Williams Blog/Links: O-Line notes

How’s your Friday going Cyclone Nation? Not too shabby here.

It’s a rather slow news day in the world of Iowa State athletics so I thought that in today’s blog, I’d share some notes that I took after interviewing Iowa State’s offensive line coach Bill Bleil, on Tuesday of this week.

First of all, what an impressive ball coach. Bleil was great to sit and talk football with. I hope that you all enjoyed the Q&A that I posted yesterday. Now that is what I call insight Fanatics. The number one thing that I learned during my 15 minutes with Bill is that despite what any of us “experts” think, in reality, we know nothing about what being a quality division one offensive lineman is about. It is such a tough position to watch analyze. It takes a special eye to be able to pick up on the little things and as Bliel proved this year, he’s very good at it.

Bleil had a lot of great things to say about senior center Reggie Stepehns. I for one will miss interviewing the big man. The thing that I liked about Reggie was that despite what was going on, he always tried to be positive. After the whole appendectomy thing, he didn’t make any excuses. He didn’t complain about pain. He’s just a good, wholesome guy, who looks to have a future in the NFL. Reggie will represent Iowa State in the 85th East-West Shrine game in Orlando on Jan. 23.

Football wise, during the meeting, I learned that Ben Lamaak will play center next year for Iowa State and Bliel is very much in love with Brayden Burris. He mentioned Burris’ name at least five times, as a guy who will be in serious competition for the right tackle position during the spring. From what I was able to gather, here is what I think Iowa State’s line could look like on Sept. 2 against Northern Illinois.

LT – Kelechi Osemele LG – Alex Alverez C – Ben Lamaak RG – Scott Haughton RT – Brayden Burris

It’s hard to imagine that not being one of Iowa State’s strengths in 2010. With an experienced quarterback and Alexander Robinson returning as well, it could be a special season for Iowa State’s offense. Consistency at wide receiver will be key.

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