Caple: Did CFP teams build O-lines how Huskies want to build theirs?

Jan 10, 2025, 1:07 PM

Tyler Warren of Penn State runs for a touchdown against against the UW Huskies in 2024. (Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)

(Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)

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Jedd Fisch has been clear about how he prefers to build the UW Huskies’ roster.

Washington should always rely primarily on players recruited out of high school, Fisch has said, while using the transfer portal to plug holes and address talent deficiencies. He sees high-school recruiting similar to the NFL Draft, and the transfer portal similar to free agency.

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There is no position for which those principles should hold more true than the offensive line. The position demands continuity by its very nature, for purposes of both development and performance. As such, it’s seen as the most difficult to build or replenish via the transfer portal. Starting-caliber players are few and far between — and therefore quite expensive — and familiarity often makes for greater cohesiveness.

“If we can snag one or two (from the portal), great,” Fisch said this season, “but in the end, you don’t really want to live like that.”

Roster turnover necessitated portal reinforcements in Fisch’s first season at UW, when the Huskies at times rolled out a starting offensive line which featured four transfers. They’ve added two more transfers this offseason — Carver Willis from Kansas State and Geirean Hatchett from Oklahoma (though the latter, a Ferndale native, spent the 2020-23 seasons at Washington) — but also signed five high-school prospects (six before Peter Langi’s decision to play elsewhere). When they take the field for next season’s opener, it’s likely the Huskies will fill at least three starting o-line positions with players who came to UW as transfers, even if two of them (Hatchett and Drew Azzopardi) will not be playing at Washington for the first time.

It all has me wondering how the nation’s best built their offensive lines. I focused on the most recent starting five (i.e. the lineup they used in the quarterfinals) for each of the four teams competing in this week’s College Football Playoff semifinals.

Here’s what I found. Players signed with their respective schools out of high school unless otherwise noted. Rankings are via the 247Sports Composite.

• OHIO STATE

Austin Siereveld (4-star, No. 302 in 2023)
Josh Fryar (3-star, No. 502 in 2020)
Donovan Jackson (5-star, No. 19 in 2021)
Carson Hinzman (4-star, No. 177 in 2022)
Tegra Tshabola (4-star, No. 104 in 2022)

• TEXAS

DJ Campbell (5-star, No. 10 in 2022)
Jake Majors (4-star, No. 199 in 2020)
Trevor Goosby (4-star, No. 413 in 2023)
Hayden Conner (3-star, No. 434 in 2021)
Kelvin Banks Jr. (5-star, No. 33 in 2022)

• NOTRE DAME

Rocco Spindler (4-star, No. 60 in 2021)
Anthony Knapp (4-star, No. 332 in 2024)
Aamil Wagner (4-star, No. 112 in 2022)
Billy Schrauth (4-star, No. 149, in 2022)
Pat Coogan (3-star, No. 613, in 2021)

• PENN STATE

Nick Dawkins (3-star, No. 882 in 2020)
Drew Shelton (4-star, No. 122 in 2022)
Olaivavega Ioane (3-star, No. 573 in 2022)
Nolan Rucci (5-star, No. 16 in 2021, TRANSFER this season from Wisconsin)
Sal Wormley (4-star, No. 270 in 2019)

Yes, there is just one transfer out of those 20 offensive linemen, and even that was sort of a unique case, as Rucci was a mega-prospect who chose Wisconsin out of high school before transferring back to his home state.

Not only did each of this year’s CFP semifinalists rely almost exclusively on high-school development to supply their starting o-lines, but those players also were highly rated as prospects. All four teams start at least three former blue-chip prospects, while Notre Dame, Ohio State and Texas each have blue-chippers at four of their five starting o-line positions. That’s not so surprising, considering these are four of the top 11 schools in this year’s 247Sports Talent Composite rankings (Washington ranks 35th).

It’s also worth noting that 16 of the 20 o-line starters for the four semifinalists are in at least their third year in their respective programs.

Not every team in the CFP field followed this model. Arizona State, for example, rolled out a starting offensive line against Texas that featured zero players recruited out of high school; two were JUCO transfers, one came from California, another transferred from UNLV and another had already played at Houston and Hawaii (though not all were in their first season at ASU). Similarly, four of SMU’s five o-line starters came to the school as transfers.

Indiana relied on transfers up and down its roster under first-year coach Curt Cignetti. In their first-round CFP loss to Notre Dame, the Hoosiers did start three offensive linemen who signed with Indiana out of high-school, but two others came to IU as transfers, including one who followed Cignetti from James Madison.

Oregon started two transfer o-linemen against Ohio State, though one, Nishad Strother, was in his second year with the Ducks.

Georgia didn’t start any o-line transfers. Neither did Clemson or Boise State.

As it currently stands, the Huskies could enter the 2025 season with 17 scholarship offensive linemen, four of whom arrived at UW as transfers (of those four, at least two will be seniors). Of the 13 who signed with the Huskies out of high school (not counting Geirean Hatchett), four were blue-chip prospects.

It’s a position still in flux. It might be another year before Fisch achieves his ideal balance between program-developed linemen and those added via the portal.

You could argue it’s the one aspect of Fisch’s build that can’t be fast tracked. History suggests patience might be rewarded: one year ago today, Washington played for a national championship with an offensive line composed wholly of players recruited out of high school.

This article was originally published at OnMontlake.com, the home for Christian Caple’s full UW Huskies football coverage. Subscribe to On Montlake for full access to in-depth UW Huskies coverage.