Big Ten position rankings: Offensive line (Rittenberg)
1. Wisconsin
2. Ohio State
3. Michigan
4. Penn State
5. Northwestern
http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/14688/big-ten-position-rankings-offensive-line-2
August 19th, 2010 at 9:32 AM ^
Love it. The O-Line is definitely one of our strongest and deepest positions this year.
August 19th, 2010 at 9:32 AM ^
Is this before or after Molk moves to CB?
August 19th, 2010 at 9:33 AM ^
Don't tell the team. We need them to stay angry.
August 19th, 2010 at 9:36 AM ^
The offense definitely has the potential to be top 2-3 in the conference. We only need an average defense to be a good team.
August 19th, 2010 at 9:40 AM ^
I really hope so. We have so much talent on offense if we can find a QB to produce and the Oline stays healthy I think we can still make a bowl despite the Woolfork injury.
August 19th, 2010 at 11:04 AM ^
Offense made a big jump from 2008 to 2009 in stats and output. My expectation is with
- the QBs with an additional year of experience,
- a healthy OL,
- a healthy QB (assuming both Forcier and Robinson can start means not having to rely on an injured player),
- more experience and options at WR, and,
- the likelihood that at least one of the RBs are going to breakout and emerge,
there should be another improvement in the offense from 2009 to 2010. I'm hoping for #1 in the Big Ten in offense, and with a red zone performance improvement, I think that is achievable.
August 19th, 2010 at 1:28 PM ^
have said it better myself. Also add in that since our QBs are more experienced, they should be able to cut down on the turnovers. Fewer turnovers = More and/or longer drives = More points.
August 19th, 2010 at 4:10 PM ^
If I remember correctly, statistically speaking the 2009 offense in conference play didn't have much better stats then the 2008 offense in conference play. They were much improved in the non-conference games though.
August 19th, 2010 at 9:50 AM ^
the rushing we'll do behind that line?
How does everyone feel about two 1000+ yard rushers?
August 19th, 2010 at 10:01 AM ^
Tate, Denard, Shaw, Smith, Hopkins, Cox, Fitz, Moundros (yes, playing both ways)
I count at least 8 - 1,000 yard rushers this year
August 19th, 2010 at 10:11 AM ^
Good to hear. If we have 8,000 yards rushing the National Championship is in the bag, baby.
August 19th, 2010 at 10:59 AM ^
7,500 of them came against Purdue because it's a triple revenge game.
August 19th, 2010 at 11:19 AM ^
Denard.... and .... Denard again......
August 19th, 2010 at 9:57 AM ^
August 19th, 2010 at 9:58 AM ^
I think it can be a top-3 line in the Big 10, not sure its proven. But, if Lewan can grab a starting spot and he is as good as we expect, then I dont think this would be a stretch at all.
Even higher if everyone peaks, which I dont think is out of the question.
Preseason rankings, I'd still have them fifth, but totally on the upswing. They'd move up in "my rankings' the first time I see Lewan flatten a dude, for example.
August 19th, 2010 at 10:07 AM ^
BOOM! Pancake Block.
August 19th, 2010 at 10:08 AM ^
It's not unreasonable to argue that their line is the best in the Big Ten, but I have a feeling that they're overrated at this point.
August 19th, 2010 at 10:44 AM ^
I'm interested in why you think they are overrated. They're certainly not the 1990's Cowboys, they're pretty damn good. OSU has a very solid line this year, and I would trade it for UW's in a heartbeat. Is there something that I'm missing?
August 19th, 2010 at 11:30 AM ^
Nothing in my post says that they're anything but "pretty damn good." I'm OK with that assessment. I just have a feeling that they're at an undesirable stage (the one where the only place to go is down) in the hype cycle. Here's an example:
August 19th, 2010 at 1:07 PM ^
It's interesting that the few OSU fans I know complain every year about how bad they think the OL is. Last year it struggled early but ended up being pretty good and it's hard to argue that they're not good when your offense performs when it needs to in order to win 10+ games per year.
That said, trading yours for UW's might be warranted call but I don't think there's as large a gap between the two OLs as implied (or at least it looks as though that's implied).
August 19th, 2010 at 10:09 AM ^
At least we finally appear on one of these Best of the Big Ten lists that Rittenberg is putting together. It's demoralizing to see one after another come out with top 5 position groups and not see Michigan get any hype. Oh well, winning and all that...
August 19th, 2010 at 10:18 AM ^
We should also be in the WR top five, IME. Not sure what others we'd be in contention for.
August 19th, 2010 at 10:26 AM ^
Phil Steele has our quarterbacks as #2 in the conference, since we arguably have more depth than any other team. Also, our quarterbacks have some pretty awesome upside, fwiw
August 19th, 2010 at 10:37 AM ^
Yeah, I'd rank us that high for QB if the criteria is the entire position group as a whole. If we're just talking about starters, I don't see how we could beat out Cousins, Pryor, Stanzi (well, maybe Stanzi), or Tolzien. Depth should be part of the equation, but at this point our "starter" isn't all that proven, mostly because we don't know who he is yet.
August 19th, 2010 at 11:04 AM ^
True, but he did admit in one of his mailbag answers that the D-line could end up in the top 5 at the end of the season.
August 19th, 2010 at 10:09 AM ^
This is exactly how I would rank the top 3 offensive lines. I would probably move Iowa into the top five, though, because Ferentz works wonders with mediocre OL talent.
August 19th, 2010 at 10:14 AM ^
I agree and I am somewhat surprised to see NW in the top five, nothing against them or anything. Although, I don't know a whole lot about their O-Line either.
August 19th, 2010 at 12:14 PM ^
I got crushed a couple of weeks ago by suggesting Iowa's OL might be better than MICHs and a top-5 unit in the Big 10. Hope you fare better.
But after two years, its pretty clear Iowa will never get any respect on this board anyway. They just dont accomplish anything
August 19th, 2010 at 11:01 AM ^
The OL has received nothing but rave reviews but in Monday's presser, RR didn't seem too thrilled with them. What are your thoughts on what he was doing there? Is he keeping them humble and hungry? Or was this another example of Ft. Schembechler 2.0?
August 19th, 2010 at 11:06 AM ^
I am guessing that he knows that they are better than they performed that day.
August 19th, 2010 at 11:11 AM ^
WE'RE #3! WE'RE #3!
August 19th, 2010 at 11:25 AM ^
This is awesome. Not saying our backs are bad, but hypothetically speaking it's MUCH better to have a good O line and mediocre backs than the other way around. At least with a good line, you can start outsmarting the opponent with X's and O's and some simple but clever passing schemes. If your line sucks you can't do much more than lie back and think of England.
August 19th, 2010 at 1:16 PM ^
that if we have a good line we can have a "strategic advantage"?
August 19th, 2010 at 12:10 PM ^
I can't wait to see them opening huge holes for Fitz, Vince, Shaw, and Cox in the UConn game. September 4th is getting close.
August 19th, 2010 at 12:39 PM ^
It could be argued that RR's offensive spread strategy has been predicated on "hitting homeruns" whenever possible vs. the legacy big 10 "ball control" that wears down the opponent.
The only way you hit those homeruns is if the boys upfront can block at the point of attack and give the speedy guys a chance to hit it big.
RR and Magee have mentioned in their pressers that they felt there were a lot of missed opportunities for big plays last year I'm sure a lot of that was caused by O-line mistakes. If we sure that up, I'm looking forward to a lot of 50+ yd plays this year.