Let's continue with our preview of the 2011 U.C.L.A. football team with a look at the offensive line. With all due respect (which usually means you're about to disrespect someone) to my fellow front pagers, you can forget the excellent previews of the D Line, Linebackers, Def Backs, and Special Teams. The Offensive Line will be the key to the Bruins' success in 2011. Line wins games.
The offensive line was an enigma last season. Injuries, academic problems, a Mormon mission, and a lack of stability and consistency from 2009 prevented the Bruins from starting their ideal top five players. Despite that, OL Coach Bob Palcic deserves a ton of credit for converting a patchwork line into the most overachieving unit on the field last season. In adapting the new Pistol offense, the self-named Filthy Five vastly improved on a feeble running game from 2009, as evidenced by their utter dominance in the Texas game. However, pass blocking remained a major problem throughout the year, and that inability to pass allowed opposing defenses to stack the box and bottle up the Bruins' run game, and the offense sputtered as the season progressed.
If all goes as planned this year, the Bruins should not suffer the same problems. Though the OL lost 4 seniors who saw significant playing time from last year's squad, this year's unit will benefit from the return of 2 starters from the 2009 team who were unavailable last year. They will join 2 regulars returning from last season, and there are guys with playing time battling for the fifth spot. The result for 2011 will be an OL that is improved on talent and better for experience. This should by the best OL that Bruin fans have seen during Neuheisel's tenure in Westwood. That said, the play of the OL as a single well coordinated unit is crucial. While our projected starters have all seen time on the field, these 5 have not lined us next to each other in this manner before. The coaching staff has its work cut out getting this group to come together as a cohesive unit that can communicate well and read and react off each other. There may be a learning curve for this OL, but unlike previous years, the ceiling should be very high.
Extended thoughts on the projected depth chart, players, the coaches, and the prospects for this unit after the jump.
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