The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Football Positional Preview: The Offensive Line
6/10/2020 1:16:00 PM | Football
BIRMINGHAM – Led by a duo of All-Conference USA tackles, the UAB offensive line returns five senior starters and boasts a ton of experience entering the 2020 campaign.
Senior left tackle Colby Ragland and senior right tackle Sidney Wells each earned Honorable Mention All-Conference USA in 2019. In his first year as a Blazer, Wells was the only offensive lineman to start all 14 games.
Ragland started all 13 games he appeared in last season and enters his third year in the system after playing in four games during the 2018 championship year, before exercising the redshirt rule. These two will anchor the tackle positions.
Although it was Ragland and Wells who earned the conference accolades last year, it is senior Greg Fecanin whose seen the most action. A versatile lineman that has played left guard, center and right guard, Fecanin has played in 39 career games with 12 starts, nine of which came last season (eight at right guard, one at left guard).
Andrew Smith Jr. and Jakoby Jones are the other returning starters. Smith Jr. made his first career start at Texas A&M in 2018, but only appeared in four games that year to utilize the redshirt rule. He played in and started nine games in 2019, seven of which came at center and two at right guard. With the departure of captain center Lee Dufour, Smith Jr. looks to seize the full-time starting center position and will be pushed by talented redshirt freshman Will Rykard.
In his first year at UAB, Jones started eight games as a junior, five at left guard, one at left tackle, and two at tight end when UAB lined up in a jumbo package. With UAB using nine different starting lineups along the offensive line, redshirt junior Patrick Nuss also started four games, all at right guard, and all of which came in the stretch run including the bowl game vs. Appalachian State.
Coming off a redshirt season, Matthew Trehern was having a very strong spring until COVID-19 cut the semester short. He and fellow redshirt juniors Shaun'tavis Vardaman and Zack Aylor, along with redshirt senior Carter Wood and redshirt freshman Chris Noble should all push for playing time.
New faces on the offensive line will be joining the Blazers this summer as well, and should provide immediate competition and depth amongst a very talented and experienced unit.
The Blazers look to build upon a league-best 28 wins since the start of 2017. With 18 returning starters, UAB eyes its third-straight C-USA West Division title and aims for its second overall conference title in the past three years.
Season tickets for 2020 are on sale starting as low as $75 with the Family Four Pack. Blazer Boosters members and current season ticket holders will have top priority for Protective Stadium entering 2021. Click here to purchase season tickets.
Senior left tackle Colby Ragland and senior right tackle Sidney Wells each earned Honorable Mention All-Conference USA in 2019. In his first year as a Blazer, Wells was the only offensive lineman to start all 14 games.
Ragland started all 13 games he appeared in last season and enters his third year in the system after playing in four games during the 2018 championship year, before exercising the redshirt rule. These two will anchor the tackle positions.
Although it was Ragland and Wells who earned the conference accolades last year, it is senior Greg Fecanin whose seen the most action. A versatile lineman that has played left guard, center and right guard, Fecanin has played in 39 career games with 12 starts, nine of which came last season (eight at right guard, one at left guard).
Andrew Smith Jr. and Jakoby Jones are the other returning starters. Smith Jr. made his first career start at Texas A&M in 2018, but only appeared in four games that year to utilize the redshirt rule. He played in and started nine games in 2019, seven of which came at center and two at right guard. With the departure of captain center Lee Dufour, Smith Jr. looks to seize the full-time starting center position and will be pushed by talented redshirt freshman Will Rykard.
In his first year at UAB, Jones started eight games as a junior, five at left guard, one at left tackle, and two at tight end when UAB lined up in a jumbo package. With UAB using nine different starting lineups along the offensive line, redshirt junior Patrick Nuss also started four games, all at right guard, and all of which came in the stretch run including the bowl game vs. Appalachian State.
Coming off a redshirt season, Matthew Trehern was having a very strong spring until COVID-19 cut the semester short. He and fellow redshirt juniors Shaun'tavis Vardaman and Zack Aylor, along with redshirt senior Carter Wood and redshirt freshman Chris Noble should all push for playing time.
New faces on the offensive line will be joining the Blazers this summer as well, and should provide immediate competition and depth amongst a very talented and experienced unit.
The Blazers look to build upon a league-best 28 wins since the start of 2017. With 18 returning starters, UAB eyes its third-straight C-USA West Division title and aims for its second overall conference title in the past three years.
Season tickets for 2020 are on sale starting as low as $75 with the Family Four Pack. Blazer Boosters members and current season ticket holders will have top priority for Protective Stadium entering 2021. Click here to purchase season tickets.
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