I have not heard or read all that much.

1 returning starter
Several returnees that played some
4 SEC portal transfers

Seems like we have recruited well for the OL last few years

Anyone have a feel for what to expect this fall??

cs69ag said:

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I have not heard or read all that much.

1 returning starter
Several returnees that played some
4 SEC portal transfers

Seems like we have recruited well for the OL last few years

Anyone have a feel for what to expect this fall??

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Hopefully, a lot better than what the sips went through early last year. I believe they had to start a lot of true/redshirt freshmen though with no experience. Unless one or two of our true/redshirt freshmen earn a spot, our starters should be redshirt sophomores or have some experience.
If they can be "average" to start the season and improve with experience, they should be all right.

Emilio Fantastico said:

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cs69ag said:

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I have not heard or read all that much.

1 returning starter
Several returnees that played some
4 SEC portal transfers

Seems like we have recruited well for the OL last few years

Anyone have a feel for what to expect this fall??

---

Hopefully, a lot better than what the sips went through early last year. I believe they had to start a lot of true/redshirt freshmen though with no experience. Unless one or two of our true/redshirt freshmen earn a spot, our starters should be redshirt sophomores or have some experience.
If they can be "average" to start the season and improve with experience, they should be all right.

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Yeah, I think we brought in those sec transfers do at the very least we'd have experienced starters over guys who have barely played

Even if those experienced guys aren't the guys with the highest ceilings they will at least have the highest floors

We are required to have a certain number of people on the line and in the backfield. So we will have some of each???

Evidently, not too many posters with anything to add re the OL this year.

Coach Cushing provides some continuity, Hopefully that will help!!

Over the last 20 years the Ags have had a good OL every 4 to 5 years....we had a good OL last year...hopefully 2026 will not follow the trend

How do we know anything? We only have one guy coming back that has any significant playing time.

Feels like we have the talent to be good. But it's likely going to take some time for them to gel. There's so much communication and reacting to what others on the line do, and none of these guys have played together. So it's hard for me to imagine it being a strength of team. Just hoping that it won't be a weakness, especially early, and that it gets better as time goes on.

Emilio Fantastico said:

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cs69ag said:

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I have not heard or read all that much.

1 returning starter
Several returnees that played some
4 SEC portal transfers

Seems like we have recruited well for the OL last few years

Anyone have a feel for what to expect this fall??

---

Hopefully, a lot better than what the sips went through early last year. I believe they had to start a lot of true/redshirt freshmen though with no experience. Unless one or two of our true/redshirt freshmen earn a spot, our starters should be redshirt sophomores or have some experience.
If they can be "average" to start the season and improve with experience, they should be all right.

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In fairness, the sips still won 10 games, and they had issues at BOTH QB and OL. At least early on. So ti wasn't like a death sentence on the program.

While Reed has his share of issues, Reed 2025 was still better than first half Manning 2025. Reed 2026 is likely going to be much better than Manning first half of 2025.

Either way, like you said, we still have a very experienced OL compared to texas last year. Overall, 5 guys with sec starting experience, which is more than most. They just don't have experience starting together. How quickly they gel will be the bigger issue than experience. they all know what this conference is like.

What I know is Cushing is a Heck of a coach who can take a complete disaster of a line and make them respectable. The recruiting has been good and the transfer players brong sec experience. I think our line will surprise. May take a small step back running he ball but be equally as good in pass pro.

How many returning "starts" do we have?

I believe our OL is going to surprise everyone this fall. We are very talented and brought in big time experience. We literally hit the dream lotto of replacing nfl OL with SEC experienced high talent portal linemen. Our coaching is elite and the guys we already have on campus are high end talent too. I expect us to run the ball much better this fall than we have in years. Play calling with be better too.

Decades of data says the o line drives the offense. Period end of story. And it also says, I think, that 4 new starters is a huge red flag, so temper your expectations here, which stinks.

If you want to find a way to be optimistic it would be that the current era of college sports is truly unique compared to the last 50 years, so maybe, just maybe, we can put together an almost new o line in one year.

Bluecat_Aggie94 said:

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Decades of data says the o line drives the offense. Period end of story. And it also says, I think, that 4 new starters is a huge red flag, so temper your expectations here, which stinks.

If you want to find a way to be optimistic it would be that the current era of college sports is truly unique compared to the last 50 years, so maybe, just maybe, we can put together an almost new o line in one year.

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What the data doesn't say is the 4 new starters have all started double digit games for SEC teams. We aren't breaking newbies or guys coming from the Sun Belt or even ACC. We also have a new OC that will move the pocket and be more open to making the OL's life easier than the previous two play callers. We are going to be a legit title contender if healthy.

It helps that the harder slate of games is later in the season. Should give time to gel as a unit.

The additions raise the floor for expectations, especially early but a lot remains to be seen. I expect us to try a lot of moving parts throughout the first several games, including into the SEC play.

My hope is that we continue to get stronger (especially run blocking) as the year progresses.

There is a lot of potential for this group

BigOil said:

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How many returning "starts" do we have?

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The number of starts we have is very different if we include players who have started for other teams

VP at Pierce and Pierce said:

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Bluecat_Aggie94 said:

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Decades of data says the o line drives the offense. Period end of story. And it also says, I think, that 4 new starters is a huge red flag, so temper your expectations here, which stinks.

If you want to find a way to be optimistic it would be that the current era of college sports is truly unique compared to the last 50 years, so maybe, just maybe, we can put together an almost new o line in one year.

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What the data doesn't say is the 4 new starters have all started double digit games for SEC teams. We aren't breaking newbies or guys coming from the Sun Belt or even ACC. We also have a new OC that will move the pocket and be more open to making the OL's life easier than the previous two play callers. We are going to be a legit title contender if healthy.

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Fair enough. But playing together takes time. I'm not trying to be a drag, I can just think of many examples of years where we said hey everything looks great except for the line and those are always years where they often struggles.

First off, it seems like the only ones staffers on here are expecting already (this early) to be starters are Nabou and Formby. Beyond that it seems everybody has their own guess including staffers on here but all the while admitting they don't know.

There is little to no doubt that this will move well into Fall Camp before the coaches will make that decision. Just as we saw throughout spring there will be a lot of movement early in camp putting different pieces together and even moving some of the inside guys around to find the best 5 fit and where those pieces are best fit.

With all that said, I think Ivy and Bourdon will push those transfers and to be honest, I would expect 1 of those guys to start or if not in game 1, at least by game 3 or 4 become a starter. We have enough talent, it won't surprise me to see some of the other guys getting plenty of reps in games like guys such as Rogers, Adams, Echols, Papa, Thomas and McGuire.

This will allow them to get live game experience and have film to critique and use as tools to develop. It also allows for us to work on versatility and moving guys into multiple positions thus building further depth across the OL. It will also be a practice that will allow us to have better/more positive feedback from current guys on campus and helping us when they communicate these things to other recruiting prospect on campus during any recruiting visits. Lastly, it also keeps more guys engage and fully locked in and less likely to leave for offseason portal.

The 2014 Dallas Cowboys had a great line with newbies.

Michigan won a natty with a rebuild O-Line project

It can happen

I really hope Echols gets work at center so he can take the reigns after Nabou next season. Obviously it doesn't have to be him but I think that would clear space for some talented young players to play a guard spot. Additionally, I think he has a good frame to play center

My prediction:
LT: Adams 2. Rogers
LG: Ivy 2. Echols/Ahfua
C: Nabou 2. Echols
RG: Baugh 2. Thomas
RT: Formby 2. Bourdon

There's also a chance that they slide Formby inside to play guard and play Rogers/Bourdon at RT. My bet would be on Rogers.

Predicting how well an OL line os going to perform with all new people is impossible to do. Too many variables. You can have 5 individual top of the pile talented linemen and have a disaster if the chemistry is off, the play design/blocking schemes suck, or coaching sucks. The very reason it takes several seasons for a line to be comfortable with each other and gel. I have zero idea how well our lime will be, and I'm sure the coaches feel the same way at the moment.

Traditionally, the next man up from the players that were recruited was how you filled openings. It appears that the belief is that all of the transfers will come in and start immediately.

If that is the case, what has happened to all of the players who have been on the roster since graduating from high school?

O-line is not a concern. In 2023 the o-line was historically bad, then Cushing is hired. The line is then solid to good in 2024. While we will have new starters, they will be perfectly fine.