2008 O-Line......

[snowcraig2.0]

Right now the one's are

LT- Hulbert
LG- KO
C- Johnson
RG- Lamaak
RT- Baysinger

I may have messed up Lamaak and KO, don't remember which ones were L and R, but this is the number one's right now.

I think it is very good that Hulbert could potentially beat out Deidrick considering a lot of people thought he was our best o lineman last year. With that said, this is far from over.

Also heard Mike Knapp is pushing for #1 at center. I keep waiting to hear more from Alvarez but as of right now it sounds like he may be #3 center

That group of #1's should have Knapp at center instead of Johnson, as he was #1 at center when Hulbert was #1 at LT.

We all need to remember, the first string is changing daily. For example, someone said that Dedrick has been playing the #1 LT spot for most of the spring, but Hulbert got the nod for the scrimmage. The coaches are not only figuring out who is the best individually, but what groups play well together.

[wartknight]

Very, VERY, true. There are some guys with a lot of talent that can get the job done on their own. But the OL is very much about communication. I've seen some very talented athletes look pretty poor because of bad communication.

[Aclone]

Now if this is our starting lineup - our line may have more talent and more time to play together....i don't want to put any pressure on these guys, but, it could be a group that sends 3-4 guys to the NFL, you want to be able to recruit lineman, start sending 2-3 to the NFL every year, that will make recruiting easy....

Considering that almost all of these guys are freshmen or sophs, I think that this counts as a decided case of "counting your chickens before they hatch".

As far as the respective "lineups" that people have posted, I think that right now the coaches are playing a lot of "mix and match", not only to find the best combination for this fall, but with the hopes of developing greater flexibility in case of injury. And we don't know who has been nicked up enough to cost them some PT.

I hope Haughton goes to the dline because we could really use his help down there

Perhaps you are both overestimating the offensive line, and underestimating the defense. On signing day the coaches said that they wanted Haughton on offense because of the additional athleticism that he represents. It's not hard to see him bulling his way into the two deep and a key role, if not a starting spot. As a matter of fact, I suspect that he might well be a better athlete than any offensive lineman currently on the roster.

However, at the current moment all that I will hope from Scott "Adrin" Haughton...is simply that eh qualifies and makes it onto campus.

[ISUFan22]

Very, VERY, true. There are some guys with a lot of talent that can get the job done on their own. But the OL is very much about communication. I've seen some very talented athletes look pretty poor because of bad communication.

Like in '06. We were not full of talent, but did have a couple guys from that group make NFL camps.

[Clones85']

That group of #1's should have Knapp at center instead of Johnson, as he was #1 at center when Hulbert was #1 at LT.

We all need to remember, the first string is changing daily. For example, someone said that Dedrick has been playing the #1 LT spot for most of the spring, but Hulbert got the nod for the scrimmage. The coaches are not only figuring out who is the best individually, but what groups play well together.

They had the list up after the scrimmage on Saturday who the #1's where and it was Johnson and not Knapp. I know Knapp has received a lot of time with the #1's however. Never hurts to have competition.

[Aclone]

I see on cyclones.com that Alvarez is indeed in the mix at center--and Lamaak is the only one so far to step up to solidify a spot in the top five.

Practice Number Nine

On another note, it's interesting to see that tight end Collin Franklin is up to 250, on his 6-6 frame..

[ISUFan22]

On another note, it's interesting to see that tight end Collin Franklin is up to 250, on his 6-6 frame..

That is nice!

What's the deal with Catlett? I didn't see him at all during the scrimmage on Saturday and he hasn't been mentioned in the practice notes.

[snowcraig2.0]

I think Catlett is fine. The staff seems happy with what they have in C Franklin as our starting TE, so I am guessing they are letting Catlett focus more on his H-back role. In that role, however, he is usually blocking, so I think that's probably why we aren't hearing more about him.

[ISUFan22]

Well he never stepped foot on the field on Saturday and I didn't see him on the sidelines. Doesn't mean he wasn't there - but I didn't see him at all - and I even looked in the injured group that were getting their tails worked off. :)

[besserheimerphat]

FWIW, at the clinic's Thursday night social, McFarland said he had some "discussion" with the linemen regarding sacks. Apparently they were pretty impressed with their improvement from 06 to 07, cutting sacks from 38 to 17. McFarland told them that he was downright embarrased to have 17 sacks in a season. In his 15 years as Off. Coord., he had never allowed 17 sacks in a season. He didn't think his offenses had ever allowed more than 15, regardless of who was responsible (o-line, QB, etc). The fewest sacks he's ever had in one season, that were attributable to the o-line, was 3.

[ISUFan22]

FWIW, at the clinic's Thursday night social, McFarland said he had some "discussion" with the linemen regarding sacks. Apparently they were pretty impressed with their improvement from 06 to 07, cutting sacks from 38 to 17. McFarland told them that he was downright embarrased to have 17 sacks in a season. In his 15 years as Off. Coord., he had never allowed 17 sacks in a season. He didn't think his offenses had ever allowed more than 15, regardless of who was responsible (o-line, QB, etc). The fewest sacks he's ever had in one season, that were attributable to the o-line, was 3.

And this, is yet another illustration as to why our current staff is fantastic.

Raising the bar. Having very high expectations. I liked our previous staff, but often times they allowed players to slide by. It showed.

If you tell the kids you want 'em to run a mile in 6 minutes, they'll give you a 5 minute, 55 second mile. If you tell 'em you want it done in 5 and a half, you'll get just under that as well.

I like what Chizik and Co. are doing and am confident it will reap rewards on the field.

[cyfan15]

By the end of the season, I would love to see the following starters:

LT - Matt Hulbert (SO)
LG - Kelechi Osemele (FR)
C - Alex Alvarez (SO)
RG - Ben Lamaak (SO)
RT - Trey Baysinger (FR)

That's a group that could be together for 2-3 years.

[Aclone]

By the end of the season, I would love to see the following starters:

LT - Matt Hulbert (SO)
LG - Kelechi Osemele (FR)
C - Alex Alvarez (SO)
RG - Ben Lamaak (SO)
RT - Trey Baysinger (FR)

That's a group that could be together for 2-3 years.

I'll go you one better. Stick Adrin Haughton in there for Hulbert, and it's vastly improved. Of course, it probably would be wherever Haughton started.

[Steve]

By the end of the season, I would love to see the following starters:

LT - Matt Hulbert (SO)
LG - Kelechi Osemele (FR)
C - Alex Alvarez (SO)
RG - Ben Lamaak (SO)
RT - Trey Baysinger (FR)

That's a group that could be together for 2-3 years.

Not a bad option, but I won't be disappointed if Johnson holds on to the center position. Always good to anchor a line with a senior. I also think that Johnson has yet to reach his peak potential with his multiple position switches and 8-man high school background.