By my count, there’s eight scholarship guards and/or centers (Morales, Reichel, Stawarz, Smith, Pancotti, Hines, Anderson and Deaton) and three of those eight are arriving in the spring semester, Hines, Anderson and Deaton.

Graduated is Baylen Brown, who played really everywhere his senior year, but he should have just played guard this past year. He was probably best at that spot.

ROSTER RECAP: The Graduates | The Juniors | Defensive Line | Linebackers | Safeties | Cornerbacks

And I’ve included Morales here as a guard even though he played center the entire year. Morales is, I think, on his seventh year of eligibility due to injuries. I know that some of you weren’t real pleased with how Morales played last year, but unless Deaton or Anderson come on strong and push Morales out of his spot, then I could certainly see Morales keeping his spot.

And for me, the interior of the offensive line is really going to be interesting and the most important moving forward. Teams ravaged the perimeter just as much as they ravaged the interior of the line, so it has to shore up. I really don’t know who is going to get the call because I really don’t have a clue about who is going to step up. I wasn’t super excited about the play of anyone on the line, so if the entire group gets a significant shake-up, I’d be fine with that.

Let’s watch #73 and #53.

So, here’s the two star freshmen and the thing about both of them is that Anderson, #53, is ridiculously athletic for the position that he plays and Deaton, #73, is also fairly nimble, but Anderson is just on a different level. I remember watching film last year and thinking that Pancotti could be a guy that steps up this year with Smith needing the most work. But overall, I’m at a bit of a loss as to who will emerge during the spring. I can say that I’m happy that Anderson and Deaton will be getting those reps, but it makes me quite nervous to consider two true freshman starting protecting Shimonek.