re: OL problems under former regime

I think if I were an offensive lineman that was bent over in a bent over touching the ground position, I think I would say to hell with schemes if I had to look over to the sideline 3 times per play...my neck just hurts thinking of it, but I'm in my 30s

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we do have 3 or 4 OL that will be on an NFL roster in a few years so while we aren't at the elite level we do still have some talent.

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The previous staff quite clearly struggled to attract elite OT talent out of high school. I think we can all agree there Despite that, I think Gus understood that at the end of the day, SEC level athletes had to be in the trenches so he was really reluctant to compromise there.

So they never started signing subpar athletes at the position. We did sign some lower rated high school OTs but they were clear guards and they all started inside when they came to campus. Gus would rather convert SEC level athletes at other positions (DL) or pluck more proven guys from lower division schools or JUCO than take a high school OT that, maybe knew the position very well, but wouldn’t be able to match up physically in our league. And he was able to get by with that for a while because the position, schematically, is relatively easy to understand and doesn’t put a lot of responsibility on the athlete. And Gus tried to supplement that by getting Grimes, who he viewed as being able to teach technique as well as anyone.

That OT position on our roster right now reflects that.

Brenden Coffey - JUCO, newer to football
Tashawn Manning - Former DL
Alec Jackson - Former DL
Austin Troxell - HS OT
Killian Zerier - JUCO, New to US, Football, and OT

And we saw this with former guys
Driscol - UMass transfer
Prince Tega - former DL, New to football & the US
Prince Sammons - From Nigeria, was mostly a basketball player in HS. Played on the DL mostly in football. Was the DPOY in HS in his region

There were other things that happened too. This could all look different if Calvin Ashley wasn’t a bust or if Austin Troxell didn’t have chronic knee issues. What if Tyler Carr worked out? Those guys could have change the narrative around OL at Auburn.

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Which ones are you projecting to the NFL?

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Council and Hamm and possibly Jones, Manning and Jackson. All guards at the next level so a few are currently playing out of position

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And we have people who were satisfied with Gus.

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Lanier

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grew up in a trailer Gus Malzahn

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That’s before he lost all his testosterone and grew bitch tits. Trailer park Gus would slap the hell out of lose to UCF and Minnesota in a bowl game Gus.

Glory days, they’ll pass you by…

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Glory days, they’ll pass you by…

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Unfortunately, you are correct my friend