OTF Premium Three things to consider regarding Laurence Seymore and Texas' left guard competition

[Joe Zura]

4 minutes ago, Shane said:

Just here to watch @Joe Zurahead explode! 

🖕🏼🍺😂

[akhookem]

2 hours ago, Rocky P said:

So this is all on Seymour's shoulders and we are not putting any of the pressure on Flood to figure it out?  What does he have on people? 

Careful, the flood flock will swarm you if you talk too loud because he produces a first round pick every couple years so that makes up for a terrible unit

[HonkEm]

6 minutes ago, Assistant Regional Manager said:

Depth doesn’t change the equation? The whole point of depth is having more quality at your disposal to solve problems so you aren’t having to start Connor Stroh when another guy shows he isn’t ready.

The addition of Seymore and Sikorski, a healthy Cojoe, another year of development from Coleman, a blue chip HS OL in Turntine…all factor into the equation of improving LG, wherever directly or indirectly. Seymore is not the only option and it would be malpractice if he was.

you’re arguing past the point and sidestepping what I’m actually saying. . More bodies with real snaps absolutely help the overall unit -- nobody’s arguing against that. Obviously having more capable bodies helps the overall unit. The issue is that the spot we’re talking about wasn’t just “a little shaky,” it was the one area that kept getting blown up. That’s why they went out and grabbed a veteran with a ton of experience.

Sure, the room is stronger. Sure, multiple guys can compete. But that doesn’t change the expectation for the guy they targeted to stabilize the position. If he doesn’t take it, that’s not some “look how many options we have now” moment - that’s the staff missing on a fix they actively went out and found.

Depth helps the group. It doesn’t erase what they brought Seymore here to do.

 

[Joe Zura]

12 minutes ago, akhookem said:

Careful, the flood flock will swarm you if you talk too loud because he produces a first round pick every couple years so that makes up for a terrible unit

On OT you are correct on IOL he is a fraud 

[Joe Zura]

@Gerry Hamilton seeing people talk bad about his boy flood on this thread 

 

[akhookem]

1 minute ago, Joe Zura said:

On OT you are correct on IOL he is a fraud 

I 100% agree, just thought I’d give Rocky a warning to run before  #FloodFlock gets ahold of him

[JMarquette]

I love how every OL thread just devolves to sh*t talking Kyle Flood.

[Joe Zura]

4 minutes ago, JMarquette said:

I love how every OL thread just devolves to sh*t talking Kyle Flood.

[Jeff Howe]

1 hour ago, NTX_Horn said:

If Hutson is given the extra year, is Seymour really expected to be better than him?  

I don’t know what to realistically expect from Hutson other than for him to be a quality depth piece. He hasn’t been with the team all summer while Seymore has been going through workouts.

 

[Han Soul Hole]

3 hours ago, hookem1014 said:

Last fall we heard reports of the defense dominating pretty much the whole camp. That was a red flag to me, and it showed with the terrible o line play this past season. I expect defense to be a step ahead to start but hopefully it becomes much more of a battle as camp progresses. 

RG play was atrocious. How they continued to trot 51 out there should have gotten someone fired.   I didnt think our C play was very good, either.  Any upgrade there is a W.

[Horns7]

Jeff started this. No more mention of left guard till after game 1 please.

[Joe Zura]

If Hutson is back starting Sark and Flood need to be fired immediately 

[Jeff Howe]

6 minutes ago, Horns7 said:

Jeff started this. No more mention of left guard till after game 1 please.

We’ll be talking about it until it’s settled.

[Jeff Howe]

1 minute ago, Joe Zura said:

If Hutson is back starting Sark and Flood need to be fired immediately 

That’s putting the cart way in front of the horse. 

[Joe Zura]

1 minute ago, Jeff Howe said:

That’s putting the cart way in front of the horse. 

No not at all stating facts. He was awful as a center like beyond awful he was a beyond mid LG and if you try and tell me I’m wrong you will forever be known as sunshine pumper Howe 😭💀

[Here for the Wins]

1 hour ago, HonkEm said:

I love these conversations, and I might be totally off here, but none of that really touches the point I was trying to make. More returning snaps across the line absolutely helps the overall unit --- Again, no argument there. But that doesn’t change the expectation at that spot. That position was the soft spot last season, and the staff went out and grabbed a veteran with a ton of experience specifically to stabilize it.

If he doesn’t take that job, that’s not some “look how much deeper we are now” moment. That’s the staff missing on a targeted fix. Depth helps the room, sure. It doesn’t erase what they brought Seymore here to do.

Here is where I sit.  Not an Oline expert but understand the game.  PFF grades aren’t the end all, be all, but they provide a ton of context when no one can watch all their games.  I understand why people watch only certain games, but that doesn’t convey context of whether that’s the standard game or a players best game or worst game.

I will reiterate one of my points from several weeks ago.  That essentially came up today.  Our supposed strengths of the Oline last year had too many errors to start the season.  It’s asinine to focus on the least experienced guy when versus OSU the majority of the big downs that we failed to execute was off the right side.  Most teams 5th guy is mediocre at best.  Go look at Ole Miss blocking grades.  Compare our offensive output to Miamis, and they were universally a top 3 unit.

LT, C, and Baker should all start better than we were a year ago.  If Baker has a single with either 5 pressures or 2 penalties, I’d be surprised.  And that was just OSU last year.  Siani should ready.  And the pass blocking efficiency outside of one LG was in a normality range.  That alone works with this team.  And without looking, our highest yards per carry last year came at the LG area.  I’m not saying that’s because the LG but rather you can still make some hay even if you don’t have a plus player.

And underappreciated last year was the return home. That helped the offense but also Sark opened up the screen game.  Sub-10% versus OSU/UF, 20% versus Vandy.  Our gameplans seemingly focused on us.  Outliers early were UTEP at 70/30 run-pass and UF average depth of target at 20 yards.  OSU didn’t replicate either.  So a ln inexperienced team and we’re rolling different gameplans.  I’m reasonably confident UF and Kentucky used their bye weeks to attack differently too.

So that’s a lot of words to say if LG stands out, it’s likely because of unexpected issues elsewhere.

[JMarquette]

10 minutes ago, Jeff Howe said:

That’s putting the cart way in front of the horse. 

It’s not when your single offseason objective was to get a left guard who would elevate the offensive line. If Hutson is the answer, Flood deserves to get sh*t canned, and so does sark for that matter.

Edited 34 minutes ago by JMarquette

[Joe Zura]

3 minutes ago, JMarquette said:

It’s not when your single offseason was to get a left guard who would elevate the offensive line. If Hutson is the answer, Flood deserves to get sh*t canned, and so does sark for that matter.

This********

[JMarquette]

4 minutes ago, Here for the Wins said:

Here is where I sit.  Not an Oline expert but understand the game.  PFF grades aren’t the end all, be all, but they provide a ton of context when no one can watch all their games.  I understand why people watch only certain games, but that doesn’t convey context of whether that’s the standard game or a players best game or worst game.

I will reiterate one of my points from several weeks ago.  That essentially came up today.  Our supposed strengths of the Oline last year had too many errors to start the season.  It’s asinine to focus on the least experienced guy when versus OSU the majority of the big downs that we failed to execute was off the right side.  Most teams 5th guy is mediocre at best.  Go look at Ole Miss blocking grades.  Compare our offensive output to Miamis, and they were universally a top 3 unit.

LT, C, and Baker should all start better than we were a year ago.  If Baker has a single with either 5 pressures or 2 penalties, I’d be surprised.  And that was just OSU last year.  Siani should ready.  And the pass blocking efficiency outside of one LG was in a normality range.  That alone works with this team.  And without looking, our highest yards per carry last year came at the LG area.  I’m not saying that’s because the LG but rather you can still make some hay even if you don’t have a plus player.

And underappreciated last year was the return home. That helped the offense but also Sark opened up the screen game.  Sub-10% versus OSU/UF, 20% versus Vandy.  Our gameplans seemingly focused on us.  Outliers early were UTEP at 70/30 run-pass and UF average depth of target at 20 yards.  OSU didn’t replicate either.  So a ln inexperienced team and we’re rolling different gameplans.  I’m reasonably confident UF and Kentucky used their bye weeks to attack differently too.

So that’s a lot of words to say if LG stands out, it’s likely because of unexpected issues elsewhere.

There’s some truth to this, but Stroh was objectively horrible. This shouldn’t be hard to admit, yet it is for you. Additionally, your description of how the OL works is inaccurate. It’s a “you’re only as strong as your weakest link” type of mentality. You can have 4 studs, but 1 dud ruins it. There were OL problems outside of LG, but the VAST majority was LG.

[Jeff Howe]

24 minutes ago, Joe Zura said:

No not at all stating facts. He was awful as a center like beyond awful he was a beyond mid LG and if you try and tell me I’m wrong you will forever be known as sunshine pumper Howe 😭💀

I don’t know if anyone has suggested that Hutson will start. I don’t see the point in worrying about something that might not (and probably won’t) happen, barring something unforeseen.

[Jeff Howe]

24 minutes ago, JMarquette said:

It’s not when your single offseason objective was to get a left guard who would elevate the offensive line. If Hutson is the answer, Flood deserves to get sh*t canned, and so does sark for that matter.

I get the sentiment, but I don’t think Hutson starting is something to get worked up over right now.

[Joe Zura]

5 minutes ago, Jeff Howe said:

I don’t know if anyone has suggested that Hutson will start. I don’t see the point in worrying about something that might not (and probably won’t) happen, barring something unforeseen.

Jeff you don’t want this let’s both get some sleep deal?!

[Jeff Howe]

1 minute ago, Joe Zura said:

Jeff you don’t want this let’s both get some sleep deal?!

In all seriousness, I don’t think this is something that’s that deep. All I’m saying is that I’m willing to let Seymore get through one practice and figure if/when Hutson will be with the team before concerning myself with scenarios that might not happen. 

[Joe Zura]

1 minute ago, Jeff Howe said:

In all seriousness, I don’t think this is something that’s that deep. All I’m saying is that I’m willing to let Seymore get through one practice and figure if/when Hutson will be with the team before concerning myself with scenarios that might not happen. 

I agree Jeff but I have to keep the fight going you understand that part. But I do agree the OL will be better but people here that see me one way lol 

[Jeff Howe]

1 minute ago, Joe Zura said:

I agree Jeff but I have to keep the fight going you understand that part. But I do agree the OL will be better but people here that see me one way lol 

Yep. It’s a concern until it’s not.