Offensive Line: 2018 Spring Recap + Fall Preview

The Ducks lost their former position coach to being promoted to the head coach position. How will new OL coach Alex Mirabal mold his students in his image? The good news is that the majority of the line returns for him to develop in 2018. Can the hog mollies of Eugene help the run game go further in 2018? Who will earn the distinction of protecting Justin Herbert’s blindside?

Pre Spring Depth Chart

LT: Brady Aiello 6’7 275 RS Junior / Logan Bathke 6’5 260 RS Sophomore

LG: Shane Lemieux 6’6 302 RS Junior / Sam Poutasi 6’4 315 RS Sophomore / Cody Shear 6’3 276 RS Freshman

C: Calvin Throckmorton 6’6 290 RS Junior / Ryan Walk 6’2 280 RS Freshman

RG: Jacob Capra 6’5 300 RS Sophomore / Charlie Landgraf 6’1 286 RS Junior

RT: George Moore 6’7 308 Junior / Alex Forsyth 6’3 282 RS Freshman

Analysis

- The Ducks lost all everything left tackle Tyrell Crosby to the NFL this past April. The spring was mostly spent trying to find a candidate to replace the Detroit Lion rookie. Crosby was the anchor for an underrated Ducks offensive line that surprised many folks.

- Multiple linemen got their feet wet early on their careers and are now experienced and talented veterans. So the previous regimes weren’t a total loss in terms of player development along the line. They didn’t play all that bad as freshman and sophomores either, just substandard non Herbert QB play hindered their play a bit.

- Nominal center Jake Hanson sat out the spring practices due to injury thus CT was listed as the “starter” there. While not ideal, the injury did help in cross training lineman for roles they weren’t prepared for initially.

- The Ducks could have the most talent laden offensive line groups in the program’s history this upcoming season.

- It’s rather difficult to label guys as tackles and guards in the days of cross training and multiple linemen sets. Looking at listed physical measurements helps a bit but it’s equally a challenge to evaluate OL prospects in terms of draftable talent (this is a college football wide issue).

Post Spring Depth Chart

LT: Aiello / Bathke / Moore / Forsyth

LG: Lemieux / Warmack / Poutasi / Shear / Penei Sewell (freshman)

C: Hanson / Walk

RG: Capra / Landgraf / Warmack / Shear / Steven Jones (freshman)

RT: Throckmorton / Moore / Bathke / Forsyth / Dawson Jaramillo (freshman)

Redshirt Candidates

1. Christopher Randazzo

2. Penei Sewell

3. Steven Jones

4. Dawson Jaramillo

5. Justin Johnson

Analysis

- After Throckmorton’s substitute performance at center during the spring, he moves back to right tackle once Jake Hanson gets healthy as expected for fall camp.

- Aiello gets the first shot at the mountainous task of replacing Ducks legend Tyrell Crosby. He has the talent but all of 10 starts to his name. It will be interesting to see if he can hold off Bathke and Moore.

- Shane Lemieux is the rock at left guard. Nothing to see here, folks.

- Dallas Warmack is a graduate transfer from Alabama. He immediately slots in as a backup role at both guard spots. Which is a nice thing to have considering freshman offensive linemen don’t take to the college game right off the bat usually.

- Warmack’s decision to select Oregon affects Sam Poutasi the most as he’s likely pushed down to third string. Poutasi has the bloodlines to be great but probably not the opportunity in 2018.

- The right guard spot might be the most compelling out of the five spots. Capra is the favorite but Landgraf might push him hard for it.

- It’s certainly possible that all five freshmen redshirt but not likely. Sewell and Randazzo might have the best shot of avoiding the redshirt. Would I like to see all of them redshirt? Yes, since they weren’t early enrollees so fall camp is all they have to pick up the system.

- It will be interesting to see how much Cristobal is involved with his former position group and how much he lets Alex Mirabal coach them.

- Barring injury, Oregon has one of the more stable offensive lines in the country and that should help tremendously in retooling the run game.