PSU OL is better .....

[dawgduice]

by how much, we will see. But, I looked at the B&W game (twice) and re-watched the BC game. (clearly I have no life)
But, If nothing else the OL will be "bigger and stronger". A year of growth and strength training will make a difference. For "most" OLmen it takes 2-3 years to be "physically" ready to play. The mental part and coaching can make a difference as well. Palmer needs to put on some weight - Sumo wrestlers eat massive meals and then take naps to gain weight

I posted last week that I had "zero" confidence there would be improvement. I now believe we will see "real" improvement. That being said, every team we play will make us prove it.

 

[9fold]

Eat massive meals and take naps. That's what I do every day. Hey, Coach Franklin, call me. Let me make you better.

 

[MontereyLion]

From the first watching of the B&W game I thought that the line wasn't much better. Obviously
Palmer struggled, whereas had Smith stayed, he wouldn't have. I have not yet the game again
but plan to(I also don't have a life). It seemed like the Dline was coming in an unlocked gate.
Time to find the key and lock that sucker.

 

[MontereyLion]

Heck....why not just turn pro. You could eat massive meals and take naps, for money. Like
they say, find something that you love to do for life and it's not a job.

 

[9fold]

Fair point, but I thought I should offer my services to Dear Old State first.

 

[lbujoe33]

Palmer will be fine. He only played in 3 games at Lackawanna llast year due to an injury.

 

[SR108]

Palmer's head is swimming right now. Let's see what he can do after bulking up and getting fall camp under his belt.

 

[uppermaclion]

The line wasn't nearly as bad as a lot are making it out to be. First, I saw the rerun of the game last night. The line did open some nice holes and Lynch had running room at times. Palmer getting beat a bit made things look worse, but if this were a real game he would be getting help, which they did not do doing the BW game. It isn't like the Oline was getting run over, or making a ton a assignment mistakes like you saw a lot of last year. I think the D was throwing a lot at them as well for practice. How much blitzing is done in a typical BW game? I don't recall much ever, but there were quite a few blitzs in this game.

This Line isn't going to be an Alabama type of line. We all know that, but I think there will be significant improvements this year and I think we saw some of that on Saturday. It isn't like our second Dline is crap. A lot of those guys can play! I think if we get the LT position worked out, may of us will be pleasantly surprised.

 

[MontereyLion]

I really hope Palmer is fine. We need a stabilizing force at LT.

 

[GregInPitt]

Did someone commit?

..

 

[Mister Magoo]

I'm giving Palmer 20lbs.

For The Glory!

 

[tboyer]

thanks for helpful perspective

It's reasonable to expect they will be noticably better than last year. At the same time they will not be anything like a top tier line. What you can hope is that they stay healthy, have a good summer program, and then the early season schedule gives them, for the most part, some teams that won't overpower them physically. Rutgers has (we saw last year) enough athletes on their DL that they're going to be tough. But otherwise, the PSU OL has 6 weeks to develop on top of the 3 weeks of preseason.

They won't be great, but maybe they won't have to be given that the D will be rock solid again.

Plus if just one of the young backs shows some breakaway ability, that will take a lot of pressure off Hackenburg.

One of the things that's been kind of overlooked, because it's so many years of it now, was PSU's lack of great athletes at tailback. Belton was a really great kid, good leader, but he didn't have that great speed. Lynch is faster but still not explosive enough to really scare people IMHO.

Just what we saw from Scott and Allen -- PSU has a LOT more speed at TB than they've had in a while, and the incoming freshmen may be even faster.

If you think about the greatest offense in PSU history, yes the line was amazing, but defenses were always having to jump around and guess because Carter and Archie were such a threat to score from a variety of different angles. You make that defense have to think for just a split second, and blocking is 100 percent easier.

 

[GregInPitt]

20lbs of What??

He needs 40.... of muscle.

Really, he could put on 20 and we wouldn't notice if he stood beside Jenkins. Who knows if Jenkins will live up to his hype, but he sure looks like an OT in the making.

Palmer on the other hand really does look like a power forward dressed up like a football player. Wish he had a redshirt available. But he'll probably surprise me and play well at 300 lbs that he's likely to be by late August.

We should get a fund going that sends him a pizza and a two peanut butter sandwiches every 6 hours.....

 

[Mister Magoo]

When he identified who he was blocking, he was fine.


I think he got mixed up on some assignments. May have thought he was getting help if DE stunted inside, etc. I think he'll be ok pass-blocking. Not going to be a power run-blocker this year for sure. He moved his feet pretty good and can use his hands.

 

[Sviatoslav]

Eat massive meals and take naps. That's what I do every day. Hey, Coach Franklin, call me. Let me make you better.

Me too!
Put me in, coach! I train 365 days a year!