Yenser updates the status of the Big Blue Wall

This weekend Yenser appeared on Sunday Morning Sports Talk with Jack Pilgrim, Anthony White, and Larry Vaught for a conversation about the Cats' offensive line.

Here are some highlights from the conversation, which shed some light on Yenser's thought process with the season approaching.

** Yenser mentioned that he's been able to do some work with the players on Tuesday and Thursday mornings with some of the recent NCAA rule changes.

** Having both Kenneth Horsey and Eli Cox at guard is a positive. Yenser pointed out that Horsey was at guard through training camp and they bumped him out to tackle for a quick fix.

** Jager Burton's experience last year allowed him to build the confidence to be able to make the calls at center. They have better experience and a lot of games played.

** Backups are chomping at the bit and that's what he's preached to them; trying to preach competition so nobody gets comfortable feeling like they own the spot.

** Marques Cox came in after the first portal wave and established himself as the left tackle. He had a really good spring. Knows he has to continue to get stronger for what his goals are for after this year. He's been a great leader in the offensive line room. In only six months he's fit right in and you would have thought he's been there for four years.

** Courtland Ford came in after the second portal window as did Ben Christman and Dylan Ray. All of them have had tackle experience in high school or college. The goal is to build depth and competition. Ford has had a great summer learning the offense. He's competing with Jeremy Flax for the right tackle position. They should be able to protect the quarterback a little better because Devin Leary is pretty special.

** On the struggles last season Yenser said there might have been some issues with verbiage with Rich Scangarello coming in but they were also very inexperienced. Horsey was out of position. He played against Iowa at tackle in '21 but had little tackle experience. Eli Cox was in a new position. Guys battled their butts off but it was a struggle to gel with injuries. There can't be any excuses because they didn't play as well as they needed to, but they did win seven games and were close to winning nine.

** The players loved Liam Coen in 2021. The staff, the players, "heck I came to work for him." Having him back with a reset going into his second year and Yenser's second year, the o-line's second year with his verbiage, was good. Scangarello didn't do anything wrong but they had a lot of verbiage in the offense and they've cut that out so guys can "just play".

** Yenser said he would tell Coen this in person and he did recently: He's a really good football coach and guys pick up on their confidence. He has a little bit of swag to him like "we're here to put points up." He's confidence and it spills over to everyone else. His presence, personality, and how he treats guys are great. Everybody on offense feels like they have a voice whether you're the o-line coach, a quality control coach, or a graduate assistant. You have the freedom to bring stuff up and you're not scared to speak up. Guys have good thoughts and he encourages that. He has a vision and it's ultimately his product on the field but everyone in that room on the offensive staff has a voice. That's good especially for young guys.

** Burton went through growing pains as a redshirt freshman but it will make him a much better player this year. You recruit talented guys like Burton to start as a redshirt sophomore. That's how you recruit guys out of high school. You've had two years in the program to mature, get stronger, and learn. This is the year to start building on and Burton has grasped that. He's worked very hard on snapping. Burton is still young when it comes to playing offensive line. You hear stories about how he was a sophomore at Frederick Douglass playing running back. He's watching a lot of film, picking Yenser and Drake Jackson's brain, and he's playing between two experienced SEC guards. This will be a huge fall camp for him. They will do some things that showcase his ability to get out in space and get to the second level.

** Ultimately it's the offensive line's job to keep Leary safe and healthy. If we don't do our job people can get hurt. It's a big responsibility but it's one the guys are embracing. That's why they went out and brought guys in to compete. They want to find eight to ten guys who can play in the SEC and he feels like they have that.

** Leary is very friendly to the o-line with how he moves around and how quickly the ball comes out.

** Calls Nik Hall a very talented player. He's been banged up a little bit and is working on some stuff with his back to see where it takes off. They have to get these high school guys into the program and developing. With Hall and Malachi Wood, guys with length, need to keep them in Lexington and developing so you aren't just taking transfer tackles each time. You don't want to get away from recruiting high school players at that tackle position. Those tackles are very coveted, it's tough to recruit them.

** As a backup center you have Koby Keenum who came in this spring as a freshman. He ran with the twos all spring as a backup center. You have Tanner Bowles who has taken snaps, as has Eli Cox. If Burton went down with an injury, Cox would bump over to center until they get something in place. You get your best five on the field right now. Keenum and Bowles are working on developing depth for them there. They have four or five guys who snap every practice. Paul Rodriguez and Grant Bingham snap as well because you can't get caught short there.

** The whole defensive line is great competition. Deone Walker, J.J Weaver in pass rush, Oxendine - "if we can protect and run the ball against those guys we're going to be able to do it against anybody in the SEC, and I truly believe that." Yenser said he still tries to get Walker to be a two way player (laughing). Why not come for tackle on third downs? From top to bottom that defensive line is exciting.

** Walker is freaky talented and he's such a good dude. He's not prideful. He's the type of guy who is going to succeed and will have a long career because of his talent and how he is. He's tough to block one-on-one. You hold your breath that he's on the man side of protection.