OL recruiting getting interesting

Submitted by Real and Spectacular on
There's some slight buzz that Aaron Banks may commit to us tomorrow. He is a top 200 player so that's a good thing, but it would make things interesting. He would be #5, we consider Ruiz and Wilson to be virtual locks which would take the class to 7 OL, most of them tackles. Then consider Filiaga is announcing next month (and also many of his recent Twitter follows are UM players) and that's a lot of O linemen. I know we are still recruiting Slaton hard as well but we will not have room for all of these guys. Wonder if there will be any late shuffling with someone who drops.
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mGrowOld

December 8th, 2016 at 4:12 PM ^

I think that's because it's hard to project their abiity to put on "good" weight as they mature.  Most skill position players enter and leave school about the same weight (well....except for Derrick Green) but the average linemen's body changes a LOT during the five years they're in school.  

That's why most OL redshirt IMO.  And if you want to see wild before and after pics look at O lineman when they enter at 18 vs when they leave at 22.  Night and day difference in their body mass.  And the net effect of those changes is a challenge to project in many cases.

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funkywolve

December 8th, 2016 at 5:11 PM ^

that with an olineman his dominance in high school is often because he is much bigger and stronger than a lot of the guys he's playing against.  He's dominating often times by sheer strength and mass, which won't happen much in college.  Once in college he needs to be able to learn the technical aspects of the oline:  footwork, hand placement, etc.  If a guy can't master or become really proficient at the technical aspects of oline play, he's probably not going to see the field much in college.

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Reader71

December 8th, 2016 at 10:34 PM ^

I think the biggest reason for the discrepancy is that scouting services don't know what makes a good OL or what makes an OL good. There's a reason we had great OL for all those years. Jerry Hanlon hit at a much higher rate than Scout or Rivals.

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micheal honcho

December 8th, 2016 at 4:13 PM ^

I consider lineman to be a "rare beast" therefore at a premium to basically every other position on the field sans maybe and yes I mean maybe QB.

 

The good Lord just does not make but a very small % of humans of the size to play D or O line at the D1 level.

The size required alone eliminates what? 98% of the humans alive right now? maybe more?

Give me GREAT, not good but GREAT line play and I'll take 3 star RB's, QB's and WR's all day.

Vice versa and, well thats not gonna work out so good. Jibreel Peppers & Jordan Lewis with a mid average or crap D-line? you got nothing.

Leonard Fornette, Baker Mayfield & Curtiss Samuel with a crap or even mid grade O-line? Yeah good luck with that.

Spend that majority of your recruiting on Line IMHO and Thomas Rawls/Drake Johnson types will be just fine for me.

 

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Mr Miggle

December 8th, 2016 at 4:38 PM ^

Maybe a great OL is more important that a great QB. But that QB is still your single most important player. You can move players along the OL to cover some recruiting misses or depth issues. The marginal value of one player on the line doesn't compare to the difference between a good QB and one that isn't ready (or never will be).

 

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Kevin13

December 8th, 2016 at 4:25 PM ^

take 8 or 9 top OL this year and let them sort it out when they get to campus. Find the 5 best we have and make a road grading OL like never seen before!  I think that is what Harbaugh is thinking. With an OL coach like Dreveno, give him as much talent as possible and then the offense will be unstoppable.

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Mongo

December 8th, 2016 at 7:20 PM ^

I think we also found out that lack of depth can impact 4th quarter push from the top 5. Teams are rotating DLs and impacting that "best 5 approach" for OCs. In this era of defense, in-game OL depth is becoming critical to create endurance against the wave of DLs out there. I think in some games this past year our top 5 OL just got gassed and pushed around late in the game.

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Michology 101

December 8th, 2016 at 7:58 PM ^

I seriously doubt that our OL endurance was an issue. Most teams pretty much play the same OL guys for the entire game. The OL isn't a real tiresome position. The DL is constantly rushing the QB and chasing after other offensive players. Therefore they need more rotation to avoid being worn down.

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evenyoubrutus

December 8th, 2016 at 4:01 PM ^

Sam actually stated at one point that he had a gut feeling that the staff would be willing to take up to nine  (9) offensive linemen, assuming some of those are two-way prospects. 

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