Eastern Michigan Athletics
Photo by: Andrew Mascharka
Football Concludes Day Eight On the Practice Field
8/10/2017 3:48:00 PM | Football
EMU continues to get crucial reps for its retooled offensive line
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YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) — The Eastern Michigan University football team continues to grind through training camp as the Eagles hit the field for opportunity number eight Thursday, Aug. 10 at Rynearson Stadium. Today also concludes the look at the offensive side of the ball, as we focus in on the youngest position group, the offensive line.
EMU will see some new faces on a retooled offensive line that lost three starters from a season ago, including All-MAC tackles, and current NFL players, Cole Gardner and Andrew Wylie. Overall, the Eagles have just one senior o-lineman on the roster, and return 29 total starts. This does not mean the cupboard is bare, however, as many promising players will get their first crack to prove themselves on the front line.
One of the returning primary starters from a season ago is junior Jimmy Leatiota (San Jose, Calif.-Wilcox (College of San Mateo)) who started all 13 games at guard on an offensive line that allowed the ninth-fewest sacks and the second-fewest tackles for loss in 2016. His efforts have him gaining much preseason recognition, including Second Team Preseason All-MAC by Athlon Sports, an Outland Trophy preseason watch list candidate, as well as a Polynesian College Football Player of the Year watch list candidate.
In addition to Leatiota, the other returning player with primary starting experience is redshirt junior Ka'John Armstrong (Detroit, Mich.-Loyala) who had nine starts last season at guard and has 11 for his career. Beyond those two, the only other players with starting experience are redshirt junior Jeremy Hickey (Troy, Mich.-Brother Rice), who had a pair in 2015 before missing most of last season with an injury, and sophomore Steve Nielsen (Dragoer, Denmark-La Lumiere (Ind.) School) who made one start in his true freshman season, but also played significant minutes in 11 contests.
Just because there is a relative lack in starting experience for the Eagles this season, does not mean they lack experience in general. A trio of talented upperclassmen will look to make a name for themselves despite not having cracked the starting lineup thus far into their careers. Redshirt juniors Dakota Tallman (LaGrange, Ohio-Elyria Catholic) and Chris Bukoski (Dewitt, Mich.-Dewitt), as well as redshirt sophomore Pete Bergman (Casper, Wyo.-Natrona County) have a combined 33 appearances among them. Tallman was also tabbed as a Rimington Trophy preseason candidate which goes to the nation's top college center.
As is usually the case, there is a host of fresh faces who have not seen the field yet for EMU, but could emerge as the season progresses. These include players who have been in the program, such as redshirt senior Dan Samuelson (Plymouth, Mich.-Plymouth (Michigan)), redshirt sophomore Thomas Major III (Macomb, Mich.-Dakota), and redshirt freshmen Michael Smith Jr. (Frostproof, Mich.-Frostproof), Mike Van Hoeven (Paw Paw, Mich.-Paw Paw), and Jake Donnellon (Ann Arbor, Mich.-Gabriel Richard), as well as newcomers junior Sam Dervil (Miami, Fla.-Miami Northwestern (Coffeyville C.C.)) and true freshmen Sidy Sow (Bromont, Quebec-J-H Leclerc-Champlain Lennoxville), Darnell Adams (Byron, Mich.-Byron), Yannik Rohrschneider (Hilden, Germany-Dietrich-Bonhoeffer-Gymnasium), and Francisco Pedrozo (Canton, Ohio-St. Thomas Aquinas).
It is safe to say first-year offensive line coach Luke Meadows has his work cut out for him in his debut season, as he will look for the right combination of starters to be the frontline for an offensive with a tantalizing amount of returning skill position talent.
For updates on the EMU football team, be sure to follow @EMUFB on Twitter with the hashtag #FR4REAL.
The Eagles open the 2017 season under the lights at "The Factory" inside Rynearson Stadium Friday, Sept. 1, versus Charlotte. Single-game tickets went on sale to the today, Aug. 7. Season tickets are available for purchase at EMUEagles.com/tickets, by calling 734.487.3669 or by visiting the EMU Ticket Office daily between 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) — The Eastern Michigan University football team continues to grind through training camp as the Eagles hit the field for opportunity number eight Thursday, Aug. 10 at Rynearson Stadium. Today also concludes the look at the offensive side of the ball, as we focus in on the youngest position group, the offensive line.
EMU will see some new faces on a retooled offensive line that lost three starters from a season ago, including All-MAC tackles, and current NFL players, Cole Gardner and Andrew Wylie. Overall, the Eagles have just one senior o-lineman on the roster, and return 29 total starts. This does not mean the cupboard is bare, however, as many promising players will get their first crack to prove themselves on the front line.
One of the returning primary starters from a season ago is junior Jimmy Leatiota (San Jose, Calif.-Wilcox (College of San Mateo)) who started all 13 games at guard on an offensive line that allowed the ninth-fewest sacks and the second-fewest tackles for loss in 2016. His efforts have him gaining much preseason recognition, including Second Team Preseason All-MAC by Athlon Sports, an Outland Trophy preseason watch list candidate, as well as a Polynesian College Football Player of the Year watch list candidate.
In addition to Leatiota, the other returning player with primary starting experience is redshirt junior Ka'John Armstrong (Detroit, Mich.-Loyala) who had nine starts last season at guard and has 11 for his career. Beyond those two, the only other players with starting experience are redshirt junior Jeremy Hickey (Troy, Mich.-Brother Rice), who had a pair in 2015 before missing most of last season with an injury, and sophomore Steve Nielsen (Dragoer, Denmark-La Lumiere (Ind.) School) who made one start in his true freshman season, but also played significant minutes in 11 contests.
Just because there is a relative lack in starting experience for the Eagles this season, does not mean they lack experience in general. A trio of talented upperclassmen will look to make a name for themselves despite not having cracked the starting lineup thus far into their careers. Redshirt juniors Dakota Tallman (LaGrange, Ohio-Elyria Catholic) and Chris Bukoski (Dewitt, Mich.-Dewitt), as well as redshirt sophomore Pete Bergman (Casper, Wyo.-Natrona County) have a combined 33 appearances among them. Tallman was also tabbed as a Rimington Trophy preseason candidate which goes to the nation's top college center.
As is usually the case, there is a host of fresh faces who have not seen the field yet for EMU, but could emerge as the season progresses. These include players who have been in the program, such as redshirt senior Dan Samuelson (Plymouth, Mich.-Plymouth (Michigan)), redshirt sophomore Thomas Major III (Macomb, Mich.-Dakota), and redshirt freshmen Michael Smith Jr. (Frostproof, Mich.-Frostproof), Mike Van Hoeven (Paw Paw, Mich.-Paw Paw), and Jake Donnellon (Ann Arbor, Mich.-Gabriel Richard), as well as newcomers junior Sam Dervil (Miami, Fla.-Miami Northwestern (Coffeyville C.C.)) and true freshmen Sidy Sow (Bromont, Quebec-J-H Leclerc-Champlain Lennoxville), Darnell Adams (Byron, Mich.-Byron), Yannik Rohrschneider (Hilden, Germany-Dietrich-Bonhoeffer-Gymnasium), and Francisco Pedrozo (Canton, Ohio-St. Thomas Aquinas).
It is safe to say first-year offensive line coach Luke Meadows has his work cut out for him in his debut season, as he will look for the right combination of starters to be the frontline for an offensive with a tantalizing amount of returning skill position talent.
For updates on the EMU football team, be sure to follow @EMUFB on Twitter with the hashtag #FR4REAL.
The Eagles open the 2017 season under the lights at "The Factory" inside Rynearson Stadium Friday, Sept. 1, versus Charlotte. Single-game tickets went on sale to the today, Aug. 7. Season tickets are available for purchase at EMUEagles.com/tickets, by calling 734.487.3669 or by visiting the EMU Ticket Office daily between 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
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