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Message: [QUOTE="RF2044, post: 816408, member: 40"] I don't begrudge the OL for not being able to handle 97; there's a reason for that--he is as good as the hype. But I am [and have been] worried about the talent / depth at OL dating back to last year. I don't care what offense you want to run, everything starts up front. We all saw what happened last year when we had an above average OL for the first time in more than a decade. This year's OL is a step down. Hickey is not as good as Pugh at LT. Foy is not as good as Hickey was last year at RT. Ditto Robinsion compared to fifth year Chibane last year. Now, the good news is that we've got three sophomores on the OL as you point out. Foy / Robinsion have proven to be serviceable; not great, but serviceable.Hickey, barring the unforeseen, should return. And Emerich has gotten some playing time, and will be a third year player in our program taking over for the lone departing starter. So all of the above is positive. Problem is, I have big concerns about the state of the OT position. Lasker ended up coming in at LT today when Hickey got hurt. Very interesting... and perhaps telling about the state of affairs at OT. What's the deal with Kyle Knapp? Does he not have the chops? Because if he isn't up to the task, we're basically down to a bunch of projects [Burton, McGloster, etc.] that we need at least one prospect to pan out or we're in dire straits at OT. A kid like Mavety would have come in and made an impact right away, either at LT or RT, but would have really solidified our tackle position. That might have enabled a big kid like Foy to move back inside, where his lack of lateral mobility might not be as big of a liability. On the interior, I'm much more bully about the chances of Palmer, Miller, Emerich, Hayes, Roberts, etc. than I am about what we've got at OT. We really, really need Burton to emerge in the next year or two, IMO. Especially if Knapp busts. I'm not trying to be universally negative. We lost a lot off of last year's above average OL, and Foy / Robinson have done reasonably well. World beaters--no, but serviceable. Problem is, "serviceable'' isn't on par with "above average." Having four returning starters next year will go a long way toward establishing the year-over-year continuity you need to show positional unit improvement. The question is: how do you bolster depth, and how do you foster competition to elevate the entire unit? We're in dire need of an infusion of talent at OT to make that happen, and to build for the future. And I view OL improvement as as big of an area of opportunity as QB / WR. All three need to improve if we're to take this to the next level and get back to being a top 25 team. [/QUOTE]

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