…is seemingly resolved in the portal era.
Throughout both 1.0 and 2.0 (albeit moreso in 1.0) GS’s most successful teams have been 4th and 5th year-laden teams. On the flip side, during some of the years his teams struggled, he would cite the youth of the team as a major contributing factor.
Looking at next year’s presumed starters, only a handful of guys are either second or third year players:
- our two starting outside receivers (Strong (3), Duff/Black (2))
- 2 of our 3 safeties (Sanders (2), Ofurie/Fuse (3) or Gilley (2))
- 1 corner (Mascoe (3)) and possible 0 if we get the Washington State kid in the portal
And most importantly, all 4th through 6th year guys across both lines. Now, there are some 3rd year guys who will push for playing time on the lines, like Rivera, and others will def be part of the rotation, Abdul-Rahman and DeNgohe, but otherwise all the guys on either side of the ball are old enough to have a beer.
Thank you @RUskoolie for his post where he shared that it took him 2 years just to get his footwork down. I think a lot of us who haven’t played at this level focus too much on heights and weights and tend to neglect the maturity and technique-mastery required to be a successful FBS linemen.
Now of course, just because a guy is a year older doesn’t mean he’s going to be better than the prior year. This isn’t the NCAA football video game. But with the level of coaching these guys are receiving and the culture of the program, it feels like a pretty safe bet that they will be.
Throughout both 1.0 and 2.0 (albeit moreso in 1.0) GS’s most successful teams have been 4th and 5th year-laden teams. On the flip side, during some of the years his teams struggled, he would cite the youth of the team as a major contributing factor.
Looking at next year’s presumed starters, only a handful of guys are either second or third year players:
- our two starting outside receivers (Strong (3), Duff/Black (2))
- 2 of our 3 safeties (Sanders (2), Ofurie/Fuse (3) or Gilley (2))
- 1 corner (Mascoe (3)) and possible 0 if we get the Washington State kid in the portal
And most importantly, all 4th through 6th year guys across both lines. Now, there are some 3rd year guys who will push for playing time on the lines, like Rivera, and others will def be part of the rotation, Abdul-Rahman and DeNgohe, but otherwise all the guys on either side of the ball are old enough to have a beer.
Thank you @RUskoolie for his post where he shared that it took him 2 years just to get his footwork down. I think a lot of us who haven’t played at this level focus too much on heights and weights and tend to neglect the maturity and technique-mastery required to be a successful FBS linemen.
Now of course, just because a guy is a year older doesn’t mean he’s going to be better than the prior year. This isn’t the NCAA football video game. But with the level of coaching these guys are receiving and the culture of the program, it feels like a pretty safe bet that they will be.
