How Bad has the Offensive Line been for Texas A&M Football in 2023?

Is OL the issue for Texas A&M football?

One of the most maligned men on staff for Texas A&M football has to without a doubt be the offensive line coach, Steve Addazio. His unit has been the target of much ire from the fanbase, as many Aggie fans feel as though the Maroon Goons have not quite been up to snuff over the past two years. In 2020, of course, the Aggies boasted what was likely the top offensive line unit in the nation (despite being snubbed for the Joe Moore award); the Aggies were among the nation’s leaders in sacks allowed per game (0.7, 5th in the nation) and YPC (5.45, 13th in the nation). 2021 saw a bit of a downturn, as four out of five starters—all seniors—were replaced, with two spots being filled by freshmen.

Last year, Addazio’s first at the helm, the Aggie offensive line—though admittedly plagued with injury and coming off of losing their best starter in Kenyon Green—plummeted in quality. Last year’s front for Texas A&M football allowed 2.08 sacks per game (71st in the country) and paved the way for an average of only 4.65 yards per carry (45th in the country). While those aren’t horrendous statistics, they reflect how far below the standard last year’s unit had fallen.

Though this year started off a bit more positively, things have much more resembled last year than 2020 so far. The Aggies are allowing a cool 2 sacks per game (66th in the country) and gaining only 4.08 yards per carry (80th in the country). Now, some of that has to do with losing Devon Achane, obviously, and it’s not necessarily on the offensive line that the Aggies have had trouble generating explosive runs. They’ve exceeded average opponent success rates allowed in all but one game, to be fair. But the pass protection—though to see pure sack rate numbers, it would appear fine—is really where there’s been an issue. Consider the following, from Jacob Pickle:

Pickle’s graph shows that Aggie QBs (presumably the data point labeled “Max Johnson” also includes the snaps that Weigman took at the beginning of the year, as Conner is not on this graph) have actually done a great job of evading pressure. Weigman was obviously much better at this than Max, but considering the fact that the Aggies still rank in the middle of FBS when it comes to sacks allowed per game, this is not encouraging. That means, according to Pickle’s data, that the Aggie offensive line’s performance is such that the signal caller for Texas A&M football should be getting sacked a lot more than he has been.

Addazio, perceivably, was retained to give a sense of stability to players who would have otherwise been on their fourth offensive line coach in five years, as well as his recruiting ability. I suppose this offseason will reveal whether that calculus has changed, assuming these results stay the same.