I give Butch something of a pass for this years senior class. He came in and from a flat footed start had like 4-6 weeks to put it together. So really current Juniors are his first full class. In a perfect world, those guys are redshirt sophomores this year instead of juniors. But it is what it is. That is just to say I don't think you can fairly judge o-line recruiting and development yet. It is a slow process and the guys that should have been 5th year seniors this year, well, they never showed up because Dooley couldn't be bothered.
I'm not saying we will be great. Just that the story isn't over yet.
Last post on this because I've derailed this thread. Here's why I question Butch and Mahoney's OL evaluations.
2014:
Ray: 3 star bust
Blair: 4 star bust
Robertson: 3 star LG Starter
Thomas: 3 star C/OT Starter but below average RT
Mosley: 4 star OG who's really a DT and has been moved to DT
That's 1 OT recruit that year who plays
2015:
Richmond: 4 star LT Starter (solid job :rock
![Smile :) :)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
Jones: 4 star RG Starter :rock:
Hall: 3 star RT Starter :rock:
Boulware: 3 star OG Starter/Backup
Stewart: Tragedy with his mom
2 OT recruits
2016:
Tatum: 3 star OT project with SEC offers
Niehaus: 3 star OT/OG project with an average offer list
Brooks: 3 star TE moving to OT
Johnson: 4 star OT with SEC offers
3 OT recruits, 2 of which are 2-3 year projects most likely. I like the upside though.
In all, my point is, and I know it's VERY EARLY, Butch killed the 2015 class. However, he botched the 2014 in terms of OT, and in 2016 he recruited two, 2-3 year project OTs. To put this in perspective, and a lot of this is on Dooley so I'm NOT blaming Butch 100% here, from 2012 (0 OL :cray
![Smile :) :)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
- 2014 we gained 1, ONE, starting OT in Kendrick, and we only recruited two natural OT in Kendrick and Blair. Some of that is 100% on Butch Jones. That is absolutely horrible OT recruiting and development, and it's the reason we can't beat great football teams. Luckily, Butch and Dobbs have masked the problem very well through scheme, which is why so many of you don't see a problem with the OL, but there is cause for concern.
The 2017 class should help this problem, and Butch has done a good job of obtain more OT projects over the last 2 classes including 2017, but Butch really needs Smith to come here and dominate at OT until some of these projects can develop.