Gators FILM ROOM: Grading the offensive line's performance against Miami

How did the new-look offensive line hold up in their first game as a starting unit?

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

There were loads of questions entering the 2019 season regarding the Florida Gators brand-new offensive line. 

An offseason removed from a unit that saw four players earn NFL opportunities, Florida walked into the Miami game with a combined 24 starts along the offensive trench - with center Nich Buchanan, the only returning starter, recording half of them in 2018.

Following the Gators' win over Miami by a score of 24-20, the number of questions has dwindled. The unit, comprised of redshirt Stone Forsythe, Brett Heggie, Buchanan, Chris Bleich, and Jean Delance from left to right, only allowed one sack by Miami - a team that finished 11th in sacks in 2018.

Bleich stood out the most to me, considering his total lack of experience. He made some impressive blocks in the run game, provided flashes in pass protection, and appeared sharp in terms of mental processing. Heggie had a solid game as well, noticeably comfortable with previous experience under his belt and playing with a high motor.

Let's dive into the tape to discover how Florida's offensive line held up beyond the box score in their first start as a group.

Note: These clips appear in order of the game clock (give or take), and break down the tape of individual players for specific strengths and weaknesses, to go with the line's play as a whole.

On the Gators' first play of the game, quarterback Feleipe Franks is given a clean pocket to operate within. He didn't take advantage of it and overthrew wide receiver Van Jefferson out of bounds, who was open going down the sideline after play-action. But that's another story.

Against a delayed five-man blitz, the Gators offensive line held its own. Left guard Brett Heggie was notably impressive on the rep, mirroring his responsible defensive tackle's footwork inside well and stuffing the pass rusher's attempted spin move. The defender fell to the ground from Heggie's push through the move.

I thought right tackle Jean Delance did a good job of utilizing his hands to delay pressure from the defensive end - constantly knocking the pass rusher's hands off of his shoulders and away from his chest to maintain leverage through the block.

Center Nick Buchanan and redshirt freshman right guard Chris Bleich seal the interior really well on this rushing attempt for running back Lamical Perine, with Bleich performing a well-executed combo block against the middle linebacker following his double-team block on the nose tackle with Buchanan.

Delance does a good job kicking the edge out on this play as well, keeping him out of the B-gap that Buchanan and Cleich sealed off for Perine to charge against a closed-right under-front: A 4-3 look that stacks the right side of the box (left on defense, but this is from the OL's perspective). The linebackers slide over a gap and the safety lines up about six yards off the edge. Essentially an eight-man box playing the field strength.

Florida had several receivers in the box to help block against the stacked defense, who had nine players within a reasonable read-and-react distance of the ball carrier - if you include the outside cornerback. Yet, it was really just the offensive line group that opened things up for Perine.

On one side of the line, left tackle Stone Forysthe did a good job at identifying the stunt-rush. The defensive tackle crossed the face of the edge rusher - who dropped back into coverage in the middle of the field - and charged towards Forsythe as a strategic rush to test his processing.

Forsythe did well, never getting rattled and instead mirroring well through his kick-step. He utilized a swipe at the top of his kick-step so the tackle couldn't attempt to rip back through, and the pass rusher became washed out of the play.

Meanwhile, tight end Kyle Pitts struggled with the same concept over on the right. He failed to identify the linebacker-blitz stunt and was too caught up in his double-teams with Delance and Perine (he admittedly did well in that respect), which led to a big pressure.

On an inside zone handoff to Perine, Bleich eats up the five-technique defensive end like a snack. He remains patient near the line of scrimmage while Buchanan gets vertical and Delance works outside, which allows Bleich to respond to an interior rush from the edge player. Given this reaction, Bleich is prepared and proceeds to throw the rusher into the ground shortly after first contact.

This line will need to improve upon their blocks against speed rushers in space, which can be seen on the right side that leads to Franks flushing from the pocket - nearly taking a sack.

Given ample room to work with, the defensive end and linebacker show off their burst before Bleich and Delance can initiate contact. The end swipes at Bleich before the guard can even get his hands to the defenders chest, which leads to the near-sack and key pressure.

Delance appears a bit timid in his kick-step - perhaps from his leg injury in practice the week prior. He mirrors the linebacker's feet well enough to keep him vertical but doesn't approach a block until the rusher turns and angles at Franks. This is an area that Delance will need to become more fluid in.

Buchanan does a great job at opening the middle of the formation up here by dragging the nose tackle outside and to the right, which Perine utilizes to cut upfield and gain some yardage.

Both Forsythe and Bleich put their movement skills to the test on this play, getting vertical to double-team against the linebacker. Both succeed, but Forsythe moves into a combo block against the down-coming safety which gives the linebacker some room to work with, inevitably shutting the ply down a little earlier than hoped for. 

However, Forsythe and Bleich did a good enough job getting to the second level here, and given the positive outcome on this play, the failed combo at the end can be forgotten about in their first start.

This is why I was so impressed with Bleich's performance, coming in as a redshirt freshman starter and playing with a mix of angry physicality, solid mental processing, and confidence. He opened outside to start this pass protection rep, but recognized the crossing rush from the five-technique on the opposite side and proceeded to pancake the rusher.

This is the lone sack Florida allowed all night - an impressive feat for such a young group against a talented pass rush unit.

Miami delays a four-man rush by sending three at the snap, which catches the attention of Heggie and Bleich for a moment and takes their eyes off of the linebackers in short-field coverage who could blitz. One does, and the young Bleich doesn't diagnose the gap-shooting linebacker on time, who goes on to bring Franks down in the backfield.

Right after I praise Bleich... but as previously noted, these clips are in order from the game clock and the redshirt freshman naturally had some moments he can learn from. This is one of them.

On the rep above, Delance steps into his pass set on the read-side of the option which leads to a total whiff on the edge defender. Franks is lucky to have gotten this ball out so quickly because he would have been clobbered if he waited another second.

Perhaps a miscommunication? I'm not sure, but it shouldn't become a reoccurring problem for Florida. 

Once again, Bleich shows off his ability to pull - this time in pass protection. Delance and Buchanan do a great job at forcing blocks out to the right side to establish the RPO, while Bleich pulls across the line to smash the edge. The edge doesn't see Bleich coming from the inside, because he's playing contain against the option, and Bleich throws him off balance so he can't pursue Franks as the quarterback keeps the ball to throw downfield.

Bleich finds himself in a bit of a logjam between Buchanan and Delance, who are both handling blocks against a three-man stunt. Bleich, who can't easily get to his man, keeps his eyes following the stunt and strikes as soon as he finds space.

When Bleich gets his hands on, the attempted stunt is foiled as the interior rusher can't loop around the edge. Bleich's mental processing and vision are the reason he wins this rep.

While Bleich is my candidate for the offensive lineman with the most potential, Heggie is the most dependable guy across the trench. When he's not winning reps on his own, he's constantly looking for work to help keep the pocket as clean as possible.

He releases from his double team with Buchanan against a four-man rush, as Buchanan has the block on lockdown. Heggie surveys the left side and sees Forsythe getting pushed back into the pocket by the edge rusher, which leads to Heggie moving that way. He lowers his shoulder into the edge rusher, knocking him off balance and destroying the leverage against Forsythe. Teamwork makes the dream work.

If there's one key area that Delance needs to improve in, it's his leverage in pass protection. His feet aren't set in his initial punch against the edge on the rep above, which allows the defender to push and pull him pretty easily.

By getting an anchor set at the time of initial contact, Delance will be able to control his blocks more and build leverage against the edge, which will prevent pressure. Instead, he gets pulled here and is forced to play catch up to the defender, who would have recorded a sack should Franks have held onto this ball any longer.

While Forsythe does a solid job at forcing the edge rusher to overpursue Franks, the rest of the line stonewalled the remainder of the pass rush with ease. Each player held their position and utilized good punches to prevent bull-rushing or the ability to get outside.

Buchanan stands out in particular for his two double-team blocks, one against the nose tackle with Heggie, and another against the stunting edge rusher with Bleich. On the block against the edge, Bleich and Buchanan set a sturdy anchor and stand the rusher upright on their initial punch, taking away any lower-body power to leverage against the blocks, which washes him out of the play. Great rep.

On the game-winning touchdown, Forsythe and Heggie violently seal off the left-side B-gap to clear a hole for Franks to rush through. This play being so monumental to the result of the game is a testament to the strength of this line: Their ability to run block.

There's plenty of skill from this group in pass protection, and with further development under offensive line coach John Hevesy they should get even better - but run blocking is this unit's calling. Which is good news, considering Florida ran the ball on 59.21% of plays last year - which ranked 29th in the FBS. That should still be the plan going forward, given the talent the Gators have at running back with Perine, Malik Davis, and Dameon Pierce.

No offensive line is ever going to post a perfect game from start to finish, much less a line comprised of four new starters and 24 total games of starting experience. But from what I saw on tape, the unit did really well in their debut. Brett Heggie and Chris Bleich held their own for almost the entirety of the game, with Heggie being really dependable and Bleich displaying a lot of poise for a redshirt freshman in his first game as a starter.

Delance and Forsythe have some polishing to do in pass protection, but other than that, the two had solid debuts as Florida's bookends. And Buchanan was a leader and played solid as usual, which was to be expected as the lone returning starter.

Should they continue to develop in key areas at the rate they've progressed at, Florida should have very few problems on the OL throughout the 2019 season.