The Football Brainiacs

Image via OU Football Facebook

Introduction

Besides the questions that were swirling around about who the starting QB was going to be this year, a thought on the mind of many an OU fan had also been who will be the five guys lined up in front of the QB? And even more importantly, will they struggle following the loss of four senior starters/contributors? Or will Bill Bedenbaugh work some of his magic and make the transition with three new starters a seamless one?

People want to point at 2005 and 2009 as years where OU really struggled on the o-line, and really as an offense as a whole, but the thing you have to understand is that Bedenbaugh wasn’t the coach back then. I’ve said a few times that through my study of what Oklahoma’s O line used to be compared what it has become under Bedenbaugh’s tutelage, the difference is night and day. To build a consistent offensive line year in and year out you have to be part teacher, part architect, part sculptor, part motivator and fiercely stubborn about the most minute details. You then have to demand consistency in effort, consistency in nastiness, consistency in toughness, and finally, consistency in technique.

The great offensive line coaches know how to do that. Bill Bedenbaugh knows how to do that. The great o-line coaches know how to be the most demanding coach a player has ever had, but at the same time have that player be willing to jump on a grenade for him and any one of his fellow linemen.

You hear the cliche each year that teams have to get better from week to week, but not many coaches know how to demand that and then actually get it from their guys. I recall listening to Urban Meyer talk about his Ohio State team last year, and he said that he’d never been around a team that improved each week like that team had done. And that’s relevant to my greater point because from an offensive line standpoint, I know that the version of the line in Game 1 is going to be drastically different from what you see in Game 10.

Looking for Toughness

Coach Bedenbaugh emphasized toughness as that essential quality he was looking for from the first day he arrived in Norman. We have heard about there being more rotation along the o-line in practices and in my opinion that was done in part to help instill toughness among that group, but also to breed their competitive spirit as guys fight for those starting spots. Any good coach wants to know who they can depend on.

Even if you may not be the most talented player within the competition, if your coach knows they can trust you to be where you need to be when you need to be there that guy often wins out in the end. Sounds simple doesn’t it? Well the most simple plans are often the most difficult to execute.

Which is why year after year, all across the country, you see high school heroes that become college zeroes and never wind up breaking into the starting lineup. Most of the time it’s because that guy isn’t willing or is incapable to do the extra work, whether it’s in the film room, weight room, or in practice to be able to become who that coach needs him to be.

There is a guy I used to play with in college named Andy Saltink. “Salty” as we all knew him was an animal in every sense of the word, but he was also the most technically unsound player I ever saw. However, Salty would outwork everyone else on the team and we all knew he was going all out on every single play. Every year guys were recruited to come in and take his spot, but no one ever did because Salty was that type of player you knew you could count on. It may not have been pretty, but he always got the job done.

The Starting Line-Up

Some quick thoughts on the starting five based on the depth chart that was released earlier this week:

* LT Orlando Brown –  I was very excited when Brown came on as a late commitment in OU’s 2014 class.  Great feet, an NFL pedigree and while very raw, size and power you simply can’t teach. When you read about how Brown’s father, former NFL offensive lineman Orlando ‘Zeus’ Brown, raised him before he passed, the younger Brown is always talking about being a man of character and things of that nature. He’s a hard worker and a guy who knows what it takes to get to the next level.

Brown had offers from a number of top schools, and by all accounts being around Bedenbaugh has been a great fit for him. I can’t help but look at Brown and be reminded of a guy like Phil Loadholt. It may not necessarily be immediate, but I fully expect Brown to excel under Bedenbaugh’s tutelage.

* LG Jonathan Alvarez – Seeing Alvarez getting some playing time at center as a true freshman last year tells me a lot about how well he picked up the system, and how much Coach Bedenbaugh trusts him. I’ve been a fan of Alvarez’s game since I started looking at his high school tape, and to me he was one of the more underrated kids in his class coming out of high school.  He’s tough, smart, and comes from a great family. So I wasn’t shocked to see him get some playing time last year as a true freshman.

Seeing Alvarez in the spring game, the thing that stood out to me was how well he anchored and played with a low base technically. Being able to prevent the pocket from being squeezed down is something you have to do in the middle of that line and looks to be a strength of Alvarez’s game. It also doesn’t hurt that Bedenbaugh knows he can, if need be, slide Alvarez over to center were something to happen with Ty Darlington.

* C Ty Darlington – One of the two veterans up front for the Sooners, Darlington is the son of a coach and comes from a football family. He’s yet another in a long line of intelligent guys to man the center of the OU o-line.

If anyone on the offensive line has to have a big year, it’s Darlington. He has to be that bell-cow for the big uglies up front. His presence has to be such that he’s going to be a steadying force for the three first-year starters OU is going to throw out there. Darlington has to be a coach on the field and make sure everyone picks up the calls, because with three new starters you can expect teams to put pressure on this line early and often.

* RG Nila Kasitati – It seems like this guys has been around forever, and he gives the Sooners some much need experience along the front. I know what the depth chart says, but I still won’t be surprised if at some point he’s not lined up at LG to help take some of the pressure off Brown. Having that veteran presence pays huge dividends when you’re looking at blitzes and stunts. Not to mention having a guy next to you that you can talk to pre-snap and/or between plays is a real benefit as well.

The one thing I feel confident in saying is you can count on opponents throwing a lot of exotic stuff at this OU offensive line, if for no other reason than to test them early and see if they can withstand the pressure. Being the veteran that he is, Kasitati will play a significant role in trying to counteract that pressure.

* RT Josiah St. John – The fact that Derek Farniok isn’t starting says that St. John must have progressed a great deal. Whenever I watch the big Canadian native, I see a guy whose athleticism is second to none. But I also see a guy who really has struggled at times with his technique. What I know, though, is that Coach B isn’t going to put someone on the field that can’t play. Even with that said, however, I will be paying close attention to both tackle spots during this opening portion of the 2015 season.

And with a true freshman in Dru Samia, who the coaches are absolutely raving about, pushing for playing time, you never know what could happen.  Still the ideal scenario would have it to be for St. John to put it all together and be the guy the Sooners need him to be.

Depth

* Derek Farniok – I was a little surprised to see Farniok listed on the depth chart at LT. To me his strength is his running blocking ability, so I figured we’d see him at RT. But obviously the loss of Kenyon Frison took away some depth, and we have seen Farniok get some fill-in snaps at LT in the past. So I suspect that previous experience likely played a role in putting him behind Brown.

* Jamal Danley – I feel like we haven’t really heard much about Danley this summer, and in this particular instance I don’t get the sense ‘no news is good news.’ Maybe getting to play under the lights will help to spark something here.

* Dru Samia – Samia was praised by coach Bedenbaugh throughout the offseason and though he is listed at RT, we were told he took plenty of reps at LT during camp as well.

Bottom Line

Look, there is no denying the inexperience among this OU offensive line. There are question marks in the starting five and probably just as many with the guys behind them. It would be naive to otherwise, or that you shouldn’t be worried. But a couple things that really mitigate my personal concerns are; Bedenbaugh and the offensive system.

Despite some inexperience, there are a couple veterans. One of whom plays arguably the most important spot, center. Former OU standout Dusty Dvorcek recently said that Bill Bedenbaugh is the best offensive line coach he’s seen at any level. Which is no small praise coming from someone who would know.

Additionally, with this spread system, you’re going to see the ball getting out of the quarterbacks hands much quicker. OU should be able to mask most deficiencies early on with their stable of quality backs, as well as getting some help from those same backs in pass pro. You may also recall my frustration last year in watching OU’s offense constantly running against numbers. For Riley, coming from a system where it’s all about numbers, I expect to see him put the OU run game in a much better position.

Lastly, I think OU chose to start the quarterback in Baker Mayfield who can probably make the most out of the least. Which should be yet another aspect of this offense that could help to offset any potential o-line issues in the early going.