Was Starting Darling at LT a major miss by this staff?

[DTP]

This line baffles me. KC McDermott has got to be the most inconsistent lineman I've ever seen. Sometimes he looks totally outmatched and sometimes he looks dominant. The line has played better with Alex Gall at center. I'm still having nightmares about #94 on Notre Dame shoving Linder into the backfield over and over. Last week, they were getting handled by one of the better defensive lines in college football in the first half. In the second half, they came out and it was a totally different game. Kaaya got more time and Walton had some really nice running lanes. Same guys, looked like steaming dog crap in the first half, looked like All Americans in the second.

 

[fivecent]

The only one who shouldnt start is probably linder. Dude is too small and weak. Gall hasnt been that bad at center since linder got hurt.

Baffles me how well Linder played as a freshman. Gotta be more to it than just "small and weak"

He was sandwiched among 3 guys who are currently in the NFL. Harder to hide his deficiencies now when he's playing center. He missed all of spring with the shoulder so I'd assume that hasn't helped but I like what I've seen from Gauthier so I'd hope he would be given a shot there.

He was playing center as a freshman, rooster man

More to do with the type of blocks he's being asked to make in this system - plus, with injuries. He's simply not strong enough or has enough wingspan right now for what we need. If we were running more zone blocking, I bet people wouldn't notice the glaring mistakes.

Is that the same reason Gall has looked a little better this year, at least at Center?

 

[gfer1988]

If Linder was so good in 2014 then why did Darling start the last five games? Why was McDermott receving snaps ahead of Linder before getting injured against Duke? Face it, he was never all that good then or now. He happened to be playing next to someone drafted 9th overall for a few games in 2014 and everyone thought he would be as good as his brother. He was better in 2015 but was still far from dominant.

Another example of our fan base appearing to know nothing about football or just don't watch games. Darling and McDermott play different positions. Linder is purely a center who play a few games at guard. Darling and McDermott never started over him. He played extensively when older McDermott was out with an injury. Can't. Relieve somebody upvoted this post.

 

[rok]

If Linder was so good in 2014 then why did Darling start the last five games? Why was McDermott receving snaps ahead of Linder before getting injured against Duke? Face it, he was never all that good then or now. He happened to be playing next to someone drafted 9th overall for a few games in 2014 and everyone thought he would be as good as his brother. He was better in 2015 but was still far from dominant.

Another example of our fan base appearing to know nothing about football or just don't watch games. Darling and McDermott play different positions. Linder is purely a center who play a few games at guard. Darling and McDermott never started over him. He played extensively when older McDermott was out with an injury. Can't. Relieve somebody upvoted this post.

Let's make stuff up because Shane McDermott didn't miss any time in 2014. He started all 13 games that season.
The line was shuffled when Gadbois went down with an injury and Feliciano moved to RT.

Again, there were two lineups used after Gadbois was injured:

Flowers - Linder - McDermott - Isidora - Feliciano

then for the last five games it was:

Flowers - Feliciano - McDermott - Isidora - Darling

You LOSE. Good DAY sir.

 

[gfer1988]

If Linder was so good in 2014 then why did Darling start the last five games? Why was McDermott receving snaps ahead of Linder before getting injured against Duke? Face it, he was never all that good then or now. He happened to be playing next to someone drafted 9th overall for a few games in 2014 and everyone thought he would be as good as his brother. He was better in 2015 but was still far from dominant.

Another example of our fan base appearing to know nothing about football or just don't watch games. Darling and McDermott play different positions. Linder is purely a center who play a few games at guard. Darling and McDermott never started over him. He played extensively when older McDermott was out with an injury. Can't. Relieve somebody upvoted this post.

Let's make stuff up because Shane McDermott didn't miss any time in 2014. He started all 13 games that season.
The line was shuffled when Gadbois went down with an injury and Feliciano moved to RT.

Again, there were two lineups used after Gadbois was injured:

Flowers - Linder - McDermott - Isidora - Feliciano

then for the last five games it was:

Flowers - Feliciano - McDermott - Isidora - Darling

You LOSE. Good DAY sir.

I was thinking about the previous season where Shane missed two games but I remember Linder getting snaps mostly at center and at guard. And what does that have to do with you're total bs assessment of darling and kc getting playing time over Linder when neither of those two guys play center? That's called completely making sh*t up as you go along. Linder was only competing with Shane for playing time. Shane being a Farley solid senior center was obviously going to start over Linder