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Football Penn State Steadily Building Depth, Talent Across Offensive Line

ConnorKrause

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May 18, 2022
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For the first time in the modern recruiting era, Penn State is poised to start five former four-star recruits across the offensive line entering 2022. While the unit has been lackluster for the better half of the last decade in Happy Valley, is it finally time for the offensive trenches to become an area of strength rather than a glaring hole for seasons to come? Read more in our new post below:

 
For the first time in the modern recruiting era, Penn State is poised to start five former four-star recruits across the offensive line entering 2022. While the unit has been lackluster for the better half of the last decade in Happy Valley, is it finally time for the offensive trenches to become an area of strength rather than a glaring hole for seasons to come? Read more in our new post below:

From your finger tips to Gaia’s ears!
 
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Stars mean nothing when the players do not fit the system. We are two years away from the line being a strength. The author goes out of his way to forgive years of bad coaching by Franklin and company when they did actually inherit a good situation. The line could have been better but the starters rated pretty good when executing a man blocking scheme which they rarely did because John Donovan was incompetent and Franklin was incompetent for bringing (and Hand, Rahne, Gattis) along for the ride.
 
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Here is a hopeful comparison.

This isn't the same Phillies bullpen anymore​

But something is happening with the bullpen this year, particularly since the end of May. Not only is it pitching well; it is dominating. It is making up for the losses of Bryce Harper and Jean Segura by keeping the Phillies in games when they’re behind and holding onto narrow leads when they’re ahead.

“Everybody is throwing the ball really well down there,” Phillies ace Zack Wheeler said. “Give them credit. They keep grinding. They know the narrative the past couple years, but they’re pushing against it and doing well. They’re making everybody be quiet, which is a good thing.”


 
I'm firmly in the I'll believe it when I see it camp with the OL at this point. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me 8 times, won't be fooled again.
 
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For the first time in the modern recruiting era, Penn State is poised to start five former four-star recruits across the offensive line entering 2022. While the unit has been lackluster for the better half of the last decade in Happy Valley, is it finally time for the offensive trenches to become an area of strength rather than a glaring hole for seasons to come? Read more in our new post below:

Are we still running Franklin's F'd Offensive scheme? You could have NFL caliber OL-men and the weaknesses of his system would easily be exposed.

The problem with PSU Football isn the OL....it's Franklin.
 
Are we still running Franklin's F'd Offensive scheme? You could have NFL caliber OL-men and the weaknesses of his system would easily be exposed.

The problem with PSU Football isn the OL....it's Franklin.
Franklin doesn't have an offensive scheme. What he has is an irrational philosophy (explosive plays or bust, everything else be damned), a penchant for shiny objects and unearned loyalty for "his" guys which has created chaos. John Donovan used a kitchen sink approach to blocking. Gap, zone, sliding protections (spread gap) and man. Our line, as thin as they were scored well above average when executing man blocking plays yet we used that the least amount. Coincidently, that is what every linemen on the roster was recruited and developed to run, including the two converted tackles who scored higher than some legacy players trailing only long time NFL starter Donovan Smith. Donovan was the worst offensive coordinator in history but he was Franklin's guy and we were only free of him because Sandy made Franklin fire him.

In comes Moorhead who was a shiny object but had a coherent philosophy as opposed to a scheme. He is the most pragmatic offensive mind the college game. Moorhead's influence on the program resulted in Franklin's best four years as a head coach. The scheme was known as MAP and was a hybrid of man blocking in the direction of play to suit his players and basic gap on the backside to preserve energy and reduce needless penalties. Simple. The line generally excelled from 16 to 19 despite the average fan's moronic expectation they could successfully block 7 or 8 defenders with 5 linemen and a tight end that was a speed bump at best because the offensive was fundamentally flawed due to a limited passing game. Ricky Rahne's best decision was to leave Joe's offensive in place untouched. Out goes Rahne, include the next shiny object.

The next shiny object was Kirk who embarrassed the best defense Franklin produced and executed with the talent he recruited (14/15 was a mix of O'Brien/Paterno players and the scheme Roof installed). Kirk is a system coach who brought a pure zone blocking scheme not suited to the existing roster but ran it anyway to our detriment. The system more than Covid, ruined 2020. Outgoes Kirk, incomes Yursich. Another system guy.

MY runs a spread gap blocking scheme exclusively which is less suited to the talent on hand than Kirk's zone. The results were predicable. Yes, Franklin IS the problem. He always has been and always will be. Eight years in, he is given no indication what so ever that the team will ever get over the 10 win regular season hump. None. Nada. Zilch. And as a certain Pitt fan will say, "We have him for 10 years!"
 
Wimbledon final today Chris Fowler made a comment about Djokavic having grass stains on his pants like a back that's been tackled a few times. You can tell your boy is ready randy for the crisp aesthetics of grass stains on white pants and screaming Singleton to the house during WO while Herdstreen sulks. The Oline doesn't need to be elite, but it needs to be better.
 
What Is Nick Kyrgios' Net Worth In 2022?
 
Franklin doesn't have an offensive scheme. What he has is an irrational philosophy (explosive plays or bust, everything else be damned), a penchant for shiny objects and unearned loyalty for "his" guys which has created chaos. John Donovan used a kitchen sink approach to blocking. Gap, zone, sliding protections (spread gap) and man. Our line, as thin as they were scored well above average when executing man blocking plays yet we used that the least amount. Coincidently, that is what every linemen on the roster was recruited and developed to run, including the two converted tackles who scored higher than some legacy players trailing only long time NFL starter Donovan Smith. Donovan was the worst offensive coordinator in history but he was Franklin's guy and we were only free of him because Sandy made Franklin fire him.

In comes Moorhead who was a shiny object but had a coherent philosophy as opposed to a scheme. He is the most pragmatic offensive mind the college game. Moorhead's influence on the program resulted in Franklin's best four years as a head coach. The scheme was known as MAP and was a hybrid of man blocking in the direction of play to suit his players and basic gap on the backside to preserve energy and reduce needless penalties. Simple. The line generally excelled from 16 to 19 despite the average fan's moronic expectation they could successfully block 7 or 8 defenders with 5 linemen and a tight end that was a speed bump at best because the offensive was fundamentally flawed due to a limited passing game. Ricky Rahne's best decision was to leave Joe's offensive in place untouched. Out goes Rahne, include the next shiny object.

The next shiny object was Kirk who embarrassed the best defense Franklin produced and executed with the talent he recruited (14/15 was a mix of O'Brien/Paterno players and the scheme Roof installed). Kirk is a system coach who brought a pure zone blocking scheme not suited to the existing roster but ran it anyway to our detriment. The system more than Covid, ruined 2020. Outgoes Kirk, incomes Yursich. Another system guy.

MY runs a spread gap blocking scheme exclusively which is less suited to the talent on hand than Kirk's zone. The results were predicable. Yes, Franklin IS the problem. He always has been and always will be. Eight years in, he is given no indication what so ever that the team will ever get over the 10 win regular season hump. None. Nada. Zilch. And as a certain Pitt fan will say, "We have him for 10 years!"
I’ll believe we have a good OL when we stop losing games because we don’t have a good OL. Talent, schmalent. Play well, run the ball well, protect our fragile QB well, close out games. WIN games. Stop losing so many games. 29 years of conference under-performance is enough. Beat Ohio State. Beat Michigan. Win the Big Ten. Otherwise, it’s all bovine scatorum.
 
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