Watched Hightop last night and he played a video of Leonard's father on a Twitter/X group video conference call and he stated it's because he was the lowest paid OL on the team so he had to go. https://www.youtube.com/live/gekyZWcZf3w?si=Pt8IpIobzRm_S5rn
If we were banking on an experienced/mature O-line to pick up where they left off and he was THE key piece then this would be a big loss. At worse (IMO) we shuffle in one player who is just as capable. I see us moving our meh tackles inside and so they ARE experienced in the system. And yes, this next season on the O-line is going to be like the basketball team this year: more talented but will need some time to mesh all the new parts. It will be........exciting?
Not sure how to take the father's comments. Is he bitter because of the money or are his comments telling of the perspective from the team that Napier is on a hotter seat than some think. Also interesting remark saying he will be a good coach but not sure florida was the right set up.
Sounded like it had to do with Leonard being lowest paid returning starter at OL and wanted more $. Florida said something to the effect Leonard will need to compete for a starting spot- no guaranty- and wouldn’t promise a ton of more $ at this point. Leonard decided to seek more $ and a higher likelihood of guaranty to start.
I don't see that. All 16 schollarship, and 3-5 walkons, O-linemen will be here for winter conditioning and spring ball. They'll be set up for fall practice. Last year Hudson didn't come in until the fall and he fit in well.
They say the experience of an office line playing together is helpful. We need a few 2nd or 3rd year starters in our system. Some of these top OL have been playing together for multiple years. I get the need to supplement with portal and looks like we are upgrading or bringing in portal guys with more than a year eligible. I do worry about the lack of continuity. Hopeful it changes when OL coaches have all young Ol they personally recruited out of HS. Last years Ol class looks promising. Hopefully they can step up in year 2. Westphal looks really good this year. All in the development now. Need to get stronger without getting fatter.
right!! At SOME point, you GOTTA play the guys you recruited out of HS or it’s just an admission that they aren’t ANY good if you gotta keep recruiting over them in the portal. like with Leonard, outside of the NIL ordeal, he wasn’t/isn’t sniffing ALL-SEC or anything. The OL has been doo doo since 2021 and folks need to realize AR and O’Cyrus covered up how bad they were as a whole in 2022 and we saw them this past season. Our run game minus AR…the RB’s had almost the same stats as 2022. The returning players from 2022 on the OL wasn’t good or/and didn’t take a leap (Barber, Kingsley, Leonard). Time for new blood which is why I wouldn’t bat an eye if Barber left too. Do think he better at RT though
Totally disagree. The 2022 OL was good. Gouraige, White, Eguakan, Torrence, Tarquin with Slaughter and Barber rotating in was a good group. CBN is building his OL room through recruiting. 9 of the 16 O-linemen are his HS recruits, 3 are Mullen HS recruits and 4 are transfers... Nothing to complain about there at all.
Wingo, Watson, and Underwood did also see playing time. Plus Zanders, Fraziers and Simonds saw mostly ST time. I think they'll all be back? I just did a scan of last year's roster, and, at this point, it looks like only 19 of Mullen's scholarship players are still around. It will definitely be Napier's locker room this year.
