Florida Gators position reevaluation: Offensive Line
Offensive line play is full of contradictions.
You need to be light on your feet, yet you also need to be enormous. You need to push other human beings multiple yards against there will like a powerlifter, yet you also need to have precise technique like a surgeon.
The 2019 Gators' offensive line through five-game has shown that it is really good at half of those things, and not so good - and that's putting it lightly - at the other 50 percent.
Which half is good, and which is bad? Let's examine.
Starting running back Lamical Perine is five games into the year and has less than 200 rushing yards. He is currently on track to finish 2019's regular season with less than 500 yards.
Unless the 826-yard rusher from 2018, that averaged almost double (6.2) yards per carry last year than this year (3.6) has given up on football or suffered some mysterious off-season injury that none of us ever found out about, we have to assume the offensive line is the difference.
This line returned one starter, center Nick Buchanan, from 2018. One of those lost starters was current Jacksonville Jaguars right tackle Jawaan Taylor, who moved bodies in the running game like Gator fans haven't seen in a decade.
It is no longer a hot take to say the UF can't win big games via the ground attack. In fact, that's a pretty lukewarm take at this point.
HOWEVER, the pass blocking has actually been fairly impressive, with only a few blips.
As I have explained before, run blocking is an offensive skill. It is attacking another human being and forcing them to move in a direction they don't desire to go in. Pass blocking is defensive, utilizing proper technique and getting in the way of someone long enough to let the QB throw or scramble.
This offensive line is good at the defensive part.Most of the linemen display solid footwork and keeping speedy edge rushers in front of them. Left tackle Stone Forsythe, left guard Brett Heggie, and Buchanan have shielded the left side of the line extremely well, crucial for a right-handed thrower like Kyle Trask.
However, while the run blocking has been a sigh of frustration and the pass blocking has been a sigh of relief, the right side of the line has just been a sigh of disappointment.
Right guard Chris Bleich had an impressive debut in his Week Zero outing against Miami, but has regressed ever since, making life entirely too difficult for Perine and the rest of the backs. Then, we have right tackle Jean Delance.
Delance, the only four-star starter on the entire line, has been the most disappointing member of the unit. The junior tackle has allowed 10 QB pressures in five games. The next closest linemen have allowed almost 50% less, with Bleich and Forsythe allowing six apiece.
Richard Gouraige absolutely deserves Delance's starting spot on the line, as the current backup to Forsythe at left tackle is fully capable of playing both tackle spots. Albeit a small sample size, Gouraige has only allowed two pressures on 46 pass protecting snaps and has shown positional flexibility. There is no way that his production as a full-time starter would be worse than Delance's is now.
Here is the bottom line: All five plus Gouraige have to play better or the Gators will not win against Auburn, LSU or Georgia, and they could even drop games beyond those three. It is that simple.
