Miami Hurricanes Emphasize Offensive Line Depth As Spring Competition Heats Up
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Miami Hurricanes spring football practice is in full swing now, and one of the main focuses for the Canes this spring has been the offensive line. That group has garnered a ton of attention.
After practice on Thursday, head coach Mario Cristobal and potential star offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa spoke about how things are coming along for that group. Cristobal started by talking about how they will have to reload while recruiting because they could be loaded with stars who could be NFL-bound next season.
Cristobal On Miami's Offensive Line:
“There’s a chance we could have four, five guys drafted next year. And we’ve really built these trenches from the inside out. And I mean, historically, we’ve had a really good track record for playing high school offensive linemen and that’s really important to state. I know we have James Brockermeyer this year. We had big [Zach] Carpenter the year before, but that’s been at center, where we needed some maturity. But I mean, we’ve really gone heavy on making sure we develop our young guys. And this is a year where we need a lot of offensive linemen. I mean, quite frankly … we may lose five, six, seven guys. We need to sign five, six, seven guys. And that’s being, I would say, conservative.
“We need guys that can come in and play. We legitimately need guys like we’ve coached in the past that have been able to come, like [Francis Mauigoa], Anez [Cooper] over a couple of games was a starter. Other guys are coming along really well, but we need some really, really high-level, highly motivated, high work ethic guys coming and playing. So, we’re not anywhere close to being done on the o-line. We need some more real dudes.”
Mauigoa spoke about how deep they are on the offensive line and how hard players are competing to earn opportunities.
Maulgoa On Miami's Depth In The Trenches:
“We’re all competing for a spot and that’s what I like about our offensive line group. We’re all just trying to get on the field and trying to compete to play in the game. Every day has been competition. I know some people are coming for my job and I’m trying to keep my job. It’s all what it is.”
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Mark Morales-Smith is a father of five, a former college football scout and semi-pro football player. Morales-Smith is a long-time competitive fantasy football player with well over a decade of professional writing experience at multiple high-level sites.
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