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OLine
Posted on 7/27/26 at 8:13 am
Posted on 7/27/26 at 8:13 am
I know this horse has been beaten to death but it bears repeating: this team will go as far and ONLY as far as the OL takes it. The utter failure at running the ball last year caused major problems in big games and prevented the Tide from playing complementary football. How many times did we send the defense back out onto the field after a 3 and out because we just couldn’t run the ball enough to keep the opposing defense from just flying to the QB? We’ve got a lot of fresh faces in the offensive line, including the coach, but will it be enough? I’m glad CKD addressed the problem early in the off-season but we have a collection of new faces under a new coach and most of them haven’t been in a war in the trenches in an SEC Slugfest. Will it be enough? I certainly hope so or we will get our tail kicked in a couple of games again.,
This post was edited on 7/27/26 at 8:14 am
Posted on 7/27/26 at 8:15 am to phil4bama
Saban's last few teams didn't have good run blocking lines. A lot of the rushing yds came from Milroe.
Posted on 7/27/26 at 8:21 am to phil4bama
Well we lost a 1st round pick at Left Tackle so there could realistically be some drop off there. We also lost a really good center. Those are the two most important positions on the OL.
If the coaches/players dont all step up and get better, it could get ugly.
If the coaches/players dont all step up and get better, it could get ugly.
Posted on 7/27/26 at 8:53 am to SECSolomonGrundy
A bad OL losing its best two players and they’re the two most important positions is a grim way to look at it.
I feel like despite that we got nowhere to go but up.
I feel like despite that we got nowhere to go but up.
This post was edited on 7/27/26 at 8:53 am
Posted on 7/27/26 at 9:32 am to SECSolomonGrundy
They were both individually great players. But as a whole the unit was never on the same page. TEs and backs either. I feel like with the new OL and TE coach hires there’s real optimism that the unit can have improvement this year.
Posted on 7/27/26 at 11:50 am to phil4bama
quote:
most of them haven’t been in a war in the trenches in an SEC Slugfest.
Fam, the SEC is a shell of its former self (not that I give two shits about the rest of this conference). The Big-10 has owned this shithole conference since 2021. One could argue UGA is still UGA but they got embarrassed by Notre Dame a season ago and came within a count hair of losing to Tech.
This post was edited on 7/27/26 at 11:51 am
Posted on 7/27/26 at 12:24 pm to Diego Ricardo
I'm cautiously optimistic. Yes, Proctor was obviously a first rounder BUT
let's be honest, he was drafted mainly on potential and I've seen some articles saying he's more likely to eventually be a guard.
He didn't get beat as often as Formby but he still got beat way, way too often.
I have a hunch Jackson Lloyd will be at least a slight upgrade since he's not carrying around 50-60 lbs of bad weight like Proctor was.
I'm optimistic with Delgatty. Seems pretty smart and has experience. I was watching a video about him (can't remember the guy doing the video but he was a former OL from Penn State) and even against FBS competition, he held up well. So, I feel like we'll be fine at the center spot.
I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE we got a massive upgrade at the O line coaching spot with Klemm and the guy from USC (can't remember his name but he at one time was a commit to Bama years ago).
Josh Ford is a name to remember at TE. Huge guy and will be a massive upgrade to help the O line out.
Maybe most importantly, Grubb and CKD seem to finally gotten serious about this issue and are determined to improve.
Is all this a "guarantee"? If you want a guarantee, buy a toaster but I really like the odds we'll be better.
let's be honest, he was drafted mainly on potential and I've seen some articles saying he's more likely to eventually be a guard.
He didn't get beat as often as Formby but he still got beat way, way too often.
I have a hunch Jackson Lloyd will be at least a slight upgrade since he's not carrying around 50-60 lbs of bad weight like Proctor was.
I'm optimistic with Delgatty. Seems pretty smart and has experience. I was watching a video about him (can't remember the guy doing the video but he was a former OL from Penn State) and even against FBS competition, he held up well. So, I feel like we'll be fine at the center spot.
I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE we got a massive upgrade at the O line coaching spot with Klemm and the guy from USC (can't remember his name but he at one time was a commit to Bama years ago).
Josh Ford is a name to remember at TE. Huge guy and will be a massive upgrade to help the O line out.
Maybe most importantly, Grubb and CKD seem to finally gotten serious about this issue and are determined to improve.
Is all this a "guarantee"? If you want a guarantee, buy a toaster but I really like the odds we'll be better.
Posted on 7/27/26 at 12:27 pm to SECSolomonGrundy
We didn't run the ball well with them on the Oline.
Posted on 7/27/26 at 1:16 pm to Night Vision
quote:
Saban's last few teams didn't have good run blocking lines. A lot of the rushing yds came from Milroe.
Yup. 2021 onwards our OL has been average at best to straight up dumpster fire last year
Posted on 7/27/26 at 2:30 pm to NWLA_Bama
Agreed. We couldnt run the ball with two players who would usually win their matchup. Do we have guys with that talent level? Big maybe.
I believe good OL play is mostly about coaching. We need the staff to do a great job.
I believe good OL play is mostly about coaching. We need the staff to do a great job.
Posted on 7/27/26 at 2:42 pm to phil4bama
I’ve never seen a modern team try and run outside/wide zone/stretch with a damn 6” or foot to foot split. Add in slow arse running backs and last seasons results are what you get.
Who’s at fault? Normally I would say the OC but he was playing the hand dealt. It was apparent early on that needing trickery to get a first down on short yardage was a bad sign.
It’s a mix of fat asses that can’t move, bad technique, and a lack of talent. I look for their to be improvement on at least 2 of the 3 I listed
Who’s at fault? Normally I would say the OC but he was playing the hand dealt. It was apparent early on that needing trickery to get a first down on short yardage was a bad sign.
It’s a mix of fat asses that can’t move, bad technique, and a lack of talent. I look for their to be improvement on at least 2 of the 3 I listed
This post was edited on 7/27/26 at 2:43 pm
Posted on 7/27/26 at 5:03 pm to Amarillo Tide
quote:
have a hunch Jackson Lloyd will be at least a slight upgrade since he's not carrying around 50-60 lbs of bad weight
I agree on that. Proctor, while talented, was obviously fat as frick. I think the staff wants a more mobile offensive line. It might improve some areas. But im not sure it solves our problems on 3rd/4th and 1.
Like I said earlier, the coaching staff has to do a great job here.
Posted on 7/27/26 at 5:11 pm to SECSolomonGrundy
If you’re not greatly out-talented, 3rd and 1 simply comes down to good technique and want-to. If you’ve got some dogs up there that will get after it, short yardage won’t be a passing down this year. If there isn’t improvement there, I will just be disgusted.
Posted on 7/28/26 at 8:22 am to Amarillo Tide
quote:
Proctor was obviously a first rounder
Proctor was the highest rated PFF OL in the conference. Could he have been a better LT had he lost 30lbs? Absolutely. Was he the anchor of our line? Absolutely.
We had two plus OL last year: Proctor and Brailsford. Neither were elite run blockers. Carroll was functional but was learning on the job as a TF and should’ve been inside.
Pass pro was functional once Formby got benched until Brailsford got hurt, run blocking was the real issue as we were generationally bad.
I’m convinced our scheme didn’t match our personnel and when compounded with poor coaching and injuries resulted in the debacle we saw.
Quick reminder from the Iron Bowl on:
LT: plus
LG: injured
C: injured
RG: injured
RT: TF
All I’m willing to say at this point is they probably have better coaching than they had last year and definitely have more guys who fit what they’re trying to do schematically.
They need to find four quality starters out of Lloyd, Delgatty, Strayhorn, Sanders, Brooks, Jaymes, Fields and Waldrep. The only certainty is that Carroll will be a plus level guy at RG or RT, everything else IMO is prove it.
I do agree that edge blocking should be slightly better due to Ford at TE but we still have tiny WR so I doubt edge blocking gets completely fixed but maybe we can at least run off tackle?
This post was edited on 7/28/26 at 8:25 am
Posted on 7/28/26 at 9:29 am to tide06
And Haywood
Posted on 7/28/26 at 9:39 am to Bear88
quote:
And Haywood
Everything I’ve heard is that Haywood who I was really excited about out of HS is behind the other guys, maybe the light comes on eventually but he didn’t sound like a this year guy according to the people who saw practices unfortunately.
Would love to have that wrong.
Posted on 7/28/26 at 11:12 am to tide06
Dang . Thanks for the info 
Between Michigan and us , he got paid
Between Michigan and us , he got paid
This post was edited on 7/28/26 at 11:37 am
Posted on 7/28/26 at 11:42 am to Bear88
They aren’t all early starters even if they get the 4-5* ranking.
I’m not saying he’s a bust, I just wouldn’t expect to see him this year unless something big changes.
I’m not saying he’s a bust, I just wouldn’t expect to see him this year unless something big changes.
Posted on 7/28/26 at 1:03 pm to tide06
I just figured as bad as we were last year , PT would not be hard to get for him . Thought he would be an Alex Leatherwood type player and was excited when he committed out of HS.. maybe the light will come on for him
Posted on 7/28/26 at 1:31 pm to tide06
Proctor could have been absolutely dominant if he had shed at least 30 lbs, probably 40 lbs. Formby was absolutely hopeless. Drove me absolutely nuts all the times a TE or RB would get a nice chip block on his man and his guy would STILL just blow right by him. I'm still astonished LSU spent something like $700K on him. Crazy.
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