It sure sounds like this year hinges greatly on the OL

At least from early practice reports, which, granted, are often fluff and not indicative of the upcoming year.

It sounds like the skill talent has been a pleasant surprise thus far, especially WRs. I'll believe it when I see it. More importantly, I'll believe Rees' ability to call a great offense when I see it.

The defense seems to have a high ceiling and a decently high floor. As JVan mentioned yesterday, the DBs' ability to play man is huge. The front seven is deep and talented. There is a lot to like there.

Coan(who is starting, no matter what BK said today about being close to figuring it out) looks strong, albeit not a superstar. I gather his arm may be stronger than we anticipated or had heard.

That leaves a young and inexperienced OL. I don't know enough about this stuff to comment on it, but it sounds like it could be rough in the first few games. The good news is that they'll have time to gel before the hardest part of the schedule. The other good news is there is a good amount of talent here. Get past FSU and hopefully they can build some confidence against Toledo and Purdue before taking on Wisconsin.

Madden's footspeed does not sound ideal *

help me understand what you mean here

I'm not challenging you, but "footspeed" for an OL can mean different things.

Does he not pull and trap well? Can he not block outside zone well? What specifically are we talking about?

Marshall called on him to run overwhelmingly inside zone

So, that would not appear to be the issue, as he did well in that regard. Whether he is struggling with pulling or with outside zone is not something I know.

I've heard he has issues with lateral movement and screens.

problematic in this system

We can't just run straight at people.

We also can’t run screens

So his inability to block for screens would just be par for the course

Screen game improved last year

The execution and design both looked better.

Inability to pull

Limits what you can do. Also, limited ability in space. We seem to have our guards combo block and then look for LBs

Regardless of how good or bad he proves to be

The fact that we felt compelled to go after him leads to the conclusion that offensive line recruiting is an area of weakness.

guards combo blocking and looking for backers

is common in just about every system.

No, but he's replacing Tommy Kraemer, not Eichenberg. *

Who's footspeed greatly limited the offense * *

Our head coach greatly limits our offense with his offense *

I’m offended by our offensive offense

Or lack thereof

Traditionally that's the standard fare.

And it would never be a wrong observation.

This year however has the potential to be different.

Our Defense is going to be very good. Especially with a schedule that has manipulated to have goals of a playoff spot.

My hope is that we dont need to rely on the Offense to win a shootout with the likes of the Purdues on the schedule.

I think the OL will be fine.
Thank God for Patterson, Lugg, and Cain.

As is often the case...at every level... *