Chalk Up Kansas' Offensive Line as One of the Finest in Jayhawks History

(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

KU has had some great offensive linemen in recent years.  Adrian Jones, Joe Vaughn, David Ochoa, Cesar Rodriguez, Anthony Collins, and Ryan Cantrell are just a few names you might remember.

It's too bad that soon you will forget about these men, as well as each and every other lineman who has ever strapped into the crimson and blue.

I know that I tend to get a little prematurely excited, but I don't see how Jayhawk fans can avoid feeling great about the future of KU's offensive line.

Could this group of trench-men turn out to be KU's best ever?

The UTEP game is prime evidence for my argument.  The five starters in that game had only a combined 30 starts at the time, five from the previous week and 25 more from Jeremiah Hatch and Jeff Spikes last season.  Four of our starters have switched positions within the last year, and one of them is a red-shirt freshman.

It was only UTEP, but UTEP was still a huge talent-upgrade over Northern Colorado, we played them on the road and stumbled only minimally.  I will even go out on a limb here and attribute some of those stumbles to the lack of our primo-blocking tight end Tim Biere and Jeremiah Hatch's bout with the flu.

It was certainly a good enough second game for me.

Just take a look at our roster, picture this unit in a year or two and tell me you're honestly not excited.

Firstly, our two-deep depth chart contains no seniors and only three juniors; the experienced Sal Capra, the versatile Brad Thorson and the seemingly ever-present Ian Wolfe.  Capra and Thorson may start now, but I predict that by next season even they will be watching the bulk of games from the sideline.

Red-shirt freshmen John Williams and Trevor Marrongelli are that good.

Marrongelli is quick with a mean streak a mile wide and Williams is a massive guard talented enough to catch Ed Warriner's eye as a second fullback in that intensely entertaining power "I" scheme. 

Also, while we're talking about red-shirt freshmen, I should mention that Tanner Hawkinson looked awfully well-rounded in his first two starts ever as a left tackle.

Don't forget about the experience we actually do have. 

I've seen red-shirt sophomore Jeremiah Hatch send snaps at Reesing that look like Dan Marino threw them, and classmate Jeff Spikes can be a brick wall on the right side of this line if he wants to be.

I've almost forgotten to mention Ben Leuken, a big and versatile sophomore who would've started at guard this year if not for an off-the-field accident.  Even Darius Parish is reportedly progressing along nicely and will be a reliable back-up for years to come.

Through two games, the line helped amass almost 600 yards rushing and has allowed Todd Reesing to be sacked only once.  Because of inferior competition, I'll give them a B- thus far.

Taking another big step this week means running through a Duke defense that probably won't take their chances keeping only three and four men in the box.  This particular unit won't really be tested until the Southern Miss game, but I'm not thinking about that, either.

All I'm saying is that KU has 11 (junior guard Carl Wilson was in the running to be a starter this year as well) very versatile, hard-working guys on their front line who will all be here next year, and the best ones will be at KU for at least one more season after.

I firmly believe that this group has more potential than any set of linemen ever at KU, and that someday they will be recognized as one of the finest in the country.

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