I'd agree with this.Bootz wrote: ↑Sat May 25, 2024 11:53 am There's a level of irony in assuming it's a forgone conclusion that Mauch will improve in year 2 because Goedeke did while ignoring the fact that Goedeke's improvement can mostly be attributed to the fact that he's playing his natural position.
Weight gains/losses can have consequences good and bad. Putting on weight you're not use to playing with can lead to injuries, other fitness issues, loss of athletism. Logan Hall IIRC put on weight from year 1 to 2 and he got even worse. Noah Spence use to have a weight fluctuation annually and we see how that went.
To answer @Snake's question, weight wasn't the problem as much as play strength. He looked and played very weak. So I couldn't care less if he puts on 10 or 100 pounds. It's not gonna matter worth a damn if he doesn't get his strength up.
Was Mauch underweight for the position? Sure, but being underweight in and of itself matters alot less if you're strong, which Mauch was not.
Mauch routinely got bodied by defensive tackles in both phases. He didn't have the strength to move them to create holes in the run game, and he didn't have the strength to stop them from abusing him with power moves all game as a pass blocker.
Does adding more weight make that easier? Sure. Wrestling and boxing have weight classes for a reason, and that's because heavier guys have a ton of advantages against lighter foes in combat sports. And don't get it twisted, interior line play is a combat sport. But back to the point, the largest advantage conferred upon larger players is they are near-universally stronger than smaller guys -- though there are exceptions, I'd wager that's less than 5% of the time.
If Mauch added 15 pounds but had no improvements to his Olympic lifts, I would be unimpressed and expect worse play not better. But if he added hurting pounds secondary to muscle gain and is crushing it in the weight room, then that will directly correlate to onfield success.
Can’t hurt!
