Offensive line play just down right offensive
Eric Tabor
Wednesday May 14, 2008
There are a lot of elements that have contributed to the downturn in offensive production over the first six weeks of the South Georgia Wildcats season.
But if you're looking for one explanation right up front, then consider what has transpired, well, right up front, with offensive line units so far this season.
“It's been a little bit like a revolving door, musical chairs, roulette, whatever you want to call it,” said South Georgia Wildcats Fan Edward Dyson.
In seven games, the Wildcats have used five different offensive line starters and four starting combinations.
“Sometimes,” said Andre Slappy. “You find yourself just kind of looking, you know, from side to side, to see who's out there with you.”
Given the cut-and-paste approach to which af2 coaches have been relegated this season, as they attempt to cobble together a workable unit from week-to-week. The Wildcats have shuffled the lines so much; it seems the starters ought to be required to introduce themselves to each other before they break the huddle for the first time.
Clearly, patchwork doesn't translate into production in the af2. But one could make a pretty compelling case that stability on the offensive line is an integral component to success in 2008.
The results are obvious in the Wildcats' comparative statistics over the past two seasons. In the first five games of 2007, South Georgia averaged 55.7 points, scored 47 offensive touchdowns, and ranked first in the league in total offense, and Wildcat quarterbacks had been sacked just five times during that time frame and 14 times during the entire 2007 season. Through six games this season, the Wildcats are averaging 49.7 points and have 45 touchdowns, ranked No. 11 in the league in total offense, and South Georgia QB’s have been sacked 13 times, just one sack less than was absorbed in all of 2007.
In that regard, the Wildcats haven't been the only team that seems to have a new starting line every week.
Said one AFL offensive line coach who recently retired: “All over, it's some of the worst offensive line play I've ever seen. Fundamentals just seem to be shot to hell. I see guys, just from watching on television, and you can tell they're confused. You bring the most rudimentary blitz against them and it's like they've never seen it before. I'm guessing part of it is [bad] coaching, part of it is flat-out bad players, and part has to be all the injuries.”
There are almost two dozen teams in the league that haven't fielded the same starting lineup for more than two weeks in a row.
“Some weeks,” said a veteran offensive lineman from a team whose unit has been perilously thinned by injuries, “it’s almost as if they reached into a hat, pulled out some names and said, OK, you at guard, you at center,' you know? I mean, it’s been that bad.”
