Offensive Line Notes and Observations

The offensive line received its first grades of the season following Friday’s scrimmage, and coach Mark McHale said numbers were pretty low across the board. Mario Henderson had the highest grade, but it was still below where he stood at the end of last season.

This time of year, that’s not a huge concern, but McHale did identify several things that need to improve. Low blocking was the biggest deficiency, though Monday the group showed progress in that area. It’s not an easy problem to fix, according to McHale, and will take constant drilling to overcome.

McHale continues to shuffle his first-team. Walk-on Marcus Ford moved to the starting line in place of right guard Geoff Berniard.

“He did pretty good,” McHale said. “He had one run where he crossed his feet, basic fundamentals.”

McHale said Shannon Boatman has to catch up in the mental aspects of the game. David Overmyer is bigger and stronger, but needs to work on lower-body fundamentals. In the first scrimmage, McHale was pleased with how physical Henderson performed.

“He was more physical than he was in the bowl game,” McHale said. “He’s on track to have a good spring.”

So far, the offensive line has stayed healthy unlike last year when injuries forced the Seminoles to rely on walk-ons and cross-trained players to fill positions. Center John Frady has been able to participate despite earlier reports that had him questionable for the spring.

“I was out there with a lot of walk-ons starting in these scrimmage,” McHale said. “I’m glad to see Frady going after shoulder surgery.”

Florida State focused on carrying the ball during Monday’s scrimmage - just over half of the plays were runs - and McHale hopes that is something that will continue through the rest of spring football.

“They have to be able to block,” McHale said. “When stuff moves, they have to be able to block. What happens is when you pound Booker in there and you pound Antone in there, and then they do these stunts and you catch them, what happens? There they go.”