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Tulsa Football Summer Position Analysis: Offensive Line

Fantastic article Larry. So much great info on the players. I enjoyed all the detail on each player, but had to chuckle as I read the quote about Couch.

"Dylan sets the tone for us up front," Montgomery said. "He plays the game physically. He knows the ins and outs. Takes all the little advantages that he can take.

As I read this, all I could think of was, he can hold and knows how to get away with it. Lol

We are really loaded on the line and if Brin is the real deal, this offense could be really good. It feels good to be excited for our football team. Hasn’t been the case in quite a few years.
 
We are really loaded on the line
This is an understatement. We are so deep on the line, guys like Chester Baah and Gabe Cantu are afterthoughts. Tiller Bucktrot may be the 12th best OL player in the group. Muskrat may not get to see the field because he's got an all AAC and potential All American in front of him and I was highly impressed with Muskrat when he did get some snaps last year due to injuries.

When you look at TU's OL and DL, we're in good shape to control the LOS on both sides of the ball. Both units are deep with quality behind the starters

ADD: This won't be popular, but Chris Paul may be the 4th best tackle in the group. Muskrat has much better feet and what I remember from Bray in both HS and the few OSU games I caught him in, is his physicality and strength up front. He's also got good feet and quickness.
 
"ADD: This won't be popular, but Chris Paul may be the 4th best tackle in the group"
Not unpopular with me. ALL players on the OLine who should have to beat out the competition and not rest on the fact that they started last year. If Monty plays based on seniority like he did at QB last year then this team will not reach its potential. The OLine depth is probably the best I've seen in 35 years and it would be a crime not to play the absolute best of the bunch. There is one in particular that I would hope gets replaced.
 
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Sometimes you don’t or can’t play the best player. See generally, Green, C.

Sometimes your best leader might not have more talent but has more experience and gets more out of younger guys and the net effect for the team is greater than playing your best at that position. See generally Montana vs Young.

Sometimes big guys who are good still need to eat a couple of years. See generally, Govi, M.

We are gonna find out quick if the decision to play Smith was favoritism or a mistake. I’m not sure which but I strongly suspect it was a mistake.
 
Sometimes you don’t or can’t play the best player. See generally, Green, C.

Sometimes your best leader might not have more talent but has more experience and gets more out of younger guys and the net effect for the team is greater than playing your best at that position. See generally Montana vs Young.

Sometimes big guys who are good still need to eat a couple of years. See generally, Govi, M.

We are gonna find out quick if the decision to play Smith was favoritism or a mistake. I’m not sure which but I strongly suspect it was a mistake.
I suspect mistake as well. He wasn't a malcontent or anything like that. Typically you can see how things should be by the way the head coach trusts said player in situations. The 1st two QBs in the pecking order last year were dealing with extremely limited playbooks and a slower than optimal tempo. When Brin got in the game against Tulane, the playbook opened. People like to say Monty had no choice but the fact is, there were 7+ minutes left in the 3rd quarter and we were down 14. There was plenty of time for us to score 14 points. I honestly believe Brin's skillset was better suited for Monty's offense than Smith was, at least in terms of moving the pocket some, play action, QB keeping the ball on the RPO plays. The play tempo became faster as well. Smith's lack of mobility limited the playbook and Boomer's lack of arm strength limited some of the plays available. Experience plays a factor but if you limit the playbook because the person you're playing has limitations but the player with less experience has the benefits of a fuller array of plays available to them, you might be playing the wrong player.
 
The only thing Smith had that I can tell that fits the Briles system is the most important thing: the arm strength to throw the horizontal handoff/bubble screen, the timing and accuracy to hit three specific deep routes, and the mental discipline as far as eye give away. The very most basic things. And he graded out at 100. But he lacked other skills that could have opened things up more.

Montgomery will play not to lose until he has nothing to lose and then will become quite aggressive. It’s been true on the road games against Top 25 opponents, the last six minutes of both halves against conference front runners and when trailing by under 21 but not less than 7 in the 4th.
 
Fantastic article Larry. So much great info on the players. I enjoyed all the detail on each player, but had to chuckle as I read the quote about Couch.

"Dylan sets the tone for us up front," Montgomery said. "He plays the game physically. He knows the ins and outs. Takes all the little advantages that he can take.

As I read this, all I could think of was, he can hold and knows how to get away with it. Lol

We are really loaded on the line and if Brin is the real deal, this offense could be really good. It feels good to be excited for our football team. Hasn’t been the case in quite a few years.
Thanks, Bill. The O-Line should be really good. I think with Brin, the line, receivers, and running game, there is no reason this offense doesn't out up huge numbers.
 
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