re: Replace Entire O Line

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I think Brysten Martinez could start at one of the tackle spots next year.

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I think he’s got to.

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Miret at C is really good.

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That’s the rumor. But will he be ready next year? Will he be strong enough and be able to handle all the calls? Wish he had been able to get a few more snaps this year in mop up. Specifically to get some real game time practice making calls. Though in mop up, defenses probably aren’t running a lot of games or exotic blitzes or anything, so not sure how much that particular aspect I mentioned would have even really helped for next year.

So do they maybe move Satterwhite over to center next year? Even if it’s just for 1 season? I never thought they just “loved” him at LG, but if he and Harper (when he was still at LG) were pretty even, maybe the tie-breaker was getting Sat some IOL experience so he could slide to center next year.

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Hopefully they can get something out of Devin Harper, whether it be at guard or tackle.

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Speaking of Harper, he’s been kind of an enigma. Or at least how they’ve used him. I think everyone pretty much assumed he would be the opening day LG. Then gets beat out by Bordelon in the spring. (Which says something about Harper). Then it sounded like he was gonna cross train and be our 6th OL and be the 1st guy off the bench at every position besides center in case of injury or poor play. So it was kinda surprising that we went to Satterwhite after replacing Borderlon.

But ok, no big deal. Maybe he wasn’t cross training at all and was working strictly at RT. Then Davis goes out Saturday, and Sean Thompkins comes in. Again, no big deal. Dude started 5 games at LT at Baylor last year and was probably gonna start there for us had we not signed Seaton at the last minute. And people still thought he might beat out Davis and win the RT job.

None of these individual moves is an indictment on Harper in a vacuum. But in totality, it has to say “something.” Is he banged up? Is he not a hard worker? In the doghouse for some unknown reason? He could just not be as good as we—the LSU fans—thought. But he was with Kiffin and Weis at Ole Miss last year. They knew what they had. Was 1
of only like 5 players they brought with them from there.

And Bah is nothing special. He’s fine, but is gonna get handled by good SEC DL. Maybe not gonna give up a lot of sacks or TFLs, but he’s not strong enough to get any push and knock guys off the ball and get to the 2nd level on any consistent basis. Our OL has struggled all year, particularly LG, RG, and at times, RT. (Davis has gotten beat a few times, but is big and athletic with a prototypical tackle build and has gotten a lot better since last year and will probably make a bigger jump next year. I hope he stays).

But with all the struggles at the 3 positions Harper is qualified to play, he’s been behind Borderlon, Bah, Satterwhite, Davis, and now Thompkins. That is a bit concerning to me relative to his even being on the team next year, much less starting somewhere. There’s clearly something about him they don’t like right now. Hopefully it’s just an undisclosed nagging injury that’s been bothering him.