Lets Talk Ot's

Charlie NT 73 · March 5, 2007

First of all, I am so glad to have Coach Spencer Leftwich back as our O-line

coach! Coach Leftwich developed numerious all conference players at NT and Tulsa,

and developed the O-line play for Tulsa's "spread offense".

On the roster at OT from last year, that can play in 2007:

6-5 Matthew Menard, 275lbs, FR, I do not think he played in any games last year.

6-5 Jeremy Brown, 308lbs, JR, started all games

6-5 Robert Peachy, 275lbs, FR, played on the "Green Team"

6-5 Estaban Santiago, 275lbs, FR, is he a DT or OT, did not play in 2006.

6-4 Jack Crumes, 266lbs, FR, played football sr year in HS, did not play in 2006.

Recruit, Matt Tomlinson, listed at 6-6,265lbs on the NT recruiting recap, but,

listed at 6-4, 270 in the newspaper recruiting recap. Which is correct?

I can see Brown and Peachy as the OT starters because of their game experience.

I can also see a possible surprise at OT, Tomlinson, breaking into a backup spot.

I sure hope Santiago and Menard have hit the weight room and dining table hard

this off season, and have bulked up to the 290+ range.

I beleive the OT position will be a real battle in the spring, plus the development of a

real 2 deep at both the RT and LT positions.

Harry · March 5, 2007

First of all, I am so glad to have Coach Spencer Leftwich back as our O-line
coach! Coach Leftwich developed numerious all conference players at NT and Tulsa,
and developed the O-line play for Tulsa's "spread offense".
On the roster at OT from last year, that can play in 2007:
6-5 Matthew Menard, 275lbs, FR, I do not think he played in any games last year.
6-5 Jeremy Brown, 308lbs, JR, started all games
6-5 Robert Peachy, 275lbs, FR, played on the "Green Team"
6-5 Estaban Santiago, 275lbs, FR, is he a DT or OT, did not play in 2006.
6-4 Jack Crumes, 266lbs, FR, played football sr year in HS, did not play in 2006.
Recruit, Matt Tomlinson, listed at 6-6,265lbs on the NT recruiting recap, but,
listed at 6-4, 270 in the newspaper recruiting recap. Which is correct?
I can see Brown and Peachy as the OT starters because of their game experience.
I can also see a possible surprise at OT, Tomlinson, breaking into a backup spot.
I sure hope Santiago and Menard have hit the weight room and dining table hard
this off season, and have bulked up to the 290+ range.
I beleive the OT position will be a real battle in the spring, plus the development of a
real 2 deep at both the RT and LT positions.

I love threads like this.. anyway Brown did not start every game from my view and has been an underachiever in this program. I personally think he would be better suited at guard. Santiago is really good from all I hear but he plays guard. Menard has the frame of a big time tackle if he can fill out I don't know if he is there yet. Also you didn't list the juco who moved from tight end to tackle, Brian Carlson. He played extensively for the Green team and I thought he did pretty well. My question is what happens at center because if they wanted to they could move Rose to tackle (he has the size for it). I still maintain we haven't had two true D-I tackles for a long time and this is a position will be critical in Dodge's offense. Tomlinson has a huge upside but he will need time to develop, he's not a starter day 1 type of player. Last but not least, Josh Alexander is back and could help although he needs more size and had a pretty serious leg injury to overcome. Summary we have some possible options but none are proven.

island eagle · March 5, 2007

I love threads like this.. anyway Brown did not start every game from my view and has been an underachiever in this program. I personally think he would be better suited at guard. Santiago is really good from all I hear but he plays guard. Menard has the frame of a big time tackle if he can fill out I don't know if he is there yet. Also you didn't list the juco who moved from tight end to tackle, Brian Carlson. He played extensively for the Green team and I thought he did pretty well. My question is what happens at center because if they wanted to they could move Rose to tackle (he has the size for it). I still maintain we haven't had two true D-I tackles for a long time and this is a position will be critical in Dodge's offense. Tomlinson has a huge upside but he will need time to develop, he's not a starter day 1 type of player. Last but not least, Josh Alexander is back and could help although he needs more size and had a pretty serious leg injury to overcome. Summary we have some possible options but none are proven.

What about Kelvin Drake and Nick Foster. Won't they figure in also?

Harry · March 5, 2007

I think Drake could play center or guard. If he plays center he could leave the door open for Rose to play tackle. Foster will have to prove his worth this Spring. I love his size and attitude but worry about his conditioning. He will need to prove to them he can be an every down player.

March 5, 2007

Where to start?

Let's begin by listing others that were here last year:

Kelvin Drake C/OG 6-2, 300 SO Played on the "green" team last year

Ajani Banks OG 6-3, 325 SO Played on the "green" team last year

Chad Rose C 6-3, 285 JR Started all games last year

Adam Venegas OG/OT 6-3, 305 SR Started most, if not all, games last year

Nick Foster OT 6-3, 340 FR Redshirt last year. Did not play.

Chris Eidd OG/OT 6-5, 320 SO Walkon who looked good but did not get to play

Tyler Bailey OT 6-2, 280 SO Walkon who may have played with "green" team

Bryan Glass C 6-0, 280 SO Squadman

Drake was a touted recruit that was inserted at C last year. He was a guard in high school and I suspect that's his best position. Should be a starter. Ajani Banks is another that may very well start this year. Rose is the incumbent center but I don't know how well he blind snaps. Venegas was moved to offense from defense and struggled but he does have size and experience. Nick Foster, if he hit the weight room, could be a terror. (FF)Rick says that he has a ton of potential. I'm hoping Eidd gets a fair chance this year under Lefty. I think that he's still around because he had one of the better GPAs on the football team last year. I don't know much about either Bailey or Glass' status. Both are slightly undersized although Glass is very strong (powerlifter).

Those that were listed...

Menard needed to build upper body strength and weight if he's to have a chance at the two-deep. Jeremy Brown looks like a lineman but has been a slight disappointment. Maybe this type of blocking will be his forte. Peachey just needs a little weight and strength to be a starter or top backup. Santiago was listed as a DT last year but Dickey was notorious for moving people from their normal position. I think that Santiago plays at defensive tackle this year. By the way, the last weight listing that I saw for him was 283. By fall, he could be in the 290s. Crumes is way too light, even if he's good at maintaining leverage. His lack of weight along with inexperience will probably keep him off the two-deep.

Others...

J.J. Johnson may move right into the number two center. He seems to be a little like Andy Brewster in that he's plays bigger than he is. He's experienced in blind snaps which will be a must for our spread offense. I also hear that he's gained about 15 pounds since his high school season and could be 275 or more by fall. Tomlinson will probably need a year of development but TD thinks that he's a diamond in the rough. As to Josh Alexander, Rick posted that he doesn't expect him to ever return.

Spencer Leftwich may not have written any books on the art of blocking but I trust him far more to develop and mold the 14-15 players into a pretty solid unit. I just hope that he is able to play at least ten enough to letter so that we will always have a cadre of experienced offensive linemen.

March 5, 2007

By the way, I've heard rumors that two of the linemen listed will not return. I don't know if that included Alexander or not. I believe that I heard the rumor prior to Leftwich being named OL coach. Will the new coach change their minds? I hope so.

March 5, 2007

UPON FURTHER REVIEW.....

Sorry, I mistook the t for an L. You were talking tackles only and I included all the linemen.

Sometimes, it's hard to differentiate between position. Centers often have separate skills but guards and tackles can be interchangable. It can depend on blocking scheme, size, quickness, etc. In my day the guard was the quicker (and smaller) lineman but today it's usually the other way around.