The Tech OL

I heard a radio interview with Navy beat writer Bill Wagner some time back where he talked about how it takes an offensive lineman 3 years in the Paul Johnson system to really understand and fully grasp the responsibilities of the flexbone. Wagner had surmised that until that learning curve is reached, it limits the in-game adjustments that are critical to making the offense work at its highest level.

After watching the Tech OL struggle for the last half of the game Thursday night, I figured it was a good time to discuss some reasons for the struggles. Not making excuses, just telling you how it is.

First, as PJ did, you must give credit to Clemson. They controlled the LOS during the 2nd half. That is an extremely talented football team that spent extensive time during the offseason preparing. However, it comes down to which teams wins the battle up front and that was Clemson in the 2nd half.

I have it on good authority that the 4 most talented OL on the Tech team are playing on the scout team as redshirts-Finch, Beno, Foster and Jackson. There is a difference however between talent and being ready to play. Here's an example:

Navy's offensive line, which averages about 262 lbs per man, can't hold a candle physically to the GT line (although the gap may not be as wide as you would think, did you see the gut on Dan Voss after Bedford got hurt?). But Navy's offensive line knows the system and executes at a much higher level than GT despite their physical limitations.

Its not feasible nor would it be smart for Johnson to pull all the young OL out of their redshirts and insert them into the starting lineup. The bottom line is that they aren't ready to play big time college football yet and the team would struggle more with them in the lineup.

Omoregie Uzzi is another young OL who is just now getting his feet wet. However, he's struggling with the mental aspect right now which negates his great physical abilities and natural talent.

Bottom line-it's going to take another year at least until we start to really see the critical pieces of this offense come together.

The guys we see up front now are Chan Gailey's players, recruited for a West Coast Offense. It should be a testament that Johnson has gotten the production out of these players he has in a little over a years time. It will get here but until then, you're going to see times where the offense looks stuck in the mud. After 2 games, Tech is averaging 318 yards rushing. That's right in line with what PJ's 2nd teams and Georgia Southern and Navy did. Right on track.