Confidence In The Offensive Line Could Be A Question Of Trust

Over this past Spring, Summer, and now Fall Camp, just about every possible position and unit on Texas A&M has been viewed, analyzed, and previewed from just about every possible angle. The consensus from the media and opposing fans is that they like our skill position talent on offense, think our offensive line will be questionable with possibly two freshmen starters, and wonder about the transition to a new scheme on defense. We'll have to wait and see on our defense, because how they perform under a new coach and scheme will be determined on the field, but I think questions about our offensive line go back to fan confidence and trust in the coach. As fans, we know that Mike Sherman's baby is the offensive line; that is his main area of interest, because that was his area of positional expertise as an assistant coach. The question then becomes, Do you trust Mike Sherman to put the best offensive line on the field for Texas A&M? I trust Coach Sherman to put the best players that play together as a unit out there, so I'm not worried about the experience level.

It is important to note that even with a true freshman (Luke Joeckel) starting at Left Tackle, we have options in pass protection if he struggles against any elite defensive ends he faces (Missouri's Aldon Smith, Oklahoma's Jeremy Beal, and texas' Sam Acho are the only truly elite pass rushers he'll face in conference play). With Evan Eike at Left Guard, we can call for Joeckel to angle down on the defensive tackle, and let Eike pull out and seal out the defensive end. If you see Eike going out to protect the corner against the weakside end, you'll know helping out Joeckel. If you see us go to a lot of two tight-end sets, especially on third down, to pass the ball, you'll know we're really struggling, because we're keeping in seven to release two into a pass pattern, which is not the match-up we want in passing situations. If, as expected, Jake Matthews does start the season as our starting Right Tackle, he will also have tight end help on blocking anytime we are in our 11, 12, or 21 personnel groupings.

Our opening opponent, Stephen F. Austin, finished last season #64 in total defense in Division I-AA, giving up an average of 346.38 yards per game, 115.92 rushing, 230.46 passing. SFA's defensive weakness last year was their passing defense, where they ranked 97th in DI-AA, so we should get an early look at how Joeckel is doing in pass protection in our first game, because I expect us to throw the ball a lot, especially early in the game.

On offensive line, players have to trust that the man next to him will do his job so they can function together as a unit. Likewise, we as fans need to trust that Sherman knows what he is doing with the offensive line, trust that he'll put the best unit on the field to lead our offense, and spend our free time between now and the season opener against SFA fretting about our special teams.