Personnel changes on the OL

[Bvilledave]

Cruz was an absolute traffic cone on that sack. Maybe that's why he's not playing more. Embarrassing against a FCS team.

Per PFF Cruz was in on 6 passing plays and received a 1.6 !!!!

 

[AZOrange]

OL improvements are not overnight fixes. A clear issue that I see is communication gaps. They are not talking

 

[MGraves5]

Yeah, after watching the second string, I think we got the best five playing, unfortunately

That's crazy to think that the guys behind Petry are worse. He was constantly getting beat yesterday, vs Holy Cross!!

 

[IthacaMatt]

Welp the Cruz no sack streak is over and it was against Holy Cross.

I’m still undecided on the OL coach. It’s obvious we need to improve run blocking but I think the pass blocking has been very good. Certainly way better than what we had the past few years.

We’ve given up 11 sacks in 4 games throwing 191 passes - and we’re not exactly throwing short quick passes.

The biggest gripe yesterday was that every pass play seemed to be 20+ yards down field. It’s inevitable to give up some sacks when facing pressure and also waiting for longer developing pass patterns. I’ve been mostly pleased with the protection.

One thing to remember, we knew this OL coach was a pass protection guy, not a running game guy. We shouldn't be so surprised.

 

[kcsu]

Kyle JRS Zeed Meeks OG ...didn't come/stay at SU to run the ball.

 

[FrancoPizza]

One thing to remember, we knew this OL coach was a pass protection guy, not a running game guy. We shouldn't be so surprised.

So then we can hire a running game coordinator/line coach?

 

[richmondcuse03]

Kyle JRS Zeed Meeks OG ...didn't come/stay at SU to run the ball.

We’ve had people begging on here to throw the ball more and score points in a dome. We finally throw the ball more and now they’re upset. Can’t wait.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

We’ve had people begging on here to throw the ball more and score points in a dome. We finally throw the ball more and now they’re upset. Can’t wait.

I for one am thrilled.

 

[tep624]

This is where we really cheaped out on the coaching hires. We should have gone after the Dazzler instead of Dale Williams. The Dazzler’s head coaching experienced would’ve helped the staff tremendously.

I think we all collectively were hoping the OL coach search went in this direction. It checked a lot of boxes.

 

[tep624]

Welp the Cruz no sack streak is over and it was against Holy Cross.

I’m still undecided on the OL coach. It’s obvious we need to improve run blocking but I think the pass blocking has been very good. Certainly way better than what we had the past few years.

We’ve given up 11 sacks in 4 games throwing 191 passes - and we’re not exactly throwing short quick passes.

The biggest gripe yesterday was that every pass play seemed to be 20+ yards down field. It’s inevitable to give up some sacks when facing pressure and also waiting for longer developing pass patterns. I’ve been mostly pleased with the protection.

The pass blocking has been undeniably better and honestly the sacks aren’t all on the OL. Some have been coverage sacks and at least one was on Kyle M. Plus to go from whatever our pass blocking was last year to a line capable of supporting at 350+ yard a game passer (sacks acknowledged) still says something.

 

[Orangefizz]

I think we all collectively were hoping the OL coach search went in this direction. It checked a lot of boxes.

Has an Addazio coached team ever had a weak or even mediocre offensive line? It seems like it was a team strength every year. And let’s not pretend that he was pulling four star offensive line recruits; He was developing them.

His personality would also seem to mesh with Coach Fran and he was a part of a Syracuse coaching staff during their glory years. A perfect bridge from the past to the future.

 

[tep624]

Has an Addazio coached team ever had a weak or even mediocre offensive line? It seems like it was a team strength every year.

Well he is the Dazzler for a reason lol

It would have been a link to the P/D era, an established HC on a staff that doesn’t have one, and a guy known for coaching strong OL units. Checked a lot of boxes.

 

[Orangefizz]

Well he is the Dazzler for a reason lol

It would have been a link to the P/D era, an established HC on a staff that doesn’t have one, and a guy known for coaching strong OL units. Checked a lot of boxes.

And now we’re stuck with Dale Williams (ugh)

 

[orangepassion]

It's not a great sign when you don't have 1 OL grading Above average or higher against an FCS school. We had some nice runs, but it's easy to tell the staff doesn't trust us to run on 3rd and short, even against HC. Petry in particular really struggled this game as a whole, as did Reed towards the beginning of the game.

 

[JKinPhilly]

And now we’re stuck with Dale Williams (ugh)

Is it bad coaching or lack of talent to coach up? I think it’s more than likely a mix of both.

 

[Millhouse]

We’ve had people begging on here to throw the ball more and score points in a dome. We finally throw the ball more and now they’re upset. Can’t wait.

Giants

 

[upperdeck]

Honestly I could care less if they run at all now. It barely functions and 3rd and longs without a sack we still have a shot. I want 3 chances to throw.

its not like teams honor the play action any more anyway.

 

[IthacaMatt]

So then we can hire a running game coordinator/line coach?

My choice was Addazzio for OL and running game coordinator.

 

[BKCuse]

LOL. This board knows better?

To be fair message boards are a valid place to question coaching decisions

 

[tep624]

Honestly I could care less if they run at all now. It barely functions and 3rd and longs without a sack we still have a shot. I want 3 chances to throw.

its not like teams honor the play action any more anyway.

With McCord we should be looking for 3 chances to throw. And honestly, people hyper obsess on running stats - short passes effectively are runs anyway. LeQuint may actually be more dangerous on short swing passes in space to be honest.

 

[SmilinBob]

With McCord we should be looking for 3 chances to throw. And honestly, people hyper obsess on running stats - short passes effectively are runs anyway. LeQuint may actually be more dangerous on short swing passes in space to be honest.

I'm good with an Allen block and then release as well. Wonderful receiver.

Still, the running game just seems off a bit and McCord isn't really going to help that with his legs even though he has done a nice job with some scrambles.

 

[Domedog84]

My choice was Addazzio for OL and running game coordinator.

This is not a shot at you at all, because I have seen Addazzio mentioned by at least 3 other posters and the theme seems to be that we would not pay up and cheaped out on the OL coach hire. That could be true, but the larger question is if Steve had any interest in coming here and would have even accepted the position coach spot. Do we know we passed on hiring/offering him this position, or is this just him being on our wish list?

 

[CbusCuse]

This is not a shot at you at all, because I have seen Addazzio mentioned by at least 3 other posters and the theme seems to be that we would not pay up and cheaped out on the OL coach hire. That could be true, but the larger question is if Steve had any interest in coming here and would have even accepted the position coach spot. Do we know we passed on hiring/offering him this position, or is this just him being on our wish list?

My thoughts as well. I think everyone would love to have had him as an OL coach. But he had been a HC since 2011 except for his final year in 2022-2023 as an OL coach at Texas A&M. At this point I'm guessing he likely preferred the broadcasting gig at ESPN more than taking an OL job at Syracuse.

 

[CbusCuse]

I think most are fine with passing the ball more with Kyle. Fans aren't pineing for a rushing based offense. We just wish our OL showed the ability to do it when called upon. In general I don't think the OL pass blocking has been awful up the middle. We throw a lot and there will be an occasional breakdowns when teams throw in the blitz pass rush often which has been the case lately. Teams are probably getting a bit more push up the middle then we'd like though.

When your OL has blah success in blocking for the run game and you have a QB who is zero threat to run this makes things much more difficult on the pass protection. Teams don't respect our ability to run in any way. LB's don't need to spy the QB etc. The front 6 or 7 only need to focus on rushing the QB or covering the RB out of the back field.

Our main issue is how slow our Tackles are against pass rush around the outside. We brought in some players that we hoped would be a significant upgrade out there in the pass blocking and they don't seem to be much if any better than what we've seen previously and they also don't seem to be good run blockers either despite their size.

So much of our hopes of success this year were based on improvement at pass blocking at the OT positions. Unfortunately they don't seem adequate at this point. This is certainly due to talent. Is it also due to coaching? I'm not so sure. Problems mostly seems to be due to a lack of athleticism on the outside instead of blocking scheme and assignment based issues to me.

 

[Scooch]

I said this in a previous post on this topic, but I will say it again: What makes fans think they know more than professional coaches when it comes to playing time? There are reasons why the guys on the OL, who are not playing...ARE NOT PLAYING! Did you see what that second string OL did? Did any of them look like they should be starting? On one play, Cruz and another player had a double team, and they let a Freshman power between them for a sack!

I answered you last week but you didn't respond. Sometimes coaches make mistakes. So it's not unfathomable to think a coach is evaluating his position group incorrectly and playing someone who shouldn't be and/or not playing someone who should be.

This isn't math, this is subjective.

I'm agnostic on whether the right guys are getting the snaps on the OL. But I am certain that it's possible a non-starter should be getting snaps despite the coach's experience.