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Iowa State University Athletics
Spring Breakdown: The Offensive Line
04.07.2015 | Football
AMES, Iowa – Iowa State started spring practice on March 3. Cyclones.com will break down each position heading into the spring game on April 11. Today we take a look at the offensive line.
The Offensive Line
Synopsis
For the second year in a row, ISU's offensive line endured a number of injuries which limited its effectiveness in 2014. ISU will also have to see what life is like without its two senior anchors on the line in Tom Farniok and Jacob Gannon, who each started at least one game in all four seasons and combined for 68 career starts.
Coach Rhoads, however, is cautiously optimistic about the improvement of the O-line. He's optimistic because he still has plenty of experience in the trenches on the roster.
The Cyclones return six men on the line who have a combined 61 career starts. Two of the leaders will be seniors Brock Dagel (6-8, 306, Sr.#, Cherokee, Iowa) and Jamison Lalk (6-6, 311, Sr.#, Council Bluffs, Iowa). Dagel has 15 career starts and started the first four games of 2014 at left tackle until a knee injury sidelined him for the rest of the season. His offseason rehab was a success and should be ready for limited action in spring ball.
Lalk has been a versatile performer on the line the last two season by registering 19 career starts, including 11 last season. Lalk has played primarily at left guard, but also proved to be a capable backup at center.
Coach Rhoads feels the cornerstones of ISU's offensive line for the next two seasons will be provided by guard Daniel Burton (6-6, 330, Jr.#, Oklahoma City, Okla.) and tackle Jake Campos (6-8, 295, So.#, West Des Moines, Iowa). Burton, who will be sidelined this spring with an injury, has proven to be a leader for the Cyclone line in his first two seasons, registering 20 career starts. Burton was one of just four players on the team a year ago to start all 12 games. ESPN.com named him to the Big 12 All-Underclassman team last season.
Campos wasn't expected to be a starter in his redshirt freshman season, but once injuries set in, Campos stepped up to the plate and performed admirably. Campos, who started 11 games in his rookie campaign, had his first three starts at right tackle before moving to the left side for the rest of the season after Dagel's season was shut down. He has a chance to be star in the Big 12.
Two other linemen who return with starts under their belts are guard Oni Omoile (6-3, 307, Sr.#, Coppell, Texas) and tackle Jacob Dunning (6-5, 300, Jr.#, Leander, Texas). Dunning was another wounded Cyclone a year ago, suffering a season-ending knee injury in the third game of the year. He is still recovering from surgery and will sit out spring drills.
Rhoads is also anxious to see how these linemen respond to spring practice; Shawn Curtis (6-5, 293, So.#, Orlando, Fla.), Ryan Glenn (6-4, 301 So.#, Waukee, Iowa), Patrick Scoggins (6-1, 290, Jr.#, Inglewood, Calif.), Nick Severs (6-4, 279, So.#, Macomb, Ill.) and Wendell Taiese (6-6, 354, Sr.#, Oakland, Calif.).
Curtis, Glenn and Severs are in their third season in the program. Scoggins is an intriguing prospect as a junior college mid-year enrollee. He will be tested out as a replacement for Farniok at center. Taiese played primarily on special teams in 2014, but is competing for a starting job in 2015.
Rhoads On The Offensive Line
“The offensive line is a group that's just really been devastated by injuries over the last two years and I don't use the word devastated lightly. We're anxious to see this group come off a number of snaps of experience from over a year ago. We want to see them advance. We're also excited about additions to the lineup. A couple of players I want to highlight first is Wendell Taiese, who played a year ago and was unable to pick up the system and develop the game fast enough to be effective in 2014. He has to be able to do that for us in 2015. He's the biggest, fastest and most explosive player that we have on the line. Patrick Scoggins is a young man that we expect, as he participates in spring ball, to come in and give us inside help. We're going to start him playing at the center position. Whether he ends up at center or guard, we'll find out this in the spring. Jake Campos as a redshirt freshman got a great education and we hope he starts to become the teacher a little bit instead of the student. Brock Dagel returns for his fifth year. When we shut him down last year it was because we wanted his whole focus about getting healthy and having a tremendous senior year. I don't have any doubt that is Brock's mindset and he will carry it over to the field. Daniel Burton is somewhat our mainstay and will go into his third year as a starter at a guard. Throw in Oni Omoile, Ryan Glenn, Shawn Curtis, Nick Severs and Jamison Lalk, and you got some guys there that can give us some depth. There are a number of game starts and if we can keep this group healthy, we think we'll see improvement.”
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