BTW, this is going to be a REALLY good team next year.

[LeMoyneCuse]

OL will be wide open next year. Here's my early guess, assuming guys are developing like we hoped.

Conway Palmer Emerich Shanley Adams

or if Adams is taking a bit more time to develop, which it sounds like he isn't.

Conway Roberts Emerich Shanley Palmer

I think the only definites right now are Palmer and Conway.

 

[Entropic]

I see no reason why Shanley would not return given if he has another year of eligibility.

I see no reason why Emerich would not return. People lately have been tossing around taking the degree and leaving or not being invited back like it’s common practice. Its not. Emerich is #2 and played well replacing Trudo Saturday. If he’s not the starting center next year it’s because Duerig is lights out.

I think we're fine at Guard next year. Tackle is the concern though at least 1 starter (Palmer) returns and Cody Conway probably also gets the nod. Tackle depth will be a big concern.

C - Donnie Foster 6-3 310 JR
C – Andrejas Duerig – 6-3 297 – RFR
C – Jason Emerich – 6-3 273 - SR

OG – Aaron Roberts – 6-4 280 - SO
OG – Sam Clausman - 6-3 317 – RFR
OG – Evan Adams - 6-6 314 – RFR
OG – Alex Hayes – 6-2 279 – JR
OG – Seamus Shanley – 6-1 281 – SR

OT – Omari Palmer - 6-3 205 – SR
OT – Cody Conway – 6-3 305 – SO
OT – Colin Byrne – 6-5 303 - RFR
OT – Jamar McGloster – 6-7 319 – JR
OT – Joe Burton – 6-8 304 – JR
OT – Denzel Ward – 6-8 325 – SO

We could have 300lbs + guys across the line? What happened to the days of our OL being the size of other teams linebackers?

 

[CuseLegacy]

weak link

I think the problem last year wasn't so much Adam as the previous OC. Lot of things were going on there.

 

[bcubs9497]

Don't discount Sam Clausman. That kid is really strong. May not be the nimblest OL but he's definitely going to be a road grader...

 

[retro44]

Plus I'm getting my Fournette doll and pins ready.

I am getting my Crossbow retro fitted to shoot really big pins

 

[Finwad32]

weak link

How so? Because if you're talking to the OL performance (assignment and technique) in 2014, direction was given on how to coach them that went against the grain. It was part of the basis that there was going to be coaching changes no matter what last season. It just happened earlier than expected.

He can recruit and has a good relationship with the players. I think the jury is still out on his ability as an OL Coach.

IMO - calling him the weak link is ill-informed.

 

[RF2044]

How so? Because if you're talking to the OL performance (assignment and technique) in 2014, direction was given on how to coach them that went against the grain. It was part of the basis that there was going to be coaching changes no matter what last season. It just happened earlier than expected.

He can recruit and has a good relationship with the players. I think the jury is still out on his ability as an OL Coach.

IMO - calling him the weak link is ill-informed.

In general, the same posters who were critical of the hire initially are the same ones evaluating through the lens of confirmatory bias now.

 

[anomander]

Adam gets some credit for recruiting, for the development of Trudo as a center, for Palmer's progress, for Shanley. Can't fault him for the projects brought in by his predecessor.
The OL had one False start, no holding penalties, allowed pressure but only one sack that I recall. Some credit to Adam? It isn't the biggest line or most physical, but that isn't Adam's fault.
Most important, his recruits (Conway and Adams) are promising.

Now this gets blamed on Marrone as well? The only project he brought in was Burton. McGolster was this staff. By the way the entire starting OL were recruited by Marrone. Trudo, Foy, and Robinson have already proven their worth as they were part of 2 of the better OL's we've had up here. I don't give any credit for Adam developing either of those 3 since they are all pretty much the same, or in the case of Trudo, maybe even better a few years ago. I guess we will tell next year how good a OL coach Adam is when he loses the 3 guys who have anchored the line since they were Freshman/Sophomore.

And I said before that Adam has earned his worth that he deserves to be part of this staff. He has far exceeded what expectations from a recruiting standpoint, but the truth is he never coached the position before in his career, and since he has taken over we have seen probably the strongest unit on the team fall back just to an OK group. If people want to give him a pass last year because of injuries go for it. I know we went through this before, but I went back and saw that although we had injuries they were spread out. We were only missing more then 1 starter on a couple of occasions. Any decent P5 program should have at least 7 capable OL they should be able to put out there. I just don't think we should have seen the immense drop off that we did. As for this year it remains to be seen how the unit does, but on paper this should be a very good group, and against Wake all I saw was average.

 

[jgeorge322]

Now this gets blamed on Marrone as well? The only project he brought in was Burton. McGolster was this staff. By the way the entire starting OL were recruited by Marrone. Trudo, Foy, and Robinson have already proven their worth as they were part of 2 of the better OL's we've had up here. I don't give any credit for Adam developing either of those 3 since they are all pretty much the same, or in the case of Trudo, maybe even better a few years ago. I guess we will tell next year how good a OL coach Adam is when he loses the 3 guys who have anchored the line since they were Freshman/Sophomore.

And I said before that Adam has earned his worth that he deserves to be part of this staff. He has far exceeded what expectations from a recruiting standpoint, but the truth is he never coached the position before in his career, and since he has taken over we have seen probably the strongest unit on the team fall back just to an OK group. If people want to give him a pass last year because of injuries go for it. I know we went through this before, but I went back and saw that although we had injuries they were spread out. We were only missing more then 1 starter on a couple of occasions. Any decent P5 program should have at least 7 capable OL they should be able to put out there. I just don't think we should have seen the immense drop off that we did. As for this year it remains to be seen how the unit does, but on paper this should be a very good group, and against Wake all I saw was average.

marrone knows how to coach the ol. no debating that.

 

[TheCusian]

Now this gets blamed on Marrone as well? The only project he brought in was Burton. McGolster was this staff. By the way the entire starting OL were recruited by Marrone. Trudo, Foy, and Robinson have already proven their worth as they were part of 2 of the better OL's we've had up here. I don't give any credit for Adam developing either of those 3 since they are all pretty much the same, or in the case of Trudo, maybe even better a few years ago. I guess we will tell next year how good a OL coach Adam is when he loses the 3 guys who have anchored the line since they were Freshman/Sophomore. And I said before that Adam has earned his worth that he deserves to be part of this staff. He has far exceeded what expectations from a recruiting standpoint, but the truth is he never coached the position before in his career, and since he has taken over we have seen probably the strongest unit on the team fall back just to an OK group. If people want to give him a pass last year because of injuries go for it. I know we went through this before, but I went back and saw that although we had injuries they were spread out. We were only missing more then 1 starter on a couple of occasions. Any decent P5 program should have at least 7 capable OL they should be able to put out there. I just don't think we should have seen the immense drop off that we did. As for this year it remains to be seen how the unit does, but on paper this should be a very good group, and against Wake all I saw was average.

Bit of a stretch from "weak link" to average. Last year wasn't just injuries. One cadence. Predictable offense. And we know Lester/Adam had issue with Mcits protection schemes. Not to mention QB's who are holding the ball too long. And they weren't even that bad last year.

 

[PhatOrange]

Burton and McGloster were projects no matter how it’s sliced.

Ward is a redshirt freshman. Not worried at all here for now.

Shanley – He has to go into the ‘developed’ category does he not?

I think the Roberts, Hayes, Shanley, Clausman guard battle will be a good one next spring.

Is Evan Adams going to play Guard or Tackle?

 

[RF2044]

We have a tendency to overrate our talent, and I'm seeing a lot of that in this thread. Let's break down the unit:

Trudo showed quite a bit of promise as a freshman, and has been a valuable contributor, but he plateaued early. That's not to say that he isn't good, but he was good as a frosh and never became great [and even so still might have a shot at the NFL]. I don't know if that is on the coaches or a function of his ability, but I think that many saw the potential early and projected a higher ceiling for him than he actually had.

Palmer has been forced to play out of position these past two years. He'd probably be best at RG, but has had to play RT due to limited tackle depth. And he's actually done a reasonably good job. Kid might be a pro RG.

Foy has played out of position his entire career. He should be a LG, but has played RT and now LT. At times, he's played well, at other time's he's struggled. It remains to be seen whether he will be able to provide high quality play at LT this season, an important position with a true frosh QB. But I don't know that his lack of turning into a star performer is due to poor coaching vs. him playing out of position.

I pull for Robinson as a local kid, and I think it was a great story when he won a starting job early. He's another guy that battled injuries, and I'm not sure that he is quite as good as a contingent of posters hoped. He can obviously erase that with a big senior year.

Point being? Four key performers who have been multi-year starters, but I tend to believe that many fans over-estimated the potential of those players, particularly the latter two. Which in turn leads them to express frustration that the coaching staff didn't help them achieve those unrealistic expectations.

Let's be honest--Burton was a huge [figuratively and literally] project, and an example of the staff trying to catch lightning in a bottle. Will he ever crack the two deep? Unlikely, but his career's still being written. But if he doesn't emerge it hardly is an indictment of coaching.

Let's be honest II: McGloster was a super late add to his class, a total project with athletic upside. Even though he hasn't truly contended for a starting spot, the fact that he's gone from basketball player who dabbled in football to a guy on a P5 two deep actually reflects well upon the coaching. This guy was super raw.

Lasker is a bit of a puzzle. Looked fairly solid as a soph, sucked as a junior, and hasn't gotten much PT as a senior. He was a guy who showed a lot of promise early, but seemed to regress.

Emerich is a career backup, who has stepped up and been solid whenever his number has been called [primarily due to injury]. Not sure that he's starting caliber long-term, but he's a solid rotation guy.

Hayes and Roberts are young players who could both end up being multi-year starters.

Ward is a redshirt frosh who came in overweight, too weak, and too slow. Not sure how that can be pinned on his position coach. He's in his first year of eligbility, and has plenty of time to turn it around. And if he doesn't, we've got plenty of your talent who will leapfrog him on the depth chart.

Speaking of whom, I'll leave out the RF frosh for now, since they likely won't see the field [Conway obviously might].

In general, the current coaching staff didn't inherit a great group at OL. We had some quality [Mackey, Trudo, Hickey, Palmer], but lacked depth to a worrisome degree, and the bottom dropped out last year with the extensive injuries we suffered at OL. Several of the principals not only got hurt, but also weren't quite as good as a portion of the fanbase believes. I don't think you can put that all on the coaching staff--I think some of it came down to the capabilities of the players, and bad luck with injuries.

This year, the execution seems better, the depth is improved, and the penalties are way down. But I still think the group has limited upside [with "average" being the top potential], primarily due to several guys playing out of position and not having a natural LT on the squad with experience.

We've replenished the coffers at OL in the last two classes. And while it stinks to lose Trudo, I have a feeling that the players who ascend to replace the rest will prove to be better than the guys they'll be replacing. Just my opinion, but I think Adam has done a reasonable job under the circumstances, I'm encouraged with who we've recruited at OL, and I expect better performance in upcoming seasons from the OL as a function of better talent / depth.

 

[SoBristol]

I believe Lasker has a shoulder injury -- has he played? The key for all units, not just the OL, is upgrading the recruiting now that we have the IPF and ACC membership. It seems to be happening in the DL, also in the OL (Conway & Adams), and we have several promising LBs to back up a young starting set. We could use another WR and some help in the secondary.
The original post made the case that our 2016 future is bright, based on Dungey, Fredericks and others. Yes, and a similar case could be made for Wake's unit on offense. Wake has two OTs starting as RS-F, a frosh runner, two true frosh receivers and one RS-F who each put up 5 catches against us, a sophomore TE who was second team all-league in one pre-season guide, and a soph QB who put up 370 yards passing against our secondary. Need some replacements in their defense, of course.

 

[SoBristol]

Now this gets blamed on Marrone as well? The only project he brought in was Burton. McGolster was this staff. By the way the entire starting OL were recruited by Marrone. Trudo, Foy, and Robinson have already proven their worth as they were part of 2 of the better OL's we've had up here. ...

Not blaming Marrone in the least, except his departure in late December 2012 left Shafer and Coach Perles scrambling to fill slots in that 2013 class. They ended up with McGloster, Lasker, Hayes. It was the best they could do, but it is unfair to judge Adam by whether these players (or Ward or Roberts) rose to the top of the depth chart. Similarly, with Burton, who was a late addition after we whiffed on earlier offers.

 

[tep624]

We have a tendency to overrate our talent, and I'm seeing a lot of that in this thread. Let's break down the unit:

Trudo showed quite a bit of promise as a freshman, and has been a valuable contributor, but he plateaued early. That's not to say that he isn't good, but he was good as a frosh and never became great [and even so still might have a shot at the NFL]. I don't know if that is on the coaches or a function of his ability, but I think that many saw the potential early and projected a higher ceiling for him than he actually had.

Palmer has been forced to play out of position these past two years. He'd probably be best at RG, but has had to play RT due to limited tackle depth. And he's actually done a reasonably good job. Kid might be a pro RG.

Foy has played out of position his entire career. He should be a LG, but has played RT and now LT. At times, he's played well, at other time's he's struggled. It remains to be seen whether he will be able to provide high quality play at LT this season, an important position with a true frosh QB. But I don't know that his lack of turning into a star performer is due to poor coaching vs. him playing out of position.

I pull for Robinson as a local kid, and I think it was a great story when he won a starting job early. He's another guy that battled injuries, and I'm not sure that he is quite as good as a contingent of posters hoped. He can obviously erase that with a big senior year.

Point being? Four key performers who have been multi-year starters, but I tend to believe that many fans over-estimated the potential of those players, particularly the latter two. Which in turn leads them to express frustration that the coaching staff didn't help them achieve those unrealistic expectations.

Let's be honest--Burton was a huge [figuratively and literally] project, and an example of the staff trying to catch lightning in a bottle. Will he ever crack the two deep? Unlikely, but his career's still being written. But if he doesn't emerge it hardly is an indictment of coaching.

Let's be honest II: McGloster was a super late add to his class, a total project with athletic upside. Even though he hasn't truly contended for a starting spot, the fact that he's gone from basketball player who dabbled in football to a guy on a P5 two deep actually reflects well upon the coaching. This guy was super raw.

Lasker is a bit of a puzzle. Looked fairly solid as a soph, sucked as a junior, and hasn't gotten much PT as a senior. He was a guy who showed a lot of promise early, but seemed to regress.

Emerich is a career backup, who has stepped up and been solid whenever his number has been called [primarily due to injury]. Not sure that he's starting caliber long-term, but he's a solid rotation guy.

Hayes and Roberts are young players who could both end up being multi-year starters.

Ward is a redshirt frosh who came in overweight, too weak, and too slow. Not sure how that can be pinned on his position coach. He's in his first year of eligbility, and has plenty of time to turn it around. And if he doesn't, we've got plenty of your talent who will leapfrog him on the depth chart.

Speaking of whom, I'll leave out the RF frosh for now, since they likely won't see the field [Conway obviously might].

In general, the current coaching staff didn't inherit a great group at OL. We had some quality [Mackey, Trudo, Hickey, Palmer], but lacked depth to a worrisome degree, and the bottom dropped out last year with the extensive injuries we suffered at OL. Several of the principals not only got hurt, but also weren't quite as good as a portion of the fanbase believes. I don't think you can put that all on the coaching staff--I think some of it came down to the capabilities of the players, and bad luck with injuries.

This year, the execution seems better, the depth is improved, and the penalties are way down. But I still think the group has limited upside [with "average" being the top potential], primarily due to several guys playing out of position and not having a natural LT on the squad with experience.

We've replenished the coffers at OL in the last two classes. And while it stinks to lose Trudo, I have a feeling that the players who ascend to replace the rest will prove to be better than the guys they'll be replacing. Just my opinion, but I think Adam has done a reasonable job under the circumstances, I'm encouraged with who we've recruited at OL, and I expect better performance in upcoming seasons from the OL as a function of better talent / depth.

Marrone's staff sucked at OL recruiting in the 2013 class. Period. That 2013 class is a major void and a big reason why our depth was so suspect last year. Coupled with the loss of Kris Curtis and Kyle Knapp due to injury, I feel that any O Line coach would have had trouble last year unless the starting 5 were healthy all year. That wasn't the case, we did not have the quality depth and that's not Joe Adam's fault.

We had guys playing hurt that a team with a quality 2 deep would NEVER have played under those circumstances.

Now, to be fair, in 2014 I don't feel Shafer's staff targeted enough O Linemen, only bringing in Ward and Roberts despite the depth situation with the O Line. Again, not Joe Adam's fault.