Unless I'm missing something, it appears LSU has had 7 of their 2026 returning 2 deep offensive linemen leave via the portal, 2 of which are coming here. They've added 3 OL in the portal, but none of them appears to have played a significant amount of games or are highly ranked in the portal.

Kiffin always has a good offensive line, but this appears to be an uphill battle.

It appears the entire Alabama starting 2025 OL are graduating or declaring for the draft, along with Formby coming here. They've added a couple of young, highly regarded (TY Haywood) OL with very limited experience. It looks like the 2026 Alabama OL is gonna be extremely young and inexperienced.

Meanwhile we've added 4 experienced offensive linemen from big schools who appear to be talented while not overly dominant based on their PFF grades

Also, consider LSU couldn't run the ball two years ago with a 1st rounder (Will Campbell) and other draft picks (Emory Jones and Dellinger). It appears LSU has had an OL coaching problem if you can't run the ball with this sort of talent.

And yes I know we couldn't run the ball vs Miami or Texas. It's very difficult to run the ball against good defenses...we ran it effectively most of the season. My point is LSU couldn't run the ball against average defenses...same was true this year.

On the other hand I have faith in Cushings to bring out the best in our OL considering how vastly improved it was in 2024 and our high scoring offense for the vast majority of 2025.

Defensively, I really like the looks of our portal additions and returning guys for 2026. Next year's defense I think is looking like it's gonna be dang good.

Biggest question for 2026 for me is the offensive line with all of our losses. Based on the experience of the portal guys and Cushing's track record, I'm feeling pretty dang good for 2026, especially compared to two of our three toughest games next year in my opinion.

I think 2026 may start a little slow mainly because of the OL but I do think they will get better as the year goes on.

Lane can coach. What was the question???

Redfishag93 said:

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Unless I'm missing something, it appears LSU has had 7 of their 2026 returning 2 deep offensive linemen leave via the portal, 2 of which are coming here. They've added 3 OL in the portal, but none of them appears to have played a significant amount of games or are highly ranked in the portal.

Kiffin always has a good offensive line, but this appears to be an uphill battle.

It appears the entire Alabama starting 2025 OL are graduating or declaring for the draft, along with Formby coming here. They've added a couple of young, highly regarded (TY Haywood) OL with very limited experience. It looks like the 2026 Alabama OL is gonna be extremely young and inexperienced.

Meanwhile we've added 4 experienced offensive linemen from big schools who appear to be talented while not overly dominant based on their PFF grades

Also, consider LSU couldn't run the ball two years ago with a 1st rounder (Will Campbell) and other draft picks (Emory Jones and Dellinger). It appears LSU has had an OL coaching problem if you can't run the ball with this sort of talent.

And yes I know we couldn't run the ball vs Miami or Texas. It's very difficult to run the ball against good defenses...we ran it effectively most of the season. My point is LSU couldn't run the ball against average defenses...same was true this year.

On the other hand I have faith in Cushings to bring out the best in our OL considering how vastly improved it was in 2024 and our high scoring offense for the vast majority of 2025.

Defensively, I really like the looks of our portal additions and returning guys for 2026. Next year's defense I think is looking like it's gonna be dang good.

Biggest question for 2026 for me is the offensive line with all of our losses. Based on the experience of the portal guys and Cushing's track record, I'm feeling pretty dang good for 2026, especially compared to two of our three toughest games next year in my opinion.

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I can help here. Being highly ranked in the portal means nothing. LSU and Auburn were highly ranked in the portal last year and look what happened to them. Someone on Layne's staff knows how to evaluate players. They have a proven track record and I expect that to continue. Fortunately the same goes for us.

Redfishag93 said:

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Unless I'm missing something, it appears LSU has had 7 of their 2026 returning 2 deep offensive linemen leave via the portal, 2 of which are coming here. They've added 3 OL in the portal, but none of them appears to have played a significant amount of games or are highly ranked in the portal.

Kiffin always has a good offensive line, but this appears to be an uphill battle.

It appears the entire Alabama starting 2025 OL are graduating or declaring for the draft, along with Formby coming here. They've added a couple of young, highly regarded (TY Haywood) OL with very limited experience. It looks like the 2026 Alabama OL is gonna be extremely young and inexperienced.

Meanwhile we've added 4 experienced offensive linemen from big schools who appear to be talented while not overly dominant based on their PFF grades

Also, consider LSU couldn't run the ball two years ago with a 1st rounder (Will Campbell) and other draft picks (Emory Jones and Dellinger). It appears LSU has had an OL coaching problem if you can't run the ball with this sort of talent.

And yes I know we couldn't run the ball vs Miami or Texas. It's very difficult to run the ball against good defenses...we ran it effectively most of the season. My point is LSU couldn't run the ball against average defenses...same was true this year.

On the other hand I have faith in Cushings to bring out the best in our OL considering how vastly improved it was in 2024 and our high scoring offense for the vast majority of 2025.

Defensively, I really like the looks of our portal additions and returning guys for 2026. Next year's defense I think is looking like it's gonna be dang good.

Biggest question for 2026 for me is the offensive line with all of our losses. Based on the experience of the portal guys and Cushing's track record, I'm feeling pretty dang good for 2026, especially compared to two of our three toughest games next year in my opinion.

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LSU's OL problems were a mix of poor scheme and poor coaching. As you said, Campbell was a 1st rounder and is currently starting LT for NE. The entire OL in 2024 including Campbell had high PFF grades in pass protection, but poor grades in run blocking. You can actually pinpoint the moment LSU's season turned in 2024 - when starting LG Dellenger left the A&M game in the 2nd quarter with a leg injury. That forced LSU to play freshmen at LG and C, which Elko exploited in the 2nd half.

When Kiffin's staff came in, they ID'ed players from the current roster that they wanted to retain. No one knows how many OL were in that group, but they did retain 2 - C Braelin Moore and LT Weston Davis (Davis withdrew from the portal). It stands to reason that with a new regime, some players were told that they would not be making the same money as they did under the previous staff, some players were told their best bet for PT was to transfer, and some players just wanted a fresh start.

That being said, I believe A&M's two OL transfers from LSU have potential and can be contributors with improved scheme and coaching.

Spot on Ray. I think Tyree Adams can be serviceable, his only knock is slow feet really. Echols will make a good guard