Portal thread. Who’s leaving, who’s coming.

[Pig Benis]

Do any of you old school guys have the transcript of the Otis chat?

[vegashog]

Charlotte WR should be on board soon. 24 YPC.

signed today.

24.8 ypc, 9 touchdowns.

[Barton Fink]

Good get

[BASS]

I hope we spend more money on the o and d line than we do any other position groups.

[animal]

I hope we spend more money on the o and d line than we do any other position groups.

In Pittman's press conference he used the word focus when talking about recruiting OL/DL thru the portal. I have used my powers of deduction to take that to mean they want to put a priority $$$ on the interior. I'm fine with that. The issue is this coach hasn't exactly had great evaluations on lineman in like 15 years.

[BASS]

In Pittman's press conference he used the word focus when talking about recruiting OL/DL thru the portal. I have used my powers of deduction to take that to mean they want to put a priority $$$ on the interior. I'm fine with that. The issue is this coach hasn't exactly had great evaluations on lineman in like 15 years.

It has been crazy how bad we have been at evaluating o linemen

[The Whyte Boar]

It has been crazy how bad we have been at evaluating o linemen

Coincidentally that's the one area of the team where Pittman's say alone determines who we sign.

[Barton Fink]

I never fathomed being as bad as we've been on the interior when Pittman was hired. He knows you have to be damn good up front in this league. That has been his biggest failure   

[DirkPiggler]

I never fathomed being as bad as we've been on the interior when Pittman was hired. He knows you have to be damn good up front in this league. That has been his biggest failure   

We seem to be focusing on the OL pretty hard this portal season.  Like what we've added so far. 

I think keeping Cody Kennedy for as long as we did set the OL development back significantly.   

[Barton Fink]

We seem to be focusing on the OL pretty hard this portal season.  Like what we've added so far. 

I think keeping Cody Kennedy for as long as we did set the OL development back significantly.   

We talked a lot about TOs. Having poor Oline play is part of our TO issues as well. A lot gets solved if you can block well up front.

[DirkPiggler]

We talked a lot about TOs. Having poor Oline play is part of our TO issues as well. A lot gets solved if you can block well up front.

Especially the fumbles and a couple of the interceptions by Green. 

It seemed like most of the RB fumbles were due to carelessness with the ball. 

[Pig Benis]

It is baffling. Carmona was supposed to be a huge steal last portal season. I thought he was okay but certainly not great. Blackstock was a bust. I think OL is still the position you have to recruit well from HS, develop them, and then spend whatever you can to keep them. Throwing a bunch of new guys together on the OL every 6 months is a recipe for disaster.

It sounds crazy to say it but Chad's evaluations of OL recruits were better than Pittman's. Stromberg and Limmer were light years better than what we've had since. As much as I've soured on Pittman I have a hard time believing that he suddenly can't evaluate the position. And it can't all be blamed on NIL. The OL has been bad ever since Chad's recruits left.

[vegashog]

rumor is crutchfield is committing today.

[Cornhogio]

Very oversimplified but I'd spend on 4 & 5 star linemen who will make 3 star running backs look all world.  Of course we'd have to actually develop them.

[jdcatty]

It is baffling. Carmona was supposed to be a huge steal last portal season. I thought he was okay but certainly not great. Blackstock was a bust. I think OL is still the position you have to recruit well from HS, develop them, and then spend whatever you can to keep them. Throwing a bunch of new guys together on the OL every 6 months is a recipe for disaster.

It sounds crazy to say it but Chad's evaluations of OL recruits were better than Pittman's. Stromberg and Limmer were light years better than what we've had since. As much as I've soured on Pittman I have a hard time believing that he suddenly can't evaluate the position. And it can't all be blamed on NIL. The OL has been bad ever since Chad's recruits left.

The OL only works if you have at least two, preferably 3, players in a row that are good.  They can work as a unit.  Having one great lineman surrounded by shitty linemen just doesn't work.

[animal]

Pittman literally every end of the season and at the beginning of every season and sometimes between seasons says we just don't have the numbers on lineman. I know what he means, but I don't know what that number is and I assume he's referring to XYZ number of scholarship SEC caliber lineman. We play maybe 7 guys on a good year with a few others that basically only play on special teams. So lets say 10 guys. I think he really means he'd like a legit 3 deep of development path and not fat pasty boys from Pea Ridge. I agree we need to really commit to development and retention and that will come at a price. Schools like Texas committed early on if the numbers were right over a 100k to EACH LINEMAN on the depth chart back when that was some obscene (not bbq) kind of NIL package. A few years later Texas is competing for a natty and we're walking in Memphis.

[Barton Fink]

As a state, we don't produce much D1 OL talent. Maybe take a stab at some smaller guys and do it the Burls way? I kinda thought this is what we would do with the "preferred walkon" stuff. I don't know we've seen 1 of those guys hit the field.

[buff2.0]

I don't think Alabama got any of the top 10 recruits in that state this year, and they're still ranked #2 or something ridiculous in recruiting.

[Pig Benis]

As a state, we don't produce much D1 OL talent. Maybe take a stab at some smaller guys and do it the Burls way? I kinda thought this is what we would do with the "preferred walkon" stuff. I don't know we've seen 1 of those guys hit the field.

Agree. We can't lose guys like that Curne kid to LSU. I'd rather we overspent to sign him and sacrificed at other positions. If he pans out and develops as expected keep paying his ass whatever our broke asses can afford to keep him. That's the only way to have a good OL in the current system. Texas figured it out immediately but we will obviously never compete with their bag men.

[Texzilla]

We talked a lot about TOs. Having poor Oline play is part of our TO issues as well. A lot gets solved if you can block well up front.

I had hopes with Bert and Sam that we would be a destination program for nfl o linemen, and both failed.  The NFl has a problem in that college ball no longer develops league ready o linemen.  It's a crapshoot like with QBs as to whether a pick can learn complex blocking schemes, pick up blitzes, and learn to play against ungodly power and speed.  If we could become another Georgia it not only helps our game but our program.