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OLine

Posted on 7/27/26 at 8:13 am
Posted by phil4bama
Emerald Coast of PCB
Member since Jul 2011
11955 posts
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 by Night Vision
Member since Feb 2018
23548 posts
Posted on 7/27/26 at 8:15 am to
Saban's last few teams didn't have good run blocking lines. A lot of the rushing yds came from Milroe.

Posted by SECSolomonGrundy
Slaughter Swamp
Member since Jun 2012
18534 posts
Posted on 7/27/26 at 8:21 am to
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.
Posted by Diego Ricardo
Alabama
Member since Dec 2020
13680 posts
Posted on 7/27/26 at 8:53 am to
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.
This post was edited on 7/27/26 at 8:53 am
Posted by CapstoneGrad06
Little Rock
Member since Nov 2008
73483 posts
Posted on 7/27/26 at 9:32 am to
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 by PuertoRicanBlaze
Book Board Admin
Member since Apr 2024
7722 posts
Posted on 7/27/26 at 11:50 am to
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 by Amarillo Tide
Amarillo, TX
Member since Aug 2023
1964 posts
Posted on 7/27/26 at 12:24 pm to
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.
Posted by NWLA_Bama
Member since Aug 2024
1661 posts
Posted on 7/27/26 at 12:27 pm to
We didn't run the ball well with them on the Oline.
Posted by 1BamaRTR
In Your Head Blvd
Member since Apr 2015
24876 posts
Posted on 7/27/26 at 1:16 pm to
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 by SECSolomonGrundy
Slaughter Swamp
Member since Jun 2012
18534 posts
Posted on 7/27/26 at 2:30 pm to
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.
Posted by bamaguy17
Member since Jul 2022
1303 posts
Posted on 7/27/26 at 2:42 pm to
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
This post was edited on 7/27/26 at 2:43 pm
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