(07-12-2017 03:51 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(07-12-2017 03:34 PM)Ourland Wrote:  

(07-12-2017 03:16 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(07-12-2017 03:06 PM)Ourland Wrote:  Rice finally has an OL and DL for a change. That's where all these games are won or lost. We're usually worn down and have little depth behind the backups. If we can stay healthy, we'll be okay.

Some people thought we had a quality OL entering last season. How exactly did that pan out. I'm scratching my head why you think the OL will be significantly improved?

All these guys have a lot of experience and size. Underclassmen improve quickly as they get playing time and weight training. A lot of very young guys have been relied upon to fill holes over the past two years. That should start to pay off soon. It usually does.

Dream on. We've heard this song before. These guys were not particularly highly regarded coming out of high school, and have shown absolutely nothing in the game action they've experienced so far. They don't magically become quality players.

Actually, that's kind of the purpose of having a red-shirt program and a strength and conditioning staff.

I agree that improvement isn't a guaranteed fact. But neither is the supposition that because a player is overmatched at 18, that he must be at 20 as well. When you have a lot of injuries and are forced to play younger players, it can look bad. Those same players can look good after they put on some additional muscle and practice and gel as a unit.

It's reasonable to hope for improvement. None of us will know for sure until games are played.