| 12 December 2010
I was asked about depth at tackle and in particular the prospects of Andrew Norwell or Marcus Hall playing left tackle on the Bucknuts message board. I responded but after thinking about it I expanded on it:
HodgePodge discovered that Longo is practicing at guard. That move makes no sense if he is the next in line at left tackle. It looks like the staff has given up on that experiment. I believe Hall will be a guard. I think he could be best at right tackle but next best is guard for him. I have never been one who believed he could be a left tackle. Norwell is your heir apparent at right tackle, with Shugarts being a senior next year. You can't move him to left tackle to be a backup when he is the likely starter at right tackle in 2012. Moving Shugarts does not help you as he is a senior in 2011.
The above was mo response at the time. When I thought about it some more this came to me.
Here is an interesting scenario to consider. What if you move Norwell over to left tackle? What if he can play the position? I think it creates a best possible scenario for the future of the offensive line. Norwell is a backup right tackle so being a backup at left tackle for another year is no big deal. He prepares himself to take over at left tackle just like he is preparing to take over for Shugarts at right tackle in 2012 right now. Kalis comes in in 2012 and preps to take over for Norwell. Redshirts his first year. Gets adapted to the speed of the college game in practice. Learns a bit. Gets in the weightroom and gets stronger. He backs-up Norwell as a redshirt freshman then steps in as the starter as a sophmore. This does not creat a problem at right tackle in the present. You have Hall who can start at right guard who could also be the backup at right tackle then step into the starters role when Shugarts leaves in 2012. I especially like this scenario because the past week has seen the 2012 offensive line class go from good to excellent with the arrival of Taylor Deckers junior film and the revelation of Kyle Dodson from Cleveland Heights. Both are potential Big Five left tackle prospects. I just learned that Dodson was down for the Michigan game. That is an early Christmas present now that I have seen his film. Take both to go along with Kalis and I would slap and A grade on it and call it a class.
As far as Marcus Hall being the starter at right tackle is concerned, I don't see that happening. Shugarts has been a two year starter. He did not sit this year despite being being seen arriving to at least one game with a boot on his foot. He is going to be a senior. You see JT sitting him down? Hall is a great lineman. He is going to play somewhere. Go back and look at his film from high school. Road grader in the truest sense of the word. He fits guard better than the longer Norwell and the just as long Shugarts.
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