Quantifying the Age of our Offensive Line

[Tre4ISU]

So this has been a topic that has cooled down a little lately but we have heard about our youth, specifically on the offensive line. Well, I kind of just took it for granted that we were young because I saw what we were putting out there. Tonight, I came across a piece on a Michigan blog that compared the youth of their line to those in the top 25. I took the way they calculated "age" and applied it to each of our lineups. I'm sort of doing it off of memory and may have some guys switched here and there and I used the guys that started the games so that when Farniok was rotated in, he wasn't factored in. Here's the link to the original data that they compiled.

Let's Try This Again!!! - Is Our O-Line Really That Young? | mgoblog

Ok so here is what we have had.

Lich-4.5
Burton-1.5
Farniok-3.5
Lalk-2.5
Gannon- 3.5
Ave-3.1

Dagel-2.5
Burton-1.5
Lalk-2.5
Tuftee- 4.5
Gannon-3.5
Ave-2.9

Dagel-2.5
Burton- 1.5
Loth- 3.5
Omoile- 2.5
Farniok-3.5
Ave-2.7

Right now
Burton-1.5
Dagel- 2.5
Farniok-3.5
Lalk- 2.5
Omoile 2.5
Ave-2.5

Note that Dunning got significant time lately. He's a 1.5.

Ok, so we broke 3 once at the beginning of the year and once you pull out Lich, that just isn't happening. There are 2 teams with lines equal to our current one, none of them that are younger. Those teams are LSU and Auburn. I'm guessing the guys they are getting are probably much closer to ready than the guys we recruit. I think that's a very important aspect. Guys like Dagel and Lalk were TEs who needed at the very least, 3 years to be ready to be very good linemen. IMO, Lalk, especially has been very good considering. I didn't do this with the intention of creating any sort of hope or anything like that. I did it because I wanted to quantify and compare our line to see if it was actually young relative to other teams. A better way to do this would be to sort by offense, however I don't have the time or patience to gather my own data so I just stuck with that. The one gripe that I have is that a RS Freshman and a So are given the same value. I'm not sure that's right but for the sake of comparing I left it alone. Obviously I didn't do every lineup but I think we get the idea. Let's just say everyone that had been recruited and stayed at ISU was healthy. I'm not talking about guys that got beat out, like Lich and Loth but if you add Tuftee and Dika to our line it gets significantly older. Comments?

 

[Wesley]

They will be older next year. Just interesting how the older guys were all injured.

 

[Tre4ISU]

They will be older next year. Just interesting how the older guys were all injured.

I know how you meant this but it just made me chuckle.

 

[khardbored]

They will be older next year. Just interesting how the older guys were all injured.

If you figure out a way to get younger as a year passes, you could be a very wealthy man! wink:

 

[State43]

That is pretty interesting. Not at all surprising either.

 

[PabloDiablo]

I know you weren't trying to pump sunshine, but I think it does bode well for the future that guys like Burton, Dunning and Omoile got some game time reps. Similar to '03 when that young OL cut its teeth in a rough season.

I think Dagel and Lalk are ultimately just better players straight up right now than there older counterparts and that is a definite positive being that they will both continue to develop both physically and in technique over the offseason and have 2 full seasons left with relatively strong play.

Add to that the potential of guys like Campos and Curtis as a nice pair of young tackles from last years class who most were pretty high on coming in.

 

[JUKEBOX]

So our starting line at 3.1 was older than 8 top 25 teams, but they still got worked by UNI?

 

[Tre4ISU]

Oh, I just noticed UCLA is younger than ours has ever been.

 

[UNIGuy4Cy]

You can have 5 of the best lineman in the country but if you dont have a quarterback, you cant score points. No longer can we blame the offense on inadequate receivers or tight ends, or running backs. This is the first year in a long time Iowa State receivers have ran wild in the secondary, but have repeated been over-thrown, under-thrown or thrown behind of, even an 8 yard pass last Saturday was thrown for 6 yards. The last two games the quarterbacks have had adequate time to throw and there were holes for the running backs to run through but we cant keep the defense honest because no one is afraid of our quarterbacks.

 

[InAWord]

Age and experience are certainly important, but coaching and improving the current players is where I am concerned we don't do a good job.

 

[State43]

So our starting line at 3.1 was older than 8 top 25 teams, but they still got worked by UNI?

Nevermind our starting center got hurt on the 1st possession? And I am sure the talent level of players who can contribute early is equal as well.

 

[Wesley]

So our starting line at 3.1 was older than 8 top 25 teams, but they still got worked by UNI?

Abused.

The next question will be if more experience will see to it if our qbs are better.

 

[Luth4Cy]

So our starting line at 3.1 was older than 8 top 25 teams, but they still got worked by UNI?

UNI was an anomaly. It shouldn't have happened and there is no logical explanation for it. I'd spend more time worrying about the last 3 or 4 games than the UNI game.

 

[WhatchaGonnaDo]

I think quantifying age has something to do with counting the number of days since birth. Hope that helps.

 

[drednot57]

Age and experience are certainly important, but coaching and improving the current players is where I am concerned we don't do a good job.

This. We just have to wait and see for any improvement next year.

 

[Cyhart]

I know how you meant this but it just made me chuckle.

Ha. Reminds me of the classic mitch hedburg joke.
Someone showed me a picture and said "this is me when i was younger".
Man, every picture of you is when youre younger.
What if someone said, "this is a picture of me when im older."
Hey, where did you get that camera man?!

 

[Al_4_State]

You can have 5 of the best lineman in the country but if you dont have a quarterback, you cant score points. No longer can we blame the offense on inadequate receivers or tight ends, or running backs. This is the first year in a long time Iowa State receivers have ran wild in the secondary, but have repeated been over-thrown, under-thrown or thrown behind of, even an 8 yard pass last Saturday was thrown for 6 yards. The last two games the quarterbacks have had adequate time to throw and there were holes for the running backs to run through but we cant keep the defense honest because no one is afraid of our quarterbacks.

You are clueless.

 

[Cyballz]

UNI was an anomaly. It shouldn't have happened and there is no logical explanation for it. I'd spend more time worrying about the last 3 or 4 games than the UNI game.

[video=youtube;G2y8Sx4B2Sk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2y8Sx4B2Sk[/video]

The line getting their *** kicked has been a weekly occurrence this year, UNI was not an anomaly, it was a preview.

 

[Luth4Cy]

The line getting their *** kicked has been a weekly occurrence this year, UNI was not an anomaly, it was a preview.

Yes, but the line has been better recently. Look at the sack totals for each game if you don't believe me. Also, all of our opponents with the exception of maybe Tulsa have been far superior to UNI. The UNI game was bad, but it was way worse than a lot of our games this year. That's why it deserves to be called an anomaly and generally be ignored when talking about this team.

 

[klamath632]

Yes, but the line has been better recently. Look at the sack totals for each game if you don't believe me. Also, all of our opponents with the exception of maybe Tulsa have been far superior to UNI. The UNI game was bad, but it was way worse than a lot of our games this year. That's why it deserves to be called an anomaly and generally be ignored when talking about this team.

Disagree.