OL- Stars can be misleading. There was video of Slaughter being pushed back mercilessly before he committed and signed. Could have just been a bad day, and OL "develop" That said, I do not like to read we might need 6+ next cycle because, for me, our OL recruiters(?) have not shown they can sign large classes. LB- Myles decommitted from Bama when they had 5 LBs committed. I hope we stole a good one. DL- love that about Shivers. Believe I saw the video. We are stacked at RB so I hope he's comfortable at NT. I don't want him to pull an ETN and transfer to georgia for a RB spot.
Yep, some OL have to physically develop. Slaughter may actually be pushing 320lbs in the fall. Last year they did sign 6-HS and 2-portal OL, so they can do it. I counted Zandamela as a HS guy...The OL will have 5 SRs, if Harris has the year we hope he has he's a 50/50 guy for the draft and there's always a transfer or two. If that plays out the staff will need to repeat what they did in 2024.
Right but in fairness or being honest with ourselves, two of the guys were not SEC OL types from the start and are gone; not sure what will become of Portnjagin; is Wangoy still here? We would have to hit on all cylinders to replace. That's the issue. Numbers are always available.
One HS guy (Williams) left because he was last on the depth chart. BCD gradutated, I read he's looking like a 3rd to 5th round pick. Mascoll, Portnjagin and Wangoy all passed the higher star rated Williams. We'll see what they look like in spring. A lot of buzz about Wangoy. Candy said he made "huge leaps". Again, we'll know more after spring.
To follow up on the subject. My friend is breaking down UFs OLs from 2019 through spring 2025. I’m posting some of it in Swamp Gas. I mention it because he sent me 2023’s breakdown last night (2023 was the low point for the OL). I bring it up because UF brought in 8 OL in 2023, too. Ended up really being 7 because Goodwin quit after spring when his mom became ill. The point is they brought in 7/8 guys in 2023 and 8 more in 2024. So, if they need to bring in 8 in 2026, they’ve proven they can do it. For those that are star struck when it comes to OL recruits, 2023’s HS class is interesting. Four HS recruits; two 4* & two 3*. As we head into the spring of 2025, the two 3* guys are way ahead of the two 4* guys… LIS, interesting.
Portnjagin not panning out is possible but would be a huge disappointment because he came to UF with a lower body more like Cybo's than anyone we have recruited lately. Of course there are tons of other things in the mix to pan out besides body type.
There are high 3 stars and barely 3 star types. Staff has to make that judgement. I don't believe the services actually evaluate effectively the hundreds of OL per class. So yeah, hard to know with OL.
I dont think most beyond the handful of top 300 types are evaluated much at all except by the coaches that recruit them. The big guys are almost impossible to predict. Look at 17-18 year old bodies and 22's. The good ones dont even resemble the same person.
