Improvement of the O-line/Lance Heard stats

#1
Titans4Vols

Titans4Vols

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#1
One of the biggest criticisms of the Heupel regime to date has been in regards to our offensive line coaching/development, a lot of it justified I think, but the progress the line has made this year has been incredible. Saw this on twitter:



And made me think a bit more about how much better Heard has played this year compared to last, and how much better our pass blocking is as a whole. Currently tied for 10th best in the country, allowing only 0.8 sacks per game. This comes after last year where we were getting sacked 2.3 times per game, a mark that placed us tied for 87th in the country. 2023 saw us at 56th in the country with 1.9 allowed per game, and 2022 saw us at 63rd/2.1 per game.

Of course worth noting that sacks and pressures aren't entirely an OL statistic. RBs and TEs can be beat for pressures or sacks, QBs can hold the ball far too long or run in to sacks/pressures, etc. But I think we can all tell after watching the season to his point that the guys up front are blocking at a much higher level than the past couple years. So credit needs to be given to Aguilar for getting rid of the ball on time and showcasing excellent pocket presence, and we haven't really seen any blown blocking assignments from our backs or tight ends either.

Most exciting perhaps is while Heard is likely gonna head to the NFL off of this type of season, next year should still show excellent OT play as I assume Sanders takes over at LT and Perry remains at RT. The entirety of the interior OL should return next year as well. Given our starting QB next year will be in his first season as a starter(whether it's Merk, GMac or Faizon), clean pockets will make that transition and their development go far smoother.

For all the heat thrown Glen Elarbee's way for less than stellar offensive line performances the past couple years, he deserves a tip of the cap for the outstanding development the group has shown this year.
 
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#3
#3
CAVPUT said:
For me, the second half of the season will reveal just what kind of team this is. The cupcakes are done and gone. Time for some big boy football. Let's see what we're really made of.
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Oklahoma will be by far our biggest test from a pass rush standpoint. They're tied with us for most sacks per game in the country at 4.2
 
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#5
#5
CAVPUT said:
Bama, OU, UF and Vandy will all stress this team to the breaking point. I'd take a split right now and rejoice.
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This is the first year since the Fulmer era where I've actually felt some level of confidence in the team in big games. I expect them to win tomorrow against Bama though it won't be easy, and I expect wins vs OU and Vandy, and barring injuries or whatever of course, I expect multi score wins. Bama is a concern as it's a hostile environment and Simpson is playing some great football, but Kane Wommack is such a bad DC vs the spread I think we'll just outscore them tomorrow regardless of what Simpson does. First time in over 15 years I've felt confident in a win vs Bama so it's strange, and maybe I end up way off, but that's the feeling I have all the same.

Florida is a concern just because it feels like some mental block exists for our program when it comes to playing them. It doesn't seem to matter how much better our talent, coaching or whatever else is, we're going to make it difficult to win against them. One huge plus we have this year is it's in November so the heat isn't so bad, and our leadup to them is a bye, New Mexico State then Florida. So we'll basically have 3 weeks to prep for Florida. But even with that, hard to be full of confidence all the same.
 
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#6
#6
CAVPUT said:
For me, the second half of the season will reveal just what kind of team this is. The cupcakes are done and gone. Time for some big boy football. Let's see what we're really made of.
Click to expand...
This. I’m happy so far but the true challenge begins Saturday on the road. FL had a good D along w/ Oklahoma and yes, Vandy.
 
#7
#7
The idea that he can’t develop linemen has always been 100% ignorant and baseless. The people making that argument were intentionally ignoring that his recruits were buried behind 5th and 6th year guys. They would also blame him for the recruiting class that was Pruitt’s
 
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#8
#8
Titans4Vols said:
This is the first year since the Fulmer era where I've actually felt some level of confidence in the team in big games. I expect them to win tomorrow against Bama though it won't be easy, and I expect wins vs OU and Vandy, and barring injuries or whatever of course, I expect multi score wins. Bama is a concern as it's a hostile environment and Simpson is playing some great football, but Kane Wommack is such a bad DC vs the spread I think we'll just outscore them tomorrow regardless of what Simpson does. First time in over 15 years I've felt confident in a win vs Bama so it's strange, and maybe I end up way off, but that's the feeling I have all the same.

Florida is a concern just because it feels like some mental block exists for our program when it comes to playing them. It doesn't seem to matter how much better our talent, coaching or whatever else is, we're going to make it difficult to win against them. One huge plus we have this year is it's in November so the heat isn't so bad, and our leadup to them is a bye, New Mexico State then Florida. So we'll basically have 3 weeks to prep for Florida. But even with that, hard to be full of confidence all the same.
Click to expand...
This is one of FL worst teams. If we don’t win @ FL this yr, then I don’t when we will.
 
#9
#9
Titans4Vols said:
This is the first year since the Fulmer era where I've actually felt some level of confidence in the team in big games. I expect them to win tomorrow against Bama though it won't be easy, and I expect wins vs OU and Vandy, and barring injuries or whatever of course, I expect multi score wins. Bama is a concern as it's a hostile environment and Simpson is playing some great football, but Kane Wommack is such a bad DC vs the spread I think we'll just outscore them tomorrow regardless of what Simpson does. First time in over 15 years I've felt confident in a win vs Bama so it's strange, and maybe I end up way off, but that's the feeling I have all the same.

Florida is a concern just because it feels like some mental block exists for our program when it comes to playing them. It doesn't seem to matter how much better our talent, coaching or whatever else is, we're going to make it difficult to win against them. One huge plus we have this year is it's in November so the heat isn't so bad, and our leadup to them is a bye, New Mexico State then Florida. So we'll basically have 3 weeks to prep for Florida. But even with that, hard to be full of confidence all the same.
Click to expand...
A lead up to UF off a bye is not an advantage
 
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#10
#10
Titans4Vols said:
One of the biggest criticisms of the Heupel regime to date has been in regards to our offensive line coaching/development, a lot of it justified I think, but the progress the line has made this year has been incredible. Saw this on twitter:



And made me think a bit more about how much better Heard has played this year compared to last, and how much better our pass blocking is as a whole. Currently tied for 10th best in the country, allowing only 0.8 sacks per game. This comes after last year where we were getting sacked 2.3 times per game, a mark that placed us tied for 87th in the country. 2023 saw us at 56th in the country with 1.9 allowed per game, and 2022 saw us at 63rd/2.1 per game.

Of course worth noting that sacks and pressures aren't entirely an OL statistic. RBs and TEs can be beat for pressures or sacks, QBs can hold the ball far too long or run in to sacks/pressures, etc. But I think we can all tell after watching the season to his point that the guys up front are blocking at a much higher level than the past couple years. So credit needs to be given to Aguilar for getting rid of the ball on time and showcasing excellent pocket presence, and we haven't really seen any blown blocking assignments from our backs or tight ends either.

Most exciting perhaps is while Heard is likely gonna head to the NFL off of this type of season, next year should still show excellent OT play as I assume Sanders takes over at LT and Perry remains at RT. The entirety of the interior OL should return next year as well. Given our starting QB next year will be in his first season as a starter(whether it's Merk, GMac or Faizon), clean pockets will make that transition and their development go far smoother.

For all the heat thrown Glen Elarbee's way for less than stellar offensive line performances the past couple years, he deserves a tip of the cap for the outstanding development the group has shown this year.
Click to expand...

He has always been a good coach, esp when he has good talent. Coach Hep has recruited very good Oline talent and it is finally showing up on the field. Experience is good but talent is more important.
 
#15
#15
Vol8188 said:
Good teams fire their coaches all the time. That was a good Arkansas team we played
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Their record says otherwise.
FL is not yesterday’s Gator team that dominated -far from it. Yes they have talent- 4 and five star recruits. If TN is as good as some think (playoff team) then they should win this game, esp. with two losses most likely.
 
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#16
#16
vol94 said:
Their record says otherwise.
FL is not yesterday’s Gator team that dominated -far from it. Yes they have talent- 4 and five star recruits. If TN is as good as some think (playoff team) then they should win this game, esp. with two losses most likely.
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Having a good team and a good record are two very different standards.

When we play them, we don’t play their record. We play those blue chip guys you referenced
 
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#19
#19
Vol8188 said:
Having a good team and a good record are two very different standards.

When we play them, we don’t play their record. We play those blue chip guys you referenced
Click to expand...
We can agree to disagree. They had no business losing to S. FL @ home. Again, they have talent and played a difficult schedule. But most FL fans would tell you they do not have a good teen this yr. If TN is indeed a playoff team, then they should win that game.

Go Vols! Enjoy your weekend.
 
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#21
#21
vol94 said:
We can agree to disagree. They had no business losing to S. FL @ home. Again, they have talent and played a difficult schedule. But most FL fans would tell you they do not have a good teen this yr. If TN is indeed a playoff team, then they should win that game.

Go Vols! Enjoy your weekend.
Click to expand...

Saying they had no business losing to South Florida just means you agree with me. That they’re far better than their record
 
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#23
#23
To be honest, I expected Heard to take a step like he has this season. I didn't necessarily expect that the staff would hit it out of the park with evaluating and landing Pendleton and Moe, or that all the talk about Perry the last couple years wasn't just talk, or that Sham would finally be able to hold his own. This offensive line brings a smile to my face about as much as Joey's level of play.
 
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