How is this possible?
- Thread starter Elf
- Start date
I understand the desire to have those young guys play, and, you're right, it's hard to imagine them being any worse than what we put on the field.
If I was doing the recruiting plan and trying to fill the huge depth hole on the o-line, I wouldn't. Let me explain.
We have a scholarship limit of 85, that's 3 deep at every position on the field plus room for specialists and a few extras. We can't recruit to many players at any one position or we leave other positions short handed. I would shoot for 4 o-line recruits per year and make red shirting mandatory unless your name is Will Shields.
I would build for the future right now. You have to do it sometime because if you don't the pain never ends, so if not now, then when? Osborne did a crap load of things right for a lot of years and red shirting all incoming freshmen lineman was one of them. We didn't have poor line play when those guys got to come in, redshirt, eat at the training table, and be in Epley's S&C program for 2-3 years before starting. That's when we had the Pipeline and if we want that Pipeline again we're going to have to rebuild it with quality players and quality development. It isn't very likely that we will get back to that if we don't spend the time developing those young guys first.
Good description. The "long game". That might work at OSU, but not here. IMO, long term is getting the younger guys playing time so every year or every other we are not starting a brand new set of guys. Get younger guys reps. Get them some experienced so next year we don't have a brand new center trying to make the calls who has never taken a snap for the entire game as an example. Or a brand new RS QB, or whatever....The best way to get long term development is to get as many guys playing time when you can. We have had such gaps in recruit misses and poor classes we need to dump bodies at the problem. Another way, go wild Bill and hit the Juco ranks for a stop gap QB or a rush end or DB or whatever...
We just have enough depth to sit guys IMO. Maybe in another 2 years we can, but right now, short on talent, short on depth and short on pit bull mentality
Just disappointed for sure in this season and staff decisions.
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I thought we'd be more competitive against Iowa and Tennessee. And while I kinda expected a loss to Ohio St, I didn't expect to get boat raced like that.