Grant Johnson will be off this spring, but the O-line has a lot of work.
It’s not a total rebuilding job on the offense line for the Oregon State football team, but there’s a lot of work to be done.
Guards must emerge in the spring. A right guard must be found for Gregg Peat. Starting left guard Grant Johnson will be out of spring recovering from shoulder surgery.
So there will be plenty of reps to find at least one starter and a reliable backup on either side.
Walk-ons Michael Lamb and Ellis Burke will get their shots, as will Ryan Pohl, who has always been on the cusp of breaking into the lineup. And I’m sure line coach Mike Cavanaugh will move people around as a test.
“The crux of it is we lost a guard,” coach Mike Riley said. “Gregg Peat was so reliable and played there so long. That’s going to be big.”
The rest of the positions are manned by veterans: senior C Alex Linnenkohl, junior RT Mike Remmers and sophomore LT Michael Philipp.
It will be interesting to see if the tackles stay on their sides. Remmers was considered the best pass blocker on the team last year and was used to protect left-handed QB Sean Canfield’s blind side.
Will he move to the other side for the right-handed Ryan Katz and Peter Lalich? Or has Philipp, who has big-time upside, become the top pass blocker on the team. They start spring in their usual spots.
Riley also wants to see if Wilder McAndrews can go. He has been plagued by wrist and hand injuries. “We always had great hopes for him,” Riley said. “We’ll see if he can get into spring ball and make headway.”
Alex Linnenkohl is the leader of the O-line.
7 comments
DaMonkey says:
Mar 24, 2010
Cliff… this is great that we have so much experience and competition but I wonder about overall quality. Where do our guys line up quality-wise in the Pac10 and nationally? My feeling is that we have a couple of good guys, but no brute force that can be a roadgrader for Quizz. If we aren't significantly better than last year, it's going to be a long season.
Also, are there any plans to shake up the offensive plays, create more space and maybe actually surprise people? It seems like the offense got predictable last year culminating in BYU knowing where we'd be and how to counter us. It was a decent season… but it seems to me that we need to be a bit more creative to take it to another level. Your thoughts?
ckirkpatrick says:
Mar 25, 2010
The strength coach is trying to develop that brute force. That's the only way OSU will make that big of jump from last year to this. It depends on the weight room.
OSU will begin to tinker with its offense, like it does each year, during the spring.
Tweets that mention Cliff: OL outlook « Cliff Kirkpatrick -- Topsy.com says:
Mar 24, 2010
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Oregon State Beavers and Cliff Kirkpatrick, OSUBeaverFan. OSUBeaverFan said: RT @CliffGT: Cliff: OL outlook http://bit.ly/aOlcym – Here's what the OSU offensive line must doe this spring. [...]
aaron_ says:
Mar 25, 2010
Hey Cliff doesnt Timi Oshinowo have one year left? I know he has battled injuries but dont you think he'd be in the mix?
ckirkpatrick says:
Mar 25, 2010
Oshinowo has one more year left. He's a backup tackle. I don't think he'll pass either Remmers or Philpp
aaron_ says:
Mar 25, 2010
Hey cliff, what is your take on the Urban Meyer situation? If you havent heard i will post a link and video as to what happened.
I dont see anything wrong with what the reporter did, in so far as using the kids quote, do you. If he didnt use the quote then he wouldnt have really been doing his job. The quote was definitely news worthy. I dont see you and Riley ever going at it. Have you two ever had any strain in your relationship as beat writer/coach? Has Riley ever gotten testy with you or any of your questions or comments?
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports_college_u…
ckirkpatrick says:
Mar 25, 2010
Looks like Urban will need another leave of absence to calm his nerves again.
The reporter did nothing wrong. And "real quarterbacks" are people who sit in the pocket and throw, not run around. Sean Canfield is a real QB and Oregon's Masoli, for example, is not. I'm not ripping Masoli, he's a great athlete and does a great job at quarterback. Real describes style, and a coach knows that.
So, I don't know what Urban is huffy about. When something like that happens the coach is mad about something that was written three months ago and goes off on this for no reason. Especially when others use the quote. He either just saw that paper, or had a grudge with that guy.
As for Riley, he has been upset about things written by me and other reporters. He handles it professionally and talks about it one-on-one in a calm manner and moves on.
Riley also believes, like people should, that if it's the truth, it's the truth. Many college coaches believe it's only the truth if he wants you to know the truth. When that happens, the coach and media become adversaries.