It's that time of year again! Here is my fifth installment of the preseason previews. Please feel free to leave any questions or comments on either board! Thanks again for reading!!

https://247sports.com/college/utah-stat ... 133557727/

Guys I am excited about: Edwards, Ali'ifua, and Ty Shaw. I think we have three guys here that would have started for us last year if the roster hadn't been so senior-heavy. As it stood, only Edwards was a starter. All three could end up on some sort of All-MWC team this year.

Guys that I have no clue about: Karter Shaw. His rise has been impressive, and it's likely he will be a decent replacement for Rob Castaneda, although not yet as good as Rob. If Karter can shine in this role, I think we are going to be looking at a stable offensive line that will pave the way for another potential 10-win season.

Guys that worry me: Jacob South/Kyler Hack. Feels to me like RT will be our weakest starting spot. South and Hack both have the credentials to be legitimate starters, but it is the furthest from a sure thing for me.

I think our 8-man rotation will be: Edwards, Koch, Shaw, Shaw, Bowles, Ali'ifua, South, and Uluave. That's a pretty dang good rotation when you consider we are losing five guys from last year's group that played significant minutes.

It will be great for Hill, Davidson, Adams, and Owens to get redshirt years. We have more young talent on the offensive line than we've perhaps ever had. We could return every single contributor in 2020, and then only have to replace Ali'ifua and T. Shaw heading into 2021! By that time, you figure some of our current freshmen will be ready to step up and contribute. We have finally gotten to a place where we have the cupboard stocked across the OL, which makes it significantly easier to build for the future one-by-one rather than having to worry about just filling holes for the time being.

Following fall camp last August, there was one true freshman listed on the offensive line two-deep. Jacob South. I know he might be one of the less heralded recruits but he can more than hold his own.

I know this has been repeated several times here but there is a reason that once this group was evaluated Coach Andersen and Coach Woods no longer chose to pursue JuCo transfers. They went out and landed a stud like Hunter Hill instead. This unit is talent-rich but they are not a seasoned group. Yet.

If your two-deep holds true...EIGHT out of the ten guys in the two-deep will still be here in 2021. An embarrassment of riches, at least as far as USU O-Line history goes.

From what I have understand Jacob south has the potential to make the same kind of impact that Edwards did last year.

YoungBloodAggie wrote: ↑

July 10th, 2019, 12:48 pm

If your two-deep holds true...EIGHT out of the ten guys in the two-deep will still be here in 2021. An embarrassment of riches, at least as far as USU O-Line history goes.

Hopefully, the coaching staff is able to keep guys happy. Here's to more blowouts so everybody plays! When everybody plays everybody stays happy, engaged and hard working in practice!

Great read. In 2017 they had to built the offensive line from scratch. I don’t expect the line to be as good as last year, but they are way ahead of the 2017 line. I don’t know if it’s just my blue goggles, but I feel really good about this group. Go Aggies!

Most those who predict our team to take a step back do so because of the loss of so many offensive starters. But many of next year's starters saw a lot of playing time last year. Between the new rule allowing four games to RS players and the high number of blow-outs, I dare say our returning players who weren't starters last year saw more PT than others in the MWC.

brownjeans wrote: ↑

July 10th, 2019, 3:31 pm

Most those who predict our team to take a step back do so because of the loss of so many offensive starters. But many of next year's starters saw a lot of playing time last year. Between the new rule allowing four games to RS players and the high number of blow-outs, I dare say our returning players who weren't starters last year saw more PT than others in the MWC.

Exactly! No other team in the Mountain West had the luxury of blowing out teams to the extent that we did. All of the 2nd and 3rd team guys that played, all played nearly a half of every game that they got into. For a player that played in the maximum four games, that comes out to nearly two full games. That may not sound like much but actual on-field playing time is very valuable!

Biggest concern for me are the guards.

aggies22 wrote: ↑

July 10th, 2019, 12:47 pm

Following fall camp last August, there was one true freshman listed on the offensive line two-deep. Jacob South. I know he might be one of the less heralded recruits but he can more than hold his own.

I know this has been repeated several times here but there is a reason that once this group was evaluated Coach Andersen and Coach Woods no longer chose to pursue JuCo transfers. They went out and landed a stud like Hunter Hill instead. This unit is talent-rich but they are not a seasoned group. Yet.

If I remember right coach Wells debated not redshirting Jacob South. Considering how deep we were last year on the offensive line that is a really good indication how good he is.

MWCFAN12 wrote: ↑

July 10th, 2019, 11:37 pm

aggies22 wrote: ↑

July 10th, 2019, 12:47 pm

Following fall camp last August, there was one true freshman listed on the offensive line two-deep. Jacob South. I know he might be one of the less heralded recruits but he can more than hold his own.

I know this has been repeated several times here but there is a reason that once this group was evaluated Coach Andersen and Coach Woods no longer chose to pursue JuCo transfers. They went out and landed a stud like Hunter Hill instead. This unit is talent-rich but they are not a seasoned group. Yet.

"If I remember right coach Wells debated not redshirting Jacob South. Considering how deep we were last year on the offensive line that is a really good indication how good he is."

Are you referring to South or Coach Wells?

Brushowl wrote: ↑

July 11th, 2019, 7:13 am

MWCFAN12 wrote: ↑

July 10th, 2019, 11:37 pm

aggies22 wrote: ↑

July 10th, 2019, 12:47 pm

Following fall camp last August, there was one true freshman listed on the offensive line two-deep. Jacob South. I know he might be one of the less heralded recruits but he can more than hold his own.

I know this has been repeated several times here but there is a reason that once this group was evaluated Coach Andersen and Coach Woods no longer chose to pursue JuCo transfers. They went out and landed a stud like Hunter Hill instead. This unit is talent-rich but they are not a seasoned group. Yet.

"If I remember right coach Wells debated not redshirting Jacob South. Considering how deep we were last year on the offensive line that is a really good indication of how good he is."

Are you referring to South or Coach Wells?

I'm pretty sure he was referring to the talent level of Jacob South.

aggies22 wrote: ↑

July 11th, 2019, 8:32 am

Brushowl wrote: ↑

July 11th, 2019, 7:13 am

MWCFAN12 wrote: ↑

July 10th, 2019, 11:37 pm

aggies22 wrote: ↑

July 10th, 2019, 12:47 pm

Following fall camp last August, there was one true freshman listed on the offensive line two-deep. Jacob South. I know he might be one of the less heralded recruits but he can more than hold his own.

I know this has been repeated several times here but there is a reason that once this group was evaluated Coach Andersen and Coach Woods no longer chose to pursue JuCo transfers. They went out and landed a stud like Hunter Hill instead. This unit is talent-rich but they are not a seasoned group. Yet.

"If I remember right coach Wells debated not redshirting Jacob South. Considering how deep we were last year on the offensive line that is a really good indication of how good he is."

Are you referring to South or Coach Wells?

I'm pretty sure he was referring to the talent level of Jacob South.

Yes I was

Let’s say south, Edwards and Koch are 3 of our top lineman. What’s the chance one of them gets moved to guard? How hard is it to be a tackle and then play guard?

slcagg wrote: ↑

July 19th, 2019, 7:38 pm

Let’s say south, Edwards and Koch are 3 of our top lineman. What’s the chance one of them gets moved to guard? How hard is it to be a tackle and then play guard?

I would imagine it's tougher to play tackle. A tackle has to have a certain amount of athleticism that allows him to slide out and block a defender that is taking a wide-angle, engage that defender, and then kick the defender out and passed the QB as the QB steps up into the pocket.