BEST FCS OFFENSIVE LiNE 2011 [Archive]

LeadBolt

April 24th, 2011, 07:22 PM

I have been looking up size, ability and depth. Where do you think your school will rank.
Colgate OL all over 300lbs.
6'7,6'6,6'4,6'4 and 6'3
three juniors and two seniors?
xoopsx

The stats look good. How is their footwork and technique?

Eaglesrus

April 24th, 2011, 07:58 PM

Brad82

April 24th, 2011, 08:43 PM

Rhody has 3-4 returning starters back.
Big,confident.
Needs to be a strong point.

BigHouseClosedEnd

April 24th, 2011, 08:51 PM

There should be a number of good lines in the CAA this fall.

Delaware should have the best group in the conference w 4starters back.

DJKyR0

April 24th, 2011, 11:52 PM

NDSU's won't likely be the best, but we had a pretty good one last season as the year went on. The UNI game was a total mess (11 sacks for -40 rushing yards on the game), but with a little shifting the guys came together last season despite at one point starting two true freshmen. Little more depth this season with 4 of 5 starters returning, so NDSU should continue to have a dominant rushing game and an improved passing game with lanes opening up and protection getting a little better.

Blueandwhitefightfight

April 25th, 2011, 12:44 AM

This is probably the most ridiculous project thread out there. First, no telling who stays healthy through fall camp and the o-line is one of the most vulnerable positions for injury. Second, size is such a ridiculous measurement for o-line in college football. Why? Because teams like Georgia Southern, Navy, Georgia Tech, and other running schools have smaller o-linemen intentionally.

It would serve us poorly to have someone over 300lbs on our o-line. But it would be a great plus for a school like Delaware to have as many over 300lbs as possible.

Also, we should probably begin talking about this no sooner than halfway through the '11 season. It's April. It's not even August.

For now talk about QB's. Talk about RB's. Talk about defense. But talking about the o-line in April? Wtf... no.

jsualum97

April 25th, 2011, 09:08 AM

I don't think that the original questions was "biggest" OLine, but the best OLine. That means a lot of things to a lot of different teams. If having the "biggest" OLine is crucial to a team, then it does. If having "agile" but "smaller" OLinemen is crucial to a team then it is. Who has the "BEST" OLine?

bluehenbillk

April 25th, 2011, 09:21 AM

Delaware returns 4 starting OL and the 5th guy started two of the playoff games due to injury. Gino Gradkowski should be a preseason All-American guard, he's our best OL. It helps to make them look better & vice-versa with a RB like Andrew Pierce, who will be back for his sophomore season.

eaglewraith

April 25th, 2011, 09:46 AM

SC State had a huge OL last year (and one at QB /rimshot)....and they fell over like bowling pins against an aggresive and physical defense. The play that defined that game was DT Brent Russell blasting through an OL to knock the ball out of the QB's hands before he could complete the handoff to the RB in the backfield.

Size means nothing. Strength and athleticism is more important. I'll take our OL everyday because they're gonna be stronger, hit harder, and quicker than anyone's really tall and heavy guys. Maybe not this year but potentially next year at the earliest we should see the OL start to return to the way it used to look at Georgia Southern.

SFA 93

April 25th, 2011, 11:45 AM

SFA (15 Offensive Linemen) SR:1;JR:3;SO:6;FR:5

2011 Probable Starters (All returning starters)
#75 George Bias 6-3; 304 (Sr.) 1st Team All-SLC
#64 Fitiseula Partsch 6-4; 300 (So.)
#63 John Steel 6-4; 273 (Jr.) 2nd Team All-SLC
#74 Willie Watkins 6-5; 312 (So.)
#78 Corey Dickerson 6-10; 320 (Jr.) 2nd Team All-SLC

AVERAGE: 302

Just listed by size (yes, I know footwork and tech)

#78 Corey Dickerson 6-10; 320 (Jr.)
#73 David Damian 6-6; 310 (So.)
#70 Andrew Ratliff 6-5; 320 (So.)
#79 Matthew Newby 6-5; 320 (Fr.)
#74 Willie Watkins 6-5; 312 (So.)
# Jeremy Neff 6-4; 315 (Fr.)
#64 Fitiseula Partsch 6-4; 300 (So.)
#75 George Bias 6-3; 304 (Sr.)
#54 R.C. Clinton 6-2; 300 (Fr.)
#60 Austin Wright 6-2; 295 (Jr.)
#65 Greg Hall 6-3; 290 (So.)
#62 Ryne Chambers 6-6; 270 (So.)
#63 John Steel 6-4; 273 (Jr.)
# David Dane 6-6; 260 (Fr.)
# David Koschel 6-3; 270 (Fr.)

Cocky

April 25th, 2011, 12:45 PM

OL for 2011
??????
If injuries heal we could be real good if not we cant afford anymore hurt.

SpeedkingATL

April 25th, 2011, 02:10 PM

Can't predict this year but can state that last year Nova's offensive line pushed us around as much as any team I've seen play at the Rock in a decade .

BigHouseClosedEnd

April 25th, 2011, 02:21 PM

Can't predict this year but can state that last year Nova's offensive line pushed us around as much as any team I've seen play at the Rock in a decade .

They did that to a lot of people.

SpiritCymbal

April 25th, 2011, 03:38 PM

As the other GSU posters have already said...this is awfully tough to try to say who's going to have a good OLine when not everything is standarized. GSU's OLine probably would not do very well at Montana. Just like Montana's OLine probably wouldn't do very well at Ga. Southern.

Size doesn't mean jack either unless they have the strength and talent to go with it. I remember back in the 2002 playoffs, Bethune-Cookman came into Paulson with one of (if not THE) biggest OLines our team had faced all year. It seemed like every guy on their line was 6-4, 330 lbs. And it got them exactly 0 points that day. Fast forward to two weeks later when GSU played Western Kentucky. Again, another huge line. They were all 6-4 and right around 300 lbs. And they damn sure pushed our DLine around that afternoon on their way to 31 points and a win. The difference was the stuff that can't be listed on a sheet of paper.

Smitty

April 25th, 2011, 04:36 PM

WCU has the best OL hands down. I base this information on the fact there is no information really after Spring practice and Fall football...

Tribe4SF

April 25th, 2011, 05:02 PM

W&M returns 4 of 5 starters including all-CAA center Jamie Pagliaro. Also back is Jake Marcey, who started at LT in 2008 and 2009, but was suspended for 2010. He was neck-and-neck with Robbie Gumbita for one of the tackle spots this spring. Gumbita has also started before. This looks to be the most athletic OL the Tribe has had in awhile.

Projected starters.

LT Mike Salazar 6'5" 315 JR
LG James Johnson 6'1" 300 SO
C Jamie Pagliaro 6'3" 290 SR
RG Matt Crisafi 6'4" 305 SO
RT Robbie Gumbita 6'5" 305 JR or Jake Marcey 6'4" 310 SR

Also back are veteran Dan Donker, a 6'4" 310 SR who has starting experience, and can play anywhere on the line, and Trevor Springman, a 6'4" 290 SO guard who played in 8 games last year.

eaglewraith

April 25th, 2011, 06:22 PM

Tribe4SF

April 25th, 2011, 07:15 PM

And all of them are afraid of ManBearPig ;)

Actually, they did a pretty good job on him. One sack, which was his only tackle. The guys who bothered us up front were #99, and #94.

eaglewraith

April 25th, 2011, 09:50 PM

Actually, they did a pretty good job on him. One sack, which was his only tackle. The guys who bothered us up front were #99, and #94.

Well ya'll were focused on him which let the other guys run free. He was at least double teamed on pretty much every play. If there'd been even protection he would have been in the backfield more.

MinneapolisJack

April 25th, 2011, 11:25 PM

BEAR

April 26th, 2011, 11:01 AM

I'll take a short underweight O-line that has good technique over a tall fat useless O-line anyday. I didn't realize that technique played that big of a part in it until I caught some practices where smaller redshirt freshmen were dominating upperclassmen because they could get better leverage, knew the correct upward push and finger and hand movements to gain the advantage over the bigger linemen. Good to see someone teaching them those things.

GannonFan

April 26th, 2011, 11:11 AM

Well ya'll were focused on him which let the other guys run free. He was at least double teamed on pretty much every play. If there'd been even protection he would have been in the backfield more.

I thought GSU's d-line was good, but they had absolutely zero depth. By the second half in the UD game they were gassed and were getting gashed by UD's OL. They were running all over ManBearPig in the second half.

GannonFan

April 26th, 2011, 11:15 AM

SDSTATE should have one of the top O-Lines in FCS.

* Returning Starter

LT - SO Bryan Witzman 6'7" 310*
LG - SO Alex Parker 6'5" 305*
C - JR Will Castle 6'2" 315
RG - SR Zach Buchner 6'4" 300*
RT - JR Jon Fick 6'4" 315*

They're big and they're nasty.

Gotta say though, they were easily one of the more disappointing teams I saw in '10 - they came into Newark with a supposedly big time run game and left with a 1.5 yds/rush average. And they looked slow as well.

Tribe4SF

April 26th, 2011, 11:18 AM

I thought GSU's d-line was good, but they had absolutely zero depth. By the second half in the UD game they were gassed and were getting gashed by UD's OL. They were running all over ManBearPig in the second half.

Tribe ran the ball on them as well, but got behind and went away from the running game. Grimes had 100 yards on just 14 carries.

GannonFan

April 26th, 2011, 12:13 PM

Tribe ran the ball on them as well, but got behind and went away from the running game. Grimes had 100 yards on just 14 carries.

Yeah - AP ended up with 182 yards on the ground against GSU for a 7.2 average, and he had holes galore to run through. W&M's problem was being able to slow down or stop the option game - a fatal flaw obviously when playing GSU. You have to be able to turn over a team like that and W&M couldn't do it. The JMU game was just a preview of what was to come.

eaglewraith

April 26th, 2011, 12:36 PM

I thought GSU's d-line was good, but they had absolutely zero depth. By the second half in the UD game they were gassed and were getting gashed by UD's OL. They were running all over ManBearPig in the second half.

We had several injuries and one of the losses that hurt right before the playoffs started was DE Dion Dubose with a knee injury. Also Russell got his knee rolled up in a pileup in the UD game and just wasn't the same the rest of the game. However yes UD did have a really good OL. We got stuck in the same situation as W&M, we got behind and it looked like we got away from what worked on the first drive. You guys were giving us the outside all day but we didn't go to it. I don't know wtf we were thinking with some of those formations we ran, we hadn't seen any of that all season and it looked like we were just trying to be cute.

I think our guys were just honestly gassed at that point of the season. The conditioning wasn't up to the level we expect from past teams and it showed down the line. That should definitely be improved this year.....maybe we can get some more home games in the playoffs this year and not screw up the bids :(

eaglewraith

April 26th, 2011, 12:37 PM

Tribe ran the ball on them as well, but got behind and went away from the running game. Grimes had 100 yards on just 14 carries.

Bend don't break.

How much did ya'll score on offense? ;)

Twentysix

April 26th, 2011, 01:25 PM

Ask montana state how our oline is.

Eaglesrus

April 26th, 2011, 01:25 PM

I thought GSU's d-line was good, but they had absolutely zero depth. By the second half in the UD game they were gassed and were getting gashed by UD's OL. They were running all over ManBearPig in the second half.

Most definitely was a problem at the end of the year. Hopefully conditioning will be better this year, as another GSU poster alluded to, and some help has arrived.

GannonFan

April 26th, 2011, 01:55 PM

You guys were giving us the outside all day but we didn't go to it. I don't know wtf we were thinking with some of those formations we ran, we hadn't seen any of that all season and it looked like we were just trying to be cute.

Have to pick your poison on defense against the TO and UD took away the dive and anything between the tackles and dared GSU to run the pitch game to the outside. UD had a great defensive secondary, especially against the run, and also figured that the QB wasn't a real threat to run himself, making the pitch even easier to defend (and also to turnover). UD was able to play to its strength defensively and force GSU into their weakness offensively. Without the dive, the TO is less troublesome.

bluehenbillk

April 26th, 2011, 02:16 PM

GF is right on. That's exactly how UD played Navy in 2009 as well, split the tackles wide & stuff 2 LB's in the guard/center gaps & force pitch. Navy was able to have some success with their QB - Dobbs running with the ball & pitching it. GSU on the other handhad zero success with the QB keeping it & forced him to pitch the ball. Don't get me wrong, GSU still had a lot of yards on the pitch but it's the highest-risk part of an option offense & they made mistakes & UD capitalized on them. Playoffs sometimes are all about matchups, W&M hadn't seen a real option offense probably since URI ran it & GSU had tons of success with it. Under Keeler UD has had some decent success with option teams - Navy, Wofford, URI, and then GSU.

MinneapolisJack

April 26th, 2011, 05:32 PM

Gotta say though, they were easily one of the more disappointing teams I saw in '10 - they came into Newark with a supposedly big time run game and left with a 1.5 yds/rush average. And they looked slow as well.

Can't argue with that.

That was one of the worst games I had seen SDSU play. Not sure what to chalk it up to but we had a horrible start and never got on track. Our O-Line was young/inexperienced and didn't get it going until mid-year, but when they did they played very well.

slostang

April 26th, 2011, 11:49 PM

Our heaviest O-lineman currently is listed at 293, but the offense returns intact and it appears that a couple of younger guys are pushing the veterans. When we have run the triple option our line has always been smaller than everyone else's, so can't get too concerned about our size.

Cal Poly also runs the triple option and our heaviest lineman is listed at 290. Cal Poly returns 5 O-lineman with at least 11 starts and couple of others with 3 or 4 starts. The O-line should be a strength in 2011.

Houndawg

April 27th, 2011, 04:05 AM

Can't argue with that.

That was one of the worst games I had seen SDSU play. Not sure what to chalk it up to but we had a horrible start and never got on track. Our O-Line was young/inexperienced and didn't get it going until mid-year, but when they did they played very well.

I think part of it is that whoever does your scheduling hasn't been doing you any favors lately. Pretty tough to play your opening game on the east coast against a good CAA opponent who already has a game under their belt. I think UD would have gotten a whole different game if it were at a different point in the schedule.

SIU returns 9/10 of it's two deep o-line chart from an offense that was weak at the skill positions and still averaged 30 points and 190 yds/game rushing and 397 ypg in MVC play. LT David Pickard, 6-6, 300, and C Bryan Boemer, 6-2, 315, lead the group which is bolstered by Florida xfer Tucker Blanton, 6-6, 340.

GannonFan

April 27th, 2011, 10:44 AM

I think part of it is that whoever does your scheduling hasn't been doing you any favors lately. Pretty tough to play your opening game on the east coast against a good CAA opponent who already has a game under their belt. I think UD would have gotten a whole different game if it were at a different point in the schedule.

SIU returns 9/10 of it's two deep o-line chart from an offense that was weak at the skill positions and still averaged 30 points and 190 yds/game rushing and 397 ypg in MVC play. LT David Pickard, 6-6, 300, and C Bryan Boemer, 6-2, 315, lead the group which is bolstered by Florida xfer Tucker Blanton, 6-6, 340.

I don't think it really mattered when the game was played - no one ran on UD all year. EWU beat UD by being able to throw the ball. And other people stopped SDSU running the ball so it's not like UD was the only one to solve that. And overall, it was a pretty down year for the MVFC - having UNI be bottled up offensively at home by a Lehigh team that then got run out of the building a week later by UD kinda confirmed that. That's why I don't think when they played last year would've mattered - just a bad matchup for SDSU all the way around last year.

Houndawg

April 27th, 2011, 04:36 PM

I don't think it really mattered when the game was played - no one ran on UD all year. EWU beat UD by being able to throw the ball. And other people stopped SDSU running the ball so it's not like UD was the only one to solve that. And overall, it was a pretty down year for the MVFC - having UNI be bottled up offensively at home by a Lehigh team that then got run out of the building a week later by UD kinda confirmed that. That's why I don't think when they played last year would've mattered - just a bad matchup for SDSU all the way around last year.

I'm not saying that UD wouldn't have won anyway, and the MVC was the weakest it's ever been. Bad matchup for the Jacks, true, but greatly exacerbated by it being UDs second game and SDSU's first game - it's an axiom that the biggest improvement comes between the first and second games. If it had been opening day for UD at Brookings and the Jacks were playing their second game I'm not so sure that UD would have won. BTW, is there a return match?

GannonFan

April 27th, 2011, 10:10 PM

I'm not saying that UD wouldn't have won anyway, and the MVC was the weakest it's ever been. Bad matchup for the Jacks, true, but greatly exacerbated by it being UDs second game and SDSU's first game - it's an axiom that the biggest improvement comes between the first and second games. If it had been opening day for UD at Brookings and the Jacks were playing their second game I'm not so sure that UD would have won. BTW, is there a return match?

UD played West Chester to open the season and many of the starters played a portion of the game. It's odd how UD takes so much flak for playing a game that many consider to be a joke, but then on the other hand UD gets so much "benefit" from it in terms of game preparation. When it came down to it, it was just an awful, awful matchup for SDSU - not being able to throw the ball and having a slow and predictable run game that was precedented on dominating the line of scrimmage just didn't work against UD. GSU had trouble running consistently against UD.

And there's no return match - both teams agreed well before last year to cut the previously planned 2 for 1 deal (2 in Newark and 1 in Brookings) to just a paydate for SDSU in Newark. It'll be the playoffs when they meet again.