Houston Cougars 2020 position preview: Offensive line
By: Jimmy Schofield
photo courtesy uhcougars.com
With the 2020 season soon approaching, Coogfans.com looks at each position as Fall camp gets underway. Today we preview the most vital position on offense, the offensive line.
Last season under first year head coach Dana Holgorsen , the Cougars averaged just 30.7 points-per-game (good for 51st nationally). While the passing game was anemic, averaging just 203.3 yards through the air (91st), the rushing offense was fairly good as they averaged 188.1 yards-per-game (37th) and almost five yards-per-carry.
The first halves were particularly more impressive as the offense averaged 225 yards-per-game (100 rushing, 125 passing) while their halftime scores averaged 17.8 to 15.9. It was the performance of the second half which led to most of their eight losses as depth played a huge role in all three phases of the game as the O averaged roughly 167 yards-per-game (88 rushing, 79 passing) while ultimately falling to 4-8 overall by an average score of 30.7 to 34… A below average defense put the offense in must-pass situations throughout most of their losses, taking onus away from what was at times a physical run game. Inconsistency also hurt the line as there were EIGHT different starting combinations over the 12 games, with 12 different players making at least one start.
Unfortunately, we know who will not be returning along the line; the most experienced player in terms of starts at tackle as Jarrid Williams decided to transfer to Miami, taking his 19 total starts (17 at right tackle) over the past three seasons. With Josh Jones taking his four seasons of experience (45 starts at left tackle) to the Arizona Cardinals, offensive line coach Brandon Jones will have to basically start over at both tackle spots, though his unit does return a few players with starting experience due to injuries last season.
Patrick Paul is a mountain of a man, standing at 6-feet-7-inches while tipping the scales at 330 pounds. The redshirt freshman out of Jersey Village started the last three games of the season at left tackle after Jones’s knee injury. The former 3-star recruit (via 247sports) looks to be a multi-year starter as not only is he strong at the point of attack but athletic for his size. He is also new to the position, having moved from the defensive line in 2018 at Jersey Village while also participating in track (shotput and discus). His position coach, Jones, said he was one of the standouts in Fall camp last season, though the plan was always to redshirt him. Starting the final three games was a bonus.
After the departure of Williams, right tackle may belong to walk-on Jordan Boatman . The redshirt junior has the size like Paul as he’s listed at 6-feet-6, 325 pounds (after adding nearly 30 pounds in the past three seasons). The Woodlands (College Park HS) native made a start against Tulsa late last season and has participated in 13 games over the past two seasons after redshirting in 2017. Boatman is a mauler in the run game and does a nice job on sticking to his assignment through the end of the whistle. As a walk-on however, you could probably figure out he’s too mechanical in his pass protection sets and has slow footwork. He’s definitely the type of “player development” kind of player that always seems to find success along Cullen Boulevard though.
One player to keep an eye on, whether he starts at a tackle spot or just adds depth is Reuben Unije (6-5, 315). The former 4-star recruit out of IMG Academy (Bradenton, Florida) started his career at Illinois in 2018 before transferring to Coahoma Junior College in Mississippi. The problem is he’s very raw as he started playing late in his high school career. The physical tools are there as they don’t just let anyone play at IMG Academy, which is basically just a training ground for major division 1 colleges. He received offers from Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, Oregon and Oklahoma before signing with the Illini. He transferred to Coahoma after just four games in Champaign for “personal reasons.”
James Faminu is even more of a project. Out of London, England (London Academy), Faminu looks the part at 6-6, 350 pounds, but much like Unije, he needs to get the basics down such as learning to use leverage to explode out of his stance. At that kind of height that can be difficult to play with on a day-to-day basis. Once they both learn how to lower their pad level without thinking about it, they should be able to power through their opponents in the run game. Learning the intricacies of pass protection via their footwork will also take time. Both will probably play four games and redshirt, but the experience of Paul and Boatman should give them the advantage of becoming starter at both tackle spots.
Gio Pancotti (6-6, 310) started the final game of the season at right tackle so he’s also a candidate to start outside, but his nine total starts along the interior (seven at left guard, two at right) probably assures the former Texas Tech transfer seeing most of his playing time in his final season inside rather than out.
Brandon Jones has a pleasant problem as far as who starts at both guard spots and center. Does he keep the most experienced player along the line, Braylon Jones (6-4, 315), at center after starting the first four games of the season there or does he move him back to one of his more comfortable spots at either right or left guard where he made 31 starts from the 2016 through 2018 seasons. Jones redshirted last season after suffering a shoulder injury in the fourth game of the season. It’s usually best that an experienced upperclassman is your starter at center as he handles the calls for the entire line, but Jones experience at both interior spots may trump that comfortableness of his position coach. Jones could also play at one of the tackle spots in a pinch as he started the final six games of the 2016 season at right tackle due to injury.
After Jones injury last season, both Jack Freeman (6-3, 278, RSo.) and Keenan Murphy (6-3, 298, RSr.) made starts at center with seven and one, respectively. Though on the lighter side weight wise, Freeman will surely gain good weight as he continues in strength & conditioning coach Darl Bauer ’s program as his career continues. The fact that his coaches had enough confidence in the Midlothian (Heritage High) product to start as a redshirt freshman last season says a lot, especially considering Murphy has much more experience having played in 15 games over the previous two seasons before adding 12 more during the 2019 season. Murphy’s best position may be left guard as he started seven starts at the position over the past two seasons (including six in 2019). If Freeman should get injured, Murphy should not have too much of a problem at center as he had 39 career starts at Crosby High. While Murphy looks more mechanical, Freeman looks more like a true technician at the position as well as a true team leader as he was named Heritage’s offensive line MVP his final two seasons in north Texas.
Other players that could line up inside, that saw playing time last season, include Max Banes (6-5, 301, RSo.), Dennis Bardwell (6-7, 305, Sr.), Kameron Lewis (6-4, 268, So.), Cam’Ron Johnson (6-4, 291, RFr.), and Chayse Todd (6-2, 270, RFr.). Banes started the final three games at right guard and played in 11 games after playing in four and redshirting in 2018. The St. Thomas (Houston) product has a high upside intellectually speaking along with the bloodlines as his father Joey Banes also played at UH and was a draft pick of the Oilers in 1990. Bardwell has the mean streak to play the interior if not necessarily the experience, though the Huffman-Hargrave product has participated in 17 career games with four starts at right guard (in 2019). Lewis has seen action in one game over the past two seasons as he’s still a bit raw and needs to gain weight, but has a high upside at either tackle or guard as he can block on the edge, as he did his junior and senior seasons at Spring Klein Collins, and is a bulldozer in the run game once engaged. Todd also redshirted last season after starting at every position at Crosby over the previous two seasons. Though he’s also a project, Todd projects best at guard as he’s tough to control in the run game. Finally, Johnson also took a redshirt last season not playing a game as he needs to learn to refine his technique and bulk up. Johnson was a team captain for an Alvin Shadow Creek team that went 15-1, losing 27-17 to Highland Park in the Class 5A state finals in their first season playing varsity ball in 2018.
Look for true freshmen Derek Bowman (6-5, 250) and Ugonna Nnanna (6-4, 265) to redshirt this season as they need to, you guessed it, gain good weight. Bowman, out of Magnolia, played both guard and tackle and was named District 8-5A Offensive lineman of the year last season as a 3-star and Top-100 Texas recruit. Nnanna also played both guard and tackle at Arlington Seguin in the North Texas area and was named District 5-5A 2nd team last season as a 3-star prospect.
A late addition to the roster is Marcus ‘ Tank ’ Jenkins , a 6-3, 325 behemoth out of Montgomery, Alabama. The former 4-star prospect signed with Texas A&M in 2018 but hasn’t seen the field in his two seasons in College Station. As it stands today, the redshirt sophomore has three seasons to play three, though he’ll need to win an eligibility appeal to the NCAA in order to play this season. Word has it that Jenkins was lining up with A&M’s first team in spring ball in 2018, but got overpowered by defensive linemen due to lack of fundamentals, mainly hand placement and footwork. An injury early in his freshman season also accounted for Jenkins not seeing the field. Though he was a tackle in high school in the 6A level in Alabama, Jenkins is projected at playing guard from here on out because of his strength and mauling ability at the point of attack. But like with so many of his fellow linemen, Jones will have a lot of work “coaching up” his line, though the athletic ability and talent is definitely in the room.
In all, the offensive line returns 71 career starts but most coming along the interior as only Paul, Boatman and Pancotti have combined for just five starts last season at both tackle spots. Braylon Jones is the most experienced with 35 career starts (13 games at right guard, 12 at left guard, six at right tackle and four at center). Pancotti started nine games at both guard spots (seven at LG) last season while Keenan Murphy started seven at LG the previous season. Freeman started seven games at center last season while Banes comes in next with three starts at LG last season as well. Looking at the depth chart, experience wise, it may look something like this entering the season;
LT – Patrick Paul , Rueben Unije , Kameron Lewis
LG – Gio Pancotti , Max Banes , Ugonna Nnanna
C – Jack Freeman , Keenan Murphy , Chase Todd
RG – Brandon Jones , Dennis Bardwell , Cam’Ron Johnson
RT – Jordan Boatman , James Faminu , Derek Bowman
Note : Jenkins isn’t included in this because he’s not eligible to play this season as of this writing. If he does become eligible, he could start at either guard spot along with Pancotti, pushing Jones back to center. Tank could also push Boatman for playing time at right tackle if he realizes his ton of potential. There’s a lot of versatility with this group, but it’ll be Brandon Jones and the offensive staff’s job to find the best five to not only start the season. Also, due to Covid-19 and normal injuries offensive linemen typically accrue during a season, keeping every player engaged will be key as depth could ultimately determine how successful the offense is this season.
