...I wonder with teams that get 4* recruits that they take more runners on lower level "good guys" and legacies. Then when you get several 4* transfers and injuries, you're stuck.....
It's true, its a long story that I think goes back to 2013 even though the problems go back much further (see the lack of UT draft picks on the OL).
2013: 2013 was the last time anyone thought we had a good OL. Going into that season, Phil Steele said we had the best OL in football, with Harrison, Hawkins, Espinosa, Walters and Cochran, plus Hopkins and Flowers. The 2013 OL class looked great on paper too with 5-star Darius James, 4-star Rami Hammad, 4-star Kent Perkins, 4-star Jake Raulerson and JUCO Desmond Harrison. So, at this point in time, the OL looked to be in very good shape. Some of those recruits could even be RS Seniors now, but nothing went as planned. The team went 8-5, losing to Oregon in the Alamo Bowl. And Mack Brown lost his job.
2013 Recruiting:
James the 5-star left in 2015 after playing in only 6 games
Harrison was a highly ranked JUCO OT who was once thought to be NFL quality, but he also quickly got on Strong's bad side
Perkins made it to 2016 but got a DWI. He moved to OG from OT but played at or near an All Conference level
Hammad was considered a "late addition jewel" of that class. But he couldnt get along with Wickline (even though Wickline had recruited him to OSU). He transferred
Raulerson could not get along with Wickline either and transferred
What has happened since 2013 has been bad coaching hires, bad coaching, personality conflicts, bad schemes, changing schemes, bad recruiting decisions, lack of continuity, lack of an adequate QB and bad luck with injuries.
2014: The offense was Shawn Watson's who tried multiple schemes. The QBs were Ash then Swoopes. The 2014 OL did not start well with Joe Wickline moving players around and having trouble picking starters. The most senior was Espinosa at center, followed by Sed Flowers, Kent Perkins, Kennedy Estelle and Desmond Harrison. But Espinosa got hurt, Harrison was suspended and Strong got rid of Estelle. Curtis Riser and Rami Hammad also left. The OL lineup changed almost every week. The team ended up 6-7, losing to Ark in the Texas bowl. The offense was ranked 105th. We gave up 28 sacks (t-71st) and 86 TFLs loss (t-101st). Our offensive line has never really recovered from the starters lost during this transition.
2014 Recruiting: When Strong came on, the only OL committed was Terrell Cuney. Wickline added two more - Alex Anderson and Elijah Rodriguez (Jake McMillon was a DL recruit)
Cuney was the last Mack Brown recruit. An undersized OL only playing because of injury
Anderson has played in 7g. He was supposed to transfer years ago.
McMillon was moved over from the DL. Probably have gotten more out of him than we ever thought. Currently the starter at RG
Rodriguez was another 3-star Wickline flip special who has never started a game for us. He might have started this year but for injury. Some think, despite zero experience, he will replace Connor Williams in 2018. We will see.
2015: The offense was Jay Norvell's who went to the spread. The QBs were true freshman Heard and Swoopes. Former 5-star and top 5 in-state OT Darius James left before the season started. Wickline's 2015 OL left to right began as Marcus Hutchins, Sed Flowers, Taylor Doyle, Kent Perkins and true freshman Connor Williams, with very thin depth. By season's end, the best OLs were freshman Williams, freshman Vahe and Perkins. Nickelson may have been 4th best. The line did relatively well early but came apart when Perkins was lost in the OSU game.
The team finished 5-7. The 2015 offense ranked 100th. The passing offense was 105th with 32 sacks. This team did run block well though, finishing 25th in rush yards.
2015 Recruiting: The 2015 class gave us Ronnie Major, Garrett Thomas, Patrick Vahe, Connor Williams, JUCO Brandon Hodges and JUCO Tristan Nickelson.
Williams everyone knows
Vahe same
Hodges started 9g in 2016 but had grade issues, fell behind and later transferred. He woul dprobably be starting this weekend at RG or RT if they had got him to stay
Thomas was a 3-star who has played in 1g
Nickelson has the body of great OT but cant move well enough
2016: Wickline And Norvell were let go. Gilbert and Mattox were brought in. Gilbert ran his own version of the spread. True freshman Buechele was the primary QB. The primary returning OLs were Kent Perkins, Patrick Vahe and Connor Williams. The next guy was Brandon Hodges. True freshman and EE Zach Shackelford became the center.
But Mattox's OL was a revolving door with 10 different starting units in 12 games. In hindsight, retaining Raulerson (a starter at Ark in 2016), might have helped, but probably not enough. The offense ranked 62nd in both yards and passing yards, giving up 32 sacks again (among the worst again). The team finished 5-7 again. And Strong was fired.
2016 Recruiting: 2016 looked like a good class with 4-stars Patrick Hudson, Denzel Okafor, JP Urquidez, Jean Delance and 3-stars Zach Shackelford and Tope Imade.
Shack was an immediate starter due to need
Delance has aleady transferred (if he stayed, he would probably be starting now)
Hudson was a high 4-star we hoped might be an OT but he was moved to OG. Might still be a player
Okafor has the great long arms you want at tackle, and had great technique in HS but has been an overmatched so far
Imade has moved back and forth with the OL/DL, doesnt play
Urquidez has only played in a couple games
2017: New coaches all over. With Perkins gone, we thought the OL anchors would be Williams, Vahe, Shack and Hodges.
But Hodges was allowed to leave for Pitt, where he moved back to RT.
Delance transferred while Buck Major took a medical.
We lost Elijah Rodriguez in camp, who might have been the starter at RT.
Then Hudson hurt his knee in non-contact injury in Game 2. He was looking decent at OG. In hindsight, retaining Hodges would have helped here (if not RT where we also have issues)
Then Connor Williams hurt his knee in Game 3 (while not playing that well and it now looks like he is leaving as a Junior). The replacement probably would have been Rodriguez, which we maybe could have lived with but he was already out. Then it might have been Delance but he already left. So we tried Nickelson but he was getting our QBs killed. Next we tired Oakafor who is also bad just not quite as bad as Nickelson.
Then starting RG Jake McMillon got hurt. With Hudson already out, we tried the undersized Cuney but he got killed.
Then Shack, who kept having snap issues, got a concussion. His replacement is Cuney who is still getting knocked backward into our QBs.
Vahe teamed with Williams last season to create holes for Foreman. But they gave up a lot of sacks. This season, their run blocking has been poor and they still give up alot of sacks.
That is basically everyone. We have walk-on Graf as a backup. Anderson has had some decent PT but these coaches do not seem to trust him. JP Urquidez is not trusted either it appears. Thomas doesnt really play. Thus, Kerstetter plays (who they preferred to RS).
2017 Recruitng: In the 2017 class, missing on Walker Little was the single biggest story and looms even larger given the injuries. We did land two 3-stars Derek Kerstetter and Samuel Cosmi. Kerstetter was supposed to RS but now plays while Cosmi is a project who might take over at LT. We will see.
