Offense line poll
- Thread starter Delcolion915
- Start date
I had hope for the first time when Trautwein came on board. I thought.... we have a solid coach who will develop lineman and for the first time in over a decade PSU will have a good line.
Didnt happen.....
Didnt happen.....
The OL is 22+ years of ineptitude with a few blind-squirrel years thrown in.
My expectations are that it will suck every year.
My expectations are that it will suck every year.
And to think it used to be a strength…not only as a unit on our team, but nationally.
I can still remember Curtis Enis on that sweep, Larry Johnson on the sprint draw or pitch out, he'll even Evan Royster chewing up yards...all behind solid o lines. You don't need to go back to 94. Somewhere around 2010 it all ended and it's been gone ever since. Barkley being superman don't count.
We will be better simply because the line has another offseason worth of experience. This does not mean we will be much better because every contributor was recruited and developed to run a mostly man run blocking scheme vs a pure gap. Some of our linemen are simply not suited for this scheme (square peg, round hole) and will never be great, but the unit will be better. However, it will not be a strength for another two years.
Admittedly, I'm less tuned in than I have been in years past, but I think the disappointing performances of that unit over the years has something to do with my apathy. It's become systemic.
We've had some strange years, first with trying to recover from the sanctions and now COVID, but we're past the time of excuses.
I generally like Franklin, but I don't think he emphasizes fundamental blocking and tackling as much as he does looking good at the Combine. I get wanting to keep guys healthy, but our teams seem to lack toughness up front. I suspect they need to get after it more in practice.
I also think our tight ends come here to catch the ball, not to block.
We platoon our RBs and not all of them are good in pass protection.
And since I'm going old school, I miss having a bruiser at FB on third downs and near the goal line.
Finally, I don't know why we can't seem to execute an old fashioned screen pass to slow down the pass rush. We've got the RBs.
Some of our problems have to do with the scheme we run, but other teams seem to make it work.
I wish I had the answers. I'd like to see improvement, but I'm not holding my breath.
We've had some strange years, first with trying to recover from the sanctions and now COVID, but we're past the time of excuses.
I generally like Franklin, but I don't think he emphasizes fundamental blocking and tackling as much as he does looking good at the Combine. I get wanting to keep guys healthy, but our teams seem to lack toughness up front. I suspect they need to get after it more in practice.
I also think our tight ends come here to catch the ball, not to block.
We platoon our RBs and not all of them are good in pass protection.
And since I'm going old school, I miss having a bruiser at FB on third downs and near the goal line.
Finally, I don't know why we can't seem to execute an old fashioned screen pass to slow down the pass rush. We've got the RBs.
Some of our problems have to do with the scheme we run, but other teams seem to make it work.
I wish I had the answers. I'd like to see improvement, but I'm not holding my breath.
Why you volunteer your
Extraordinary expertise will vault the OL back to the days of Farrell, Munchak, Romano...etc.
This unit has sucked since the shelf was left bare by BOB. But I give Trautwine this year then if there is no significant improvement ...then I will join the crowd.
LB's run completely free and have been 2 yards in our backfield tackling the RB for years. OSU and Wisky have been killing us with their LB's. First down on the Buckeyes 7 YL in 2017 with about 5 minutes left in the game. Three RPO's with Barkley and McSorley and we were 4th down on their 7 YL; we didn't gain on inch. Kicked the FG and end up loosing the game when we were up 28-7 at one time. Pathetic, but if you watched the RPO's, the OSU LB's were in our backfield on every play.
I’m old school too but unless you have attended any practices, you have no idea what Franklin and the coaches emphasize. Your claim that he doesn’t emphasize fundamental blocking and tackling as much as looking good at the combine is ridiculous.
There is a tab labeled "Poll" where you can actually author a poll that will keep track of everyone's selections...... You created a thread for discussion, not a poll....
So if he is emphasizing the fundamentals of blocking, for example, why has the OL stunk at that during his ENTIRE tenure? Poor recruiting, or player development, or maybe lack of fundamentals? Not trying to argue...but if you imply that a coach is emphasizing something, or at least we think he is, and the unit still sucks every yr, where does the problem lie? As for the secondary...the tackling at times has been horrendous, to poor angles (specifically during the Wade yrs). JPJR is a flag machine...idk, I think the 'lack of fundamentals' knock on JF is somewhat warranted.
Exactly. There have been different schemes, different coordinators, different personnel, different o line coaches. The only constant is the head coach. The buck stops with the head coach, and each and every one of his o lines has stunk.
I am going with 2. When I see Wallace at OT, the red flags go up. HE SUCKS AT OT! Move him inside where we can at least use his bulk to take up space. Put Tengwell or EFfner at RT, they have better feet than Wallace and also more desire to play. We are going with Fasanu at LT. He was okay against Arkansas but still left alot to be desired. He is a Nigerian kid and they usually have strong work ethics so I am hoping he is working hard in the weight room and improving his footwork. I expected alot more Scruggs. So far he has been average. I am hoping he finds a home at center and the switch finally turns on.
I love Tengwell!!!! These are the type of OL we should have been recruiting for years! He is a leader to and that is something we have been missing for years on the OL. The wildcard is the kid from Cornell. They didn't bring him to sit so he is getting one of the OG spots (I would give him a shot at RT, it can't hurt). I am hoping he will inject some toughness and bring in some leadership as well. The jury is out on Wormley. I hear things but since I have never seen him take a snap, I have no confidence him. The one kid that surprised me during that joke of BW game was Dawkins who was trending bust but I was surprised. He has some nice size and his agility was surprisingly solid. He may work his way into the rotation if he keeps it up.
It has been nine years with Franklin and I guess the highpoint was 2017 when we won the Fiesta Bowl against an average Washington team. Yippee! I have hopes but at this point with Franklin you have to show me before I get excited. I am more concerned with our lack of DL size and of course our atrocious LB play. I think that will be our undoing this year. We won't be able to stop anyone!
Key injuries and diseases hurt and Limegrover inspired or helped no one. Was there one legit power 5 OL on the squad when BOB left. It is one thing to be left thin and another to be left with nothing.
Wasn't Limegrovers big asset supposed to be that he was a WPA guy.. how many great OL came out of WPA over his tenure. I am looking forward to seeing Tengwall, Fashanu, Wallace and Beamon play amd play healthily together this season. That is 4 more OL than I can say I wanted see play for more a decade. This year is the end of the we forgot how to play and or got out of shape because of 2020 excuse... There is talent and it needs to show right out the gate. No excuses.
No excuses has applied for many years now. OBrien left in 2013. This is Penn State football, not Penn State basketball: It doesn't take 8 years.
Offensive linemen start their pro career, make the pro bowl with enough skill to make the NFL hall of fame in a 9 year career.
Bottom line. We’ve become soft on the OLine for years. Not sure if it’s schemes, RPO, zone blocking, change in OLine coaches, change in O-Coordinators, Stregth & conditioning techniques, all of the above. In any case, when you can’t move the DLine forward on short down running plays ~ and in fact get knocked backwards in many cases along the front, you’ve become a soft OLine. Doesn’t matter how big, how highly recruited (4 stars abound), even experience in the program, we’ve not been physical at the line of scrimmage for years. It’s the Big Ten, not the ACC, or PAC 12, etc… CJF has acknowledged the repetitive issue and it’s clearly on him to address it sooner than later.
