Crimson Red Sports

Vlachos, a three-year starter for the Tide, provides leadership and experience on an offensive line that is still struggling for continuity. For Saban, this proves invaluable for his offense.

“William Vlachos and Barrett Jones have both done a really good job from a leadership standpoint, on the offensive line,” Saban said. “They have a lot of knowledge and experience, and they’re smart. And they’ve got great personalities to help the other guys.”

There has been a definite improvement on the offensive line from the first week to the second week of the season. Alabama didn’t allow any sacks against the Nittany Lions on Saturday, as opposed to two sacks allowed against Kent State. And even though the Tide didn’t have as much offensive output against Penn State as it did Kent State, one got the feeling that the offensive linemen seemed more comfortable together as the game went along, and definitely started enforcing their will on Penn State.

http://cw.ua.edu/2011/09/13/vlachos-provides-experience-leadership/

The OL seems ahead of last year in their progress. Last season, teams learned (USCe game) to load the box so more pressure is on this OL as opposed to this time last season. This OL may be ahead as far as false starts or other penalties are concerned. I think Smelley may have jumped Saturday, but it was their only penalty. Rush blocking and pass blocking are 2 different skill sets and rarely do OLs do both exceptionally well. But I think this will be the facet of our game that will improve most as the season goes on.

I know everyone is on the OL for BATR getting hit in the backfield several times in the Kent State game but I still think the OL will be a strength of this years team. Penn State has a good DL and we handled them easily. The passing game will improve as AJ and/or Sims gets settled in. Hanks coming back will also help. Every team has trouble running with 8 men in the box. We will get another practice game this weekend and I look forward to whipping Arkansas's azz in two weeks.

I just wish we had some depth there.

Just not sure how much better this OL can be.  Less predictability in the offensive game plan would help open up the run game.  But will be hard to get through the season undefeated if OL doesn't get a whole lot better.  Just not sure about that.