cornhuskers lost three starters from last year's line, but much like Wisconsin, this is a group that usually reloads. Guards Spencer Long and Seung Hoon Choi provide nice building blocks, with Tyler Moore, Jeremiah Sirles and Andrew Rodriguez solidifying the tackle spots. The big question here is center and who will replace Mike Caputo.

LINK

Personally, their "analysis" of our line seems pretty boilerplate. "...much like Wisconsin, this is a group that usually reloads." Yeah, maybe 20 years ago, but those days are long gone, and we've had wildly erratic line play the last few years.

I'd like to not be skeptical of our line, but too frequently we've been pushed around, missed assignments or frankly outplayed the last few years. And as the line goes, so goes the offense, producing wildly erratic results from game to game and sometimes half to half.

Hopefully the line will prove me wrong. I would love that.

 

[Hercules]

I think this group has some potential. Long and Choi both impressed me at times last year. They all have a long ways to go though, and Tyler Moore sort of disappeared midway through last season. I'm looking forward to seeing if Reeves and Klatchko can step up and provide some quality depth.

 

[RedTexan]

I don't see Qvale's name mentioned. I read something recently that said in Beck's opinion he was one of the most improved players in spring ball.

 

[knapplc]

I don't see Qvale's name mentioned. I read something recently that said in Beck's opinion he was one of the most improved players in spring ball.

Don't look for a lot of deep insight from ESPN. They do their reporting from afar, reading local message boards and local beat writers' stuff. They don't have people on the ground here.

 

[Foppa]

Unsurprisingly, ESPN ranks Wisconsin's O Line #1 in the Big Ten, followed by Michigan, Michigan State, and the Huskers at #4. I'm a little surprised we're that high.

Their blurb about us:

4. Nebraska: The Cornhuskers lost three starters from last year's line, but much like Wisconsin, this is a group that usually reloads. Guards Spencer Long and Seung Hoon Choi provide nice building blocks, with Tyler Moore, Jeremiah Sirles and Andrew Rodriguez solidifying the tackle spots. The big question here is center and who will replace Mike Caputo.

LINK

Personally, their "analysis" of our line seems pretty boilerplate. "...much like Wisconsin, this is a group that usually reloads." Yeah, maybe 20 years ago, but those days are long gone, and we've had wildly erratic line play the last few years.

I'd like to not be skeptical of our line, but too frequently we've been pushed around, missed assignments or frankly outplayed the last few years. And as the line goes, so goes the offense, producing wildly erratic results from game to game and sometimes half to half.

Hopefully the line will prove me wrong. I would love that.

You used that twice, and it got me thinking...Has Barney ever been pulled over for driving this way?

 

[HuskerFowler]

While certainly not elite, we arent as bad as most guys on here think we are. I think thats a fair rating with some room to improve.

 

[The Dude]

Probably a fair enough ranking. Maybe you put Ohio State ahead of us, but maybe there's not much reason to. 4-5 seems about right.

 

[Muck]

Probably a fair enough ranking. Maybe you put Ohio State ahead of us, but maybe there's not much reason to. 4-5 seems about right.

I wouldn't. The Buckeye OL has far too much to prove before they should be ranked near the top of the conference.

 

[Hunter94]

the fact that few of these guys have played together sure doesn't help.........that and our O line has a reputation for players getting and staying hurt all season.

it would take a turn around..........

 

[BIGREDIOWAN]

Reload??? The O-Line??? I hope like hell they pull their heads out of their a$$es................it sucks to watch the o-line most of the time.

 

[Foppa]

Reload??? The O-Line??? I hope like hell they pull their heads out of their a$$es................it sucks to watch the o-line most of the time.

You don't like the 'look out!' blocking?

 

[Danimal]

While certainly not elite, we arent as bad as most guys on here think we are. I think thats a fair rating with some room to improve.

This

The O-line did improve last year, wasn't as noticeable because we were playing against better defenses. This line has a good amount of starting experience and we'll have some solid young talent in the mix. Of course the huge ??? is center. Won't be particularly good there but if we can hold our own this should be a solid line.

 

[knapplc]

The O-line did improve last year, wasn't as noticeable because we were playing against better defenses. This line has a good amount of starting experience and we'll have some solid young talent in the mix. Of course the huge ??? is center. Won't be particularly good there but if we can hold our own this should be a solid line.

I keep seeing this, but when I look back at the games... it doesn't show. Where are people coming up with this idea that we improved? Over and over I keep seeing our linemen standing around after the play having never touched anyone on the defense. This happened throughout the season, and I'm really not getting where this "improvement" talk is coming from.

There were games where our line brought their lunchpails and just mashed people. There were other games where they were a sieve. They were inconsistent game to game, half to half and sometimes from one drive to the next. All year long.

 

[bshirt]

While certainly not elite, we arent as bad as most guys on here think we are. I think thats a fair rating with some room to improve.

This

The O-line did improve last year, wasn't as noticeable because we were playing against better defenses. This line has a good amount of starting experience and we'll have some solid young talent in the mix. Of course the huge ??? is center. Won't be particularly good there but if we can hold our own this should be a solid line.

Yepper. That's how I see it too.

 

[Enhance]

I've heard former linemen and people who did this stuff for years say our technique is bad and wildly inconsistent. I also had a good buddy of mine from the journalism school spend time up in Milt Tenopir's sky box for a couple games last year, and he said Tenopir regularly facepalmed himself and vocally complained about our line play from game to game.

Even us non-experts can go through and see something isn't right. Whether it's technique, missed assignments, what have you, it's been awhile since we had a good and consistent offensive line here. This is Beck's second year as OC, so I'm hoping the missed assignments will be fewer and the team will have a better understanding of what's going on. With the amount of guys and experience we have coming back, there's really no excuse to not be one of the better lines in the B1G, especially next year.