After last year, OL was at the top of the list of things to fix. Coach Miller was tasked by Claeys to get the the job done and get more guys that were "badass". On Saturday many of us got our first looks, although with unique lineups. White team had projected starters Connor Mayes at LG, Tyler Moore at C and JUCO transfer Garrison Wright at LT. Bronson Dovich got the start at RG and Ted Stieber at RT, Noah Kuehn filled in at a few spots. I thought this OL would look better than what we saw. (Full disclosure to all parents and OL experts, I didn't know the plays or line calls.) Gold team lined up projected starters Vincent Calhoun at RG & RT Jonah Pirsig, filling out the starting 5 was LT Nick Connely, LG Jared Weyler and C Matt Leidner. Weyler also got snaps at C and Quinn Oseland replaced Weyler at LG, Luke Rasmussen got some reps at LT. Chad Fahning was held out with an injury, reportedly not serious.
Thank the Lord that the coaches were able to bring in the 2 JUCOs, without them the OL would be tremendously week. Both patchwork lines had some great plays, but a few OL stood out to me on more than a few plays. Calhoun was a beast on a couple of pulls and helped blow open some huge holes. Calhoun is has B1G size and looks to move quite well in pass pro. Pirsig looked solid to me as well, though he did struggle with some speed rushes. Weyler and Oseland looked good in the run game and opened some big holes for Smith and JJ. Moore did a good job on Jackson when they battled one on one. Facing those DTs will really make the interior line better.
IMO we have 7 solid OL right now and assuming Fahning comes back healthy, that would be 8. Seemed like we played over 10 guys along the OL last year, so a few more need to be found. After the Spring Game, here would be my 2 deeps. But, we still might get a late transfer or JUCO player to add some depth.
LT: Wright, Fahning/Connely
LG: Mayes, Weyler/Oseland
C: Moore, Weyler
RG: Calhoun, Weyler/Dovich
RT: Pirsig, Fahning
Thank the Lord that the coaches were able to bring in the 2 JUCOs, without them the OL would be tremendously week. Both patchwork lines had some great plays, but a few OL stood out to me on more than a few plays. Calhoun was a beast on a couple of pulls and helped blow open some huge holes. Calhoun is has B1G size and looks to move quite well in pass pro. Pirsig looked solid to me as well, though he did struggle with some speed rushes. Weyler and Oseland looked good in the run game and opened some big holes for Smith and JJ. Moore did a good job on Jackson when they battled one on one. Facing those DTs will really make the interior line better.
IMO we have 7 solid OL right now and assuming Fahning comes back healthy, that would be 8. Seemed like we played over 10 guys along the OL last year, so a few more need to be found. After the Spring Game, here would be my 2 deeps. But, we still might get a late transfer or JUCO player to add some depth.
LT: Wright, Fahning/Connely
LG: Mayes, Weyler/Oseland
C: Moore, Weyler
RG: Calhoun, Weyler/Dovich
RT: Pirsig, Fahning
