Nuss Effect on Who Plays Center
WIth the presumed move towards more of an Inside-Zone Blocking Scheme who would be the best fit at the Center position?
Glasgow played well for the most part but snapping was consistently an issue. This may be correctable with more practice but I still wonder his fit in this blocking scheme. He is a bigger guy and could easily play guard. He's actually similair in size to Barrett Jones in that he's a bigger center so that's in his favor but if there were equal or better options at Center it might be best to have Glasgow at the LG position.
Jack Miller seems like a good fit for this blocking scheme but was overwhelmed last year. This blocking scheme fits his talents much better than Power. Also hIs ability to make line calls and snap the ball are probably the best of the Center candidates. He still needs to progress in technique and conditioining to really make himself a vialble candidate.
Kugler is a little of a wildcard as he was a highly rated recruit with an OL Coach father who may have even been forced into action last year if not for his torn labrum. Hopefully he has been healthy for the whole offseason program and hits the ground running in spring practice. It remains to be seen if the blocking scheme fits him well.
January 18th, 2014 at 2:54 PM ^
January 18th, 2014 at 3:34 PM ^
January 18th, 2014 at 3:02 PM ^
We are not at practice, we are not at meetings. We don't see how these kids perform. No one here can know if Miller can make the proper cline calls or not. No one here even knows what kind of calls he has to make.
I guess these things are fun to rattle on about in the post season, but I think it's pretty meaningless.
January 18th, 2014 at 3:08 PM ^
Why can no one have an informed opinion? There are plenty of people here who know the game quite well and have pretty in depth knowledge of the personnel and their various skill sets. We may not have up-to-the-minute information, but educated guesses can be made.
January 18th, 2014 at 3:08 PM ^
We can't know anything for sure but we can draw conclusions from what we have seen in the past. I'm not trying to decide who is going to start right now but rather how the options we have fit into our somewhat new scheme.
January 18th, 2014 at 3:16 PM ^
That's never stopped Muttley before
January 18th, 2014 at 3:18 PM ^
January 18th, 2014 at 4:51 PM ^
January 18th, 2014 at 3:58 PM ^
January 18th, 2014 at 4:18 PM ^
January 18th, 2014 at 3:03 PM ^
The thing about having a new OC is that most preformed opinions go away and the players get a clean slate (too a degree) so other than Jack Miller (and freshmen) I could really see any combo of linemen start next year.
January 18th, 2014 at 4:11 PM ^
Good luck #team135. A new coordinator is a huge transition! Advice from a vet- Go to work! New OC means new depth chart- go win your spot!
— Ryan Van Bergen (@VanBergen53) January 9, 2014
January 18th, 2014 at 4:42 PM ^
I can't upvote Ryan Van Bergen.
January 18th, 2014 at 3:17 PM ^
Whoever blocks the best
January 18th, 2014 at 3:18 PM ^
January 19th, 2014 at 1:41 AM ^
He's our most experience OL as a RS JR with 13 starts under his belt. He's probably going to be looked to be the leader so you might want to stick with the proven guy at center which is a position that has a HUGE mental component to it and like QB has inexcapable leadership qualities that are built into the position. It might just come down to the same thing as last year, who's worse, your back up at LG or C but I think keeping him at center would be a good idea. Of course that all goes out the window if Kugler tears it up in Spring Ball and Camp
January 18th, 2014 at 3:23 PM ^
January 18th, 2014 at 3:25 PM ^
January 18th, 2014 at 3:26 PM ^
As has been mentioned, it's difficult to say what the line will look like for purposes of going Inside Zone, but it seems to me that the best centers in such schemes are pretty quick to engage, can make good line calls based on formation, superb football intuition and are able to adjust and work well in tandem with the guards. It seems like there is a certain amount of strategic leadership that comes from the center role in zone schemes because of the lack of specific assignments. Right now, based on little more than my feelings about the roster, that says Miller if anyone, but the margin of error in such a guess right now is obviously high.
January 18th, 2014 at 3:30 PM ^
January 18th, 2014 at 11:24 PM ^
Agree completely.
January 18th, 2014 at 3:31 PM ^
I think mcgary is the runway favorite at center once he's back from his injury.
January 18th, 2014 at 3:35 PM ^
Kugler. With him, having taken a redshirt and his dad being an o-line coach for an NFL team, i'm sure he has the mechanics/technique down. I don't see how with our center shuffle last year that we would keep this kid off the field unless a "play the best player regardless of starting experience" approach is not taken.
January 18th, 2014 at 4:14 PM ^
Recently made the switch to Center at Purdue.
January 18th, 2014 at 3:46 PM ^
January 18th, 2014 at 4:03 PM ^
January 19th, 2014 at 9:41 AM ^
Yet just three years ago garnered unqualified praise by this site, especially for the interior OL. A solid 3* player with great upside, and a steal from that state just to the south.
I don't pretend to know the inner workings within Hokelandia, but it is curious that Miller, after starting four games, simply disappeared. As he played a substantial amount of DL in HS, and recruiting services graded him as a 3* DE/DT, is it possible he's being turned around?
January 18th, 2014 at 4:16 PM ^
still has something to do with our guards. Most would agree that Glasgow was our best player at more than one position last season and guard might be his best position. Kugler is not only competing with him for playing time, but with Bosch, Dawson or anyone else that could be replaced at guard by Glasgow.
January 18th, 2014 at 4:16 PM ^
January 18th, 2014 at 4:34 PM ^
Even if the IZ does become our base running play, it's not going to look like basketball on grass anymore than 'Bama's offense did.
Make no mistake about it: Hoke, Funk, and Nuss want big, powerful players (power = speed x strength) that can move the LOS. For this reason, I think Miller is done as a starter. The biggest, baddest, meanest guys are likely to start, especially on the inside.
Glasgow, I believe, will stay at center unless Blake Bars or Patrick Kugler can make the strength gains necessary to dominate the LOS.
While I'm a huge Kugler fan, I just don't see it happening. His body needs to develop quite a bit. This is a good thing--you really don't want RS Freshmen starting on your O-Line.
January 18th, 2014 at 4:50 PM ^
Yep, the depth is starting to build and will pay dividends. Some guys were out there last year who simply wouldn't have been once we've rebuilt the roster all the way through the upper classes.
January 18th, 2014 at 4:46 PM ^
While we're discussing the OL.. anyone want to throw i their projected OL?
Mine is Magnusson-Bosch-Glasgow-Kalis-Braden
January 18th, 2014 at 4:53 PM ^
Sounds about right to me. To shake that up likely requires one of the RS freshman breaking out. I've heard a bit of optimism regarding Dawson at RT, for what it's worth.
January 18th, 2014 at 8:11 PM ^
That's probably to odds on favorite to me. Though I think Glassgow/Kugler is a coin flip. Hopefully it won't matter, and Nuss' offensive system falls right in with how Funk coaches the OL.
January 18th, 2014 at 4:51 PM ^
I just hope Glasgow works on his snapping. Hopefully the experience from this season helps with making calls. It'd be nice to see Miller get stronger, then I suppose you never know. Kugler I worry about where he'll be strength-wise after that injury. He may be a sophomore but could be a freshman physically if the injury set him back enough. So if Miller's liability is his strength, as opposed to his fundamentals and intelligence, then I don't know how Kugler is going to win the job unless he is a freak of nature in the gym.
I'm gonna be optimistic and hope that all three are viable players. But I'll give the edge to the returning starter at this point. If we had graduated any guards, that might make for more uncertainty because there'd be a need at guard. But theoretically, Kalis and Bosch will be better this year, and we've got returning experience backing them up on top of that.
January 18th, 2014 at 5:13 PM ^
January 18th, 2014 at 7:38 PM ^
I am unsure who would be the best fit, but I think the competiton for center will be between Glassgow and Kugler. Anyone know what his dad taught while being an OL coach?
January 18th, 2014 at 7:38 PM ^
Double poooooooooost
January 18th, 2014 at 10:09 PM ^
77-70 Wooooo!
January 18th, 2014 at 10:19 PM ^
We are used to seeing Denard and Gardner drop-pump their fist to signal the C to snap the ball. I've also seen the Braxton Miller hand-clap (and fake-clap) as a functional alternative. Seemed like Nebraska did that too with Kellogg (??).
Wondering if the existing system is somehow too predictable? I don't know what Bama does with their snap. Its almost like there's a rhythm where the C sees the signal, then looks straight ahead/up and snaps the ball....that the D can sort of cue on over and over. And I wonder if opposing teams picked up on that over time. It would seem to negate the millisecond advantage that the OL has in a typical QB-directly-under-center situation.
Obviously some sort of signal other than barking the snap count is advantageous for a stadium so noisy that the OL and WR can't hear.
So I don't have a perfect system to propose. Just curious how this might change if at all under the focused guidance of the Nuss?
January 18th, 2014 at 11:06 PM ^
January 19th, 2014 at 9:46 AM ^
When he explained the hand clap was to signal the C that he was ready, the C snapped at his own count.
January 18th, 2014 at 11:25 PM ^
Another question, perhaps not a better question, is who is going to play at right and left tackle? I would assume Mags at left tackle. WHat do you guys think?
January 19th, 2014 at 7:44 AM ^
I'm admittedly on the Kugler hype train, so here's where that leads me:
LT - Magnusson
LG - Glasgow/Bosch
C - Kugler
RG - Kalis
RT - Glasgow/Braden
I think the coaches continue with the best five strategy, and I believe Kugler will be in the best five. Since he's really only a fit for center, it let's us move Glasgow to whichever position is weaker, either LG or RT. I think they'd probably rather keep Glasgow inside with the importance of the IZ, but if Bosch grows well and no better option at RT, Glasgow could bring some stability to the tackle positions.