Boise State Roster Breakdown: Offensive Line

And finally, last but most certainly not least we take a look at the Offensive line for Boise State in our final installment of our Boise State Roster Breakdown for the 2016 season.

There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it the most important position group on this Boise State football team is the offensive line.

The trenches aren’t exactly the sexiest part of the football field, but they will go a long way in determining what type of success this team can have. They have to make holes for McNichols, and they have to keep Rypien off the ground as much as possible. If this group can accomplish those two tasks, Boise will be well placed to achieve their lofty goals.

With the depth chart coming out yesterday, most of the mystery regarding the offensive line starters has been resolved. Mario Yakoo will start at right tackle, Steven Baggett at right guard, Mason Hampton at center, Travis Averill at left guard and that just leaves left tackle.

Left tackle is coming down to the wire. When Bryan Harsin addressed the media yesterday, he said that a decision will be made Wednesday night, so they can fine tune whoever the starter is starting Thursday. The candidates: senior transfer Will Adams, and Archie Lewis.

Harsin added that he feels “comfortable” with either guy starting, but doesn’t expect Boise to do a lot of back and forth between the two. He did mention that it is possible for the player who loses out on left tackle to be an option to fill in across the line – if there’s an injury – depending on who goes down.

Regardless of who comes out victorious in the battle for left tackle. This Boise State offensive line has high expectations from fans and coaches alike. Scott Huff says he expects this group’s strength to be their ability to communicate and adapt. “…There preparation and ability to adjust, because there are a lot of times teams don’t play the way we go into a game expecting them to play, so to use their past experiences to help out in the moment, is what I would hope for.”

Everyone will know the starting five for Boise State later tonight, but like Coach Huff mentioned yesterday, it is more important to have five guys on the same page, than it is to have five superstars on the field. That is what Boise is going to have to get from their offensive line this season. This team simply cannot have Brett Rypien go down due to injury. There were many times last year when Rypien took hard hit after hard hit, not all the fault of the o-line, but those hits must be limited this year if Boise wants to reach the heights they aspire to.

Let us know what you think of this year’s offensive line in the comments below. Will they be able to keep Rypien clean? Who do you think should start at left tackle?