Just wanted to see some opinions... lets try to keep it from being a flamestorm... One thing I have noticed is the blocking style of the offensive line... Last year and during the saban years there was alot of down-blocks and pulling... very active line... Miles has put in a zone blocking system... I prefer the old system, but zone blocking can be effective as well (see the denver broncos)... I'm wondering if its just taking a while for these linemen to get used to this style of blocking...
Some people on here don't see any problem.:nope: Everything is fine! I honestly don't know what the problem is other than we can't block? I do understand that AB and JV have come off of injuries so that they may be timid or not 100%. OR Are we having full contact in practice so that the guys are tired come gameday? (sarcasm):hihi: Didn't Dinardo or someone do that before?:redface:
1. Offensive line -- They just aren't opening big holes for the backs, despite being able to protect the quarterback very well. I think new guys and less depth than we are used to are part of the problem. We have the same OC and same OL coach for the last three years, but we graudated some exceptional linemen. We have had big, strong, and smart linemen for several years now. This year it seems we have big and strong linemen. They need to get smart very fast. 2. Running backs -- The experienced backs are recovering from injuries and have not regained their quickness and are not finding the small holes that are there. The freshmen are still green but do show promise. The fullback is covering everybody's ass and doing pretty well at it. 3. The coaches -- We have a balanced offense between pass and run and we can punch the ball into the endzone with over 20 rushing TD's, but we have trouble controlling the clock with a steady running game between the 20's. We do get a little predictable at times. If we line up in the "I", we're probably going to run. There have been years when we could just signal run and then run it down their throats anyway. This is not one of those years and we may need to be a little craftier.
I think the biggest problem is the play calling on running plays. They bunch up the line with a two TE set and a fullback and run a dive play. Very predictable. I noticed last night that we opened it up a lot more with 3,4, and 5 WR sets which spread the defense more and helped the o-line. They should do that more often until our o-line gets better.
If we had an experienced running back the caliber of Irons or Lester of Auburn I doubt you would be questioning the OL. Great running backs make good lines appear great. We have no one who can stretch the defense and no one who can cut back if the defense was spread.
1. Offensive Coordinator 2. Choice of running backs Scott and Williams should be the only 2 back there from here til the end of the season. With Hester sprinkled in at FB and 3rd down back.
The reason we can not run block is that our oline is weak and slow. They pass block ok because all they have to do is stand up and push guys away for a few seconds.
I will go with the running backs being a bit timid and the O line not that great on run blocks. But I have seen a lot of times when the defense is stacked against the run before the play. We run anyway. Not sure if JR is just not seeing this or if he isn't allowed to audible to a pass.
