MORGANTOWN —
They say that a chain is as strong as its weakest link, and in many ways that can be transferred to the football field, especially on the offensive line.
Let one member of that line get beat constantly and it completely defeats everything you are trying to do offensively. If it is a player on the right, it makes you far more predictable because you will run more to the left. It also might mean you have to play a tight end on downs when you really don’t want one but need him to help out with the blocking.
And, of course, one breakdown in pass protection is all it takes to create either a sack or to flush the quarterback from the pocket and turn it into an ad lib play, which is fine if Patrick White is your quarterback, but Geno Smith lays no claims to having the same skills Patrick White possessed.
For this coming season, West Virginia University returns a veteran group of lineman, more experience beyond their years considering that last year four of them barely ever got to take a breather. The four returning linemen all played well beyond 800 plays, as did Selvish Capers, who is gone and headed to the NFL.
In trying to create stability in the line, it has been decided that Joey Madsen would serve as center this year with Eric Jobe at right guard. Last year they would switch from game to game, which was not exactly the way you develop any cohesion in the line.
The left side of the line is solid in returning Don Barclay at tackle and Josh Jenkins at guard.
Head coach Bill Stewart is sold on Barclay.
“He’s a great tackle. He’s got tremendous feet, understands blitzes and sees the corner fires. Barclay is very sharp, and I need a good left tackle to protect Geno’s backside. The blind side is so crucial, and we feel he fits the position best. He might play the inside guard position on Sundays, but I’ll leave that to the experts at the NFL level. For now, He’s a tackle.”
There is, however, the matter of replacing Capers on the right side at tackle, and Jeff Braun, a redshirt sophomore who played a good bit last year, has the edge on redshirt freshman Pat Eger there.
Stewart isn’t ready to commit as he knows that the position at present probably is that weakest link in his chain.
“I haven’t seen enough, and I need to see more,” Stewart said. That has to happen for us to be a good football team. It’s coming. It’s in the process of getting better, but it’s a big-boy ball now and we’re not solidified yet at the position like the other four linemen.”
Coming off a disappointing year, Braun believes he’s ready to move forward due to the experience and the fact that he has played virtually everywhere in the line during his career, both high school and college.
“Just knowing the offense a lot more,” Braun said. “I can see the plays from every position and know as an offense what we are trying to do with the ball and where we are trying to go with it.”
The key to the line, should the right tackle situation be worked out, probably then comes to the way Madsen plays as a fulltime center.
Stewart loves his approach.
“First of all, he’s such a competitor, a fierce, fierce competitor,” Stewart said. “He plays Mountaineer football the way it’s supposed to be played, physical and hard-nosed. The tougher it gets, the better he performs. I see him being that line leader, he and Barclay.”
Madsen says he’s ready to take charge at the center spot.
“I want to go out there and tear people up,” he said, showing why some call him “Mad Dog.”
“That’s sort of family nickname,” he said. “I consider it a compliment.”
Madsen came to West Virginia from the farm country of Ohio, which he considers an advantage.
“Some people say the city guys are tough, and they are, but so are the country kids who are baling hay,” he said.
Jenkins, of course, comes from Parkersburg as a highly recruited prep star, and he has grown each year.
“Everything is coming more easily to us,” said Jenkins. “We are picking up blitzes better. Our communication — which wasn’t all the way there last year — is better this year as it should be because we know each other now.”
In the end, the beneficiary of this figures to be Smith.
“The quarterback never needs to get touched, period,” Jenkins said. “Definitely in practice and as the season comes along, we are going to try and protect him. We want to keep him off the ground as much as we can this year, and that is our main goal.”
E-mail Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com.
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