Replacing long-term starters is a fact of life that football programs are tasked with every offseason.
The compounded problem of losing continuity at key positions and the emotional toll of moving forward without team leaders is replaced by a quick turnaround in which difficult personnel decisions must be made and new faces are forced into action.
For the Virginia Tech football team, the graduation of three starters on the offensive line nearly clears the board of a unit that already had its pass protection issues in 2014. Virginia Tech allowed 2.62 sacks per game (third-highest in the ACC), and the offensive line is partially responsible for that shortcoming.
"Half of the sacks last year, in my opinion, were on the line, and the other half were on the quarterback or the skill guys," Hokies offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler said in a pre-spring interview with HokieSports.com "A lot of people don't get that a wide receiver not running a route properly or not creating the proper space can cause those sacks. A sack is an offensive negative, but not necessarily an offensive line negative. At times, the offensive line did better at some things than the previous year, but we need to reduce the mistakes. We need to become consistent and play better, just like the quarterback position needs to play better.
Left tackle Laurence Gibson, a projected seventh-round pick by CBSSports.com, is joined in departure by center David Wang and right guard Caleb Farris.
In a depth chart released today, Jonathan McLaughlin will move full-time to left tackle, with second-year veteran Wade Hansen at right tackle, Eric Gallo at center and Wyatt Teller and Augie Conte at the guard spots.
Fifth-year senior Darius Redman — a notable switch from tight end — is listed behind McLaughlin at left tackle.
The rebuilding of the offensive line is the 29th-year head coach's top item on the agenda this spring and going forward.
"As far as spring, our primary concern is getting our offensive line together," said Frank Beamer. "We have to have some young guys not play like they're young guys."
Gallo is the least-experienced member of Tech's first-team offensive line. The Richboro, Pennsylvania, native appeared on just 14 plays in relief last season. At six-foot-two and 298 pounds, Gallo's measurements compare nearly identically to his predecessors, Wang and Farris.
Tyrell Smith and Andrew Moras are listed as the two and three behind Gallo — neither having any game experience.
Smith, a class-of-2014 commit, spent the fall at Cushing Academy before enrolling in January.
"We have a couple of new guys at center," Beamer said. "We feel great about them in terms of their athletic ability."
For many positions, spring is about establishing depth, but many young offensive linemen not listed with the first team have opportunities to emerge and claim non-concrete spots.
Redshirt sophomore Parker Osterloh is a six-foot-eight, 327-pound tackle listed behind Hansen at right tackle.
Beamer Co. will also get their first on-field look at Austin Clark — a four-star, class-of-2015 early enrollee who didn't appear to be starry-eyed or fazed by the competition of the next level during his first practice.
Augie Conte and Wyatt Teller, who started 10 and 6 games respectively last season, have taken the reins of a mostly inexperienced unit.
"Experience means a lot on the offensive line and we just don't totally have it," Beamer said. "But guys like Teller and Conte are great leaders and they have that toughness that you like and I see our offensive line going more in that direction."
The on-field effort exemplified by Teller and Conte is matched, if not exceeded, by their determination in the weight room.
"Augie Conte and Wyatt Teller are just stellar as far as what we do in strength and conditioning," said associate athletics director for athletic performance Mike Gentry. "They're off the charts and they set the level of personal training a little bit higher for the rest of the line."
Conte and Teller scored two of the five highest bench press maxes this offseason, 440 and 430 pounds, respectively.
A notable scratch for the spring is center Kyle Chung, who underwent his second shoulder surgery in January after finishing the season as the second-team's right guard, behind Farris.
Redshirt junior Jack Willenbrock will also miss spring practice after failing to appear in a single game in 2014 and being sidelined with a foot injury.
To help boost an offense that ranked 96th in scoring offense in 2014 (24.1 ppg) and 100th in 2013 (22.5 ppg), the offensive line must develop into a cohesive unit despite the fresh faces.
"The offensive line is such a critical deal," Beamer said. "I really like the people we have. We want to get more toughness in there and I think we're well on the way to doing that. It'll be interesting to see how they develop."
Comments
Yup...this nails it pretty well.
Not gonna lie, that initial depth chart doesn't make me feel good. Everybody knows the young guys must step up. This is where Coach Searells earns that paycheck.
Nothing about this o-line fills me with any confidence. We may be able to pull 5 guys together but I don't see any depth which means we will be back to one injury and our whole offense falls apart.
We're ostensibly at least three deep at four positions. Now how many of those names are actually worth a crap remain to be seen, but there's more depth than you're letting on. I think you might be confusing a lack of experience and a lack of familiarity with the names on the roster for a lack of depth.
That being said, left tackle is a bit of a doomsday scenario. A player returning from injury, backed up by a converted tight end, and then you start pulling from row A.
I didn't mean to imply we don't have bodies but those bodies don't have the experience and some I wonder the talent to be successful right now. I would love to be proven wrong here.
Right, okay. That's the point I was trying to make. You mentioned in your original comment about a lack of depth. We actually have fairly okay-ish depth. That depth is mostly just unproven at this point. But the good news is, for the first time in a long time, a majority of the names on the roster were actually recruited to be OL.
I feel very optimistic with McLaughlin, Teller and Conte. I think that is a great start, just need two decent players to fill out the line and we "should" be much better this year.
Agree. Those 3 are capable to set the foundation. We just need for some others to step up. There is a Spring, Summer and Fall for some of these guys to get after it in a big way. I feel cautiously optimistic about 2 guys stepping up in the time frame. Depth is the major concern for me.
Wait, concerns about the OL?
We will run off the left side, A LOT #hottake
This seems like every year as a Hokie fan to me. Each year we have some unknown player moving from Def or TE to the line and are scared about how they will fit in , to eventually seeing them play well. I know everyone is hating on Hansen and granted I am as well but whose to say that this guy can't be a monster at RT? It is odd to me that Searells and Loeffler love him so much if he doesn't have potential. The fact that he transferred from a D3 school, made our team, was moved to the OL and started a few games is pretty damn impressive even with injuries. I think he may be a better player than we think...
My biggest fear is Gallo and Mclaughlin coming back from that injury at the same level.
I agree, I'm cautiously optimistic about him. Mclaughlin, Teller, and Conte is a pretty solid core. If Hansen steps up and improves this Spring as much as he did over last year, the only major question mark will be center, which unfortunately is the last place you want to lack for experience.
I still miss Andrew Miller.
I'd definitely say Gallo/the center position as a whole is most concerning. The unfortunate thing is that the last 7 years of Newsome's reign of failure over the OL were punctuated by OL classes that had at best one or two solid prospects a year. OL recruiting is so much more about quantity than perceived quality (obviously, to a certain extent). If you have numbers, you can find 7-9 serviceable-to-good players every single year. We dug a massive hole with Newsome that we're still digging out of, and it'll be a year or two before we can look at the OL and say, "yeah, we should be pretty good this year."
And who knows, maybe with a full season, spring and fall camp under his belt, Hansen will more than hold his own at tackle.
I think we are closer to your
than you state. I am being cautiously optimistic - leaning forward you could say. I just feel we are about past that point where we need to point to Newsome's reign of failure" any more. I don't advocate forgetting history and its lessons, I just want this year to end that missive.
Man, I hope so. The major bummer about OL recruiting is that usually kids need a couple years to develop before they can contribute. Generally, expecting an OL to contribute before their 3rd year or so in the program is pretty unfair. We've been very lucky with Teller and McLock stepping up early, and I've been pretty happy with our OL recruiting over the past couple years, but I'm not sure if it'll be enough to solve the major issues that have been there for a while. Next year, we'll have 3 full classes of post-Newsome recruiting/coaching, juniors and r-sophomores recruited by Grimes, and 2 full Searels classes. That, I think, is the point where we can really start looking forward and seeing the offense roll.
Your logic is sound. I just want it to take hold sooner - as I said, leaning forward.
The hate on Hansen really bothers me. Dude stepped up into a position he has never played for us and was obviously better than the others that were there longer. That speaks volumes to me. We had other options to put in that had been on OL longer yet Searles put Hansen in. There is a reason for that.
I think Hansen has a big Spring and Fall. i feel good about him next year. I am sure he will make mistakes, probably too many, but he is in the position for a reason, and I don't think it's because everyone else sucks.
Well said. Leg!
Gotta support these guys as a HUGE part of the Hokie Nation - the decisions defining their contribution are not fully theirs and they do not control that.
In my book Wade Hansen is Sam Rogers wearing a fat suit. Or a tall suit. Just waiting to break out. I've barely heard anything about him and I already trust him.
All players are blocks of Hokie Stone, waiting for the proper sculptor to chisel away the excess to reveal their inner Sam Rogers.
I actually feel good about this OL; new blood / new confidence perhaps - especially with the specimens we've brought in recently.
the updated height/weights are now on the hokiesports roster. Searles is having an impact on the OL. throwing out the extremes of Willenbrock (tiny) and Osterloh (mountain), the avg OL is about 6'4", 294. and that will go up again by august. not unreasonable for Searles to get his 300lb line on the field next year. now find 4 guys who can play offensive tackle.
I am not versed on Osterloh. Why throw out a mountain? Not able to move the way he liked...? other reasons?
Maybe last season of Game of Thrones made him hate anything related to Mountains.
#TeamViper
When dealing with averages you typically want to throw out the extreme cases so the numbers aren't skewed one way or another. At least I'd assume that's what he was doing there.
zactly