Post spring football series Part 3 — Offensive line

Harry · May 29, 2012

I’m back from a short vacation and am ready to resume my post-spring blog series on UNT’s roster position-by-position by evaluating the Mean Green’s offensive line, but first a fun story.

Vicky and I went to Portland for a few days and picked up a car at the airport. The guy from Enterprise looked at my license and said, “Denton, home of the Mean Green.”

Long story short, we got to talking and it turned out the guy went to Troy for a couple of semesters before graduating from a school in Florida.

(Insert joke about the Troy guy working at Enterprise here)

Anyway, just thought that was interesting. But back to the matter at hand.

UNT’s offensive line was a big strength last season. Lance Dunbar ranked third in the Sun Belt with 1,115 rushing yards on the season and UNT allowed just 16 sacks, a total that also ranked third in the league.

What is a huge positive for UNT going forward is that most of the group is back and some young players gained experience in the spring that will allow them to provide added depth.

The lone player UNT lost who played a significant role was tackle Matt Tomlinson, who was a first-team All-Sun Belt selection. JJ Johnson was expected to start at center, but was hurt in the season-opener and never really played a major role outside of being a great leader.

Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2012/05/post-spring-football-series-part-2-offensive-line-back-from-a-little-vacation.html/

greenminer · May 29, 2012

How do you pronounce Lemon's first name?

All About UNT · May 30, 2012

How do you pronounce Lemon's first name?

[beest] or

[an-uh-muhl]

GrayEagle · May 30, 2012

How do you pronounce Lemon's first name?

I like All About UNT's definition but seriously it is SEAR'ul.

Edited May 30, 2012 by GrayEagle

GrayEagle · May 30, 2012

I believe that this is the strongest (no pun intended) unit of the team. Lemon should be all-conference and the others are not far behind.

I don't worry about Coleman Feeley. He has two things going for him that he didn't have as a previous starter. Those are OL Coach Mike Simmonds and Strength Coach Frank Wintrich. If he holds off Cam Feldt he'll be a strong part of the front five.

I know that everyone expected Cam Feldt to be an instant all-star but as talented as he is I think that he's still pretty raw. Plus I'm not sure that he was as motivated as he needed to be. When his brother Boone gets here this fall I believe that they will feed off of one another and be a formidable pair of offensive linemen for the next three years.

Throw in the potential of Micah Thompson, Travis Ellard, Connor Trussel and perhaps Grant Shaw, and Brent Rentfro and this group will continue to be strong. I trust Coach Simmonds to keep it that way.

GrandGreen · May 30, 2012

Don't forget that Feeley has actually started two years. Mc is prone to exaggeration, but he said that Johnson was 6'7 320 now.

I think the offensive line may not only be the strongest part of the team this year, but could be the unit that allows this team to go up a notch. I see a good runner game despite the loss of Dunbar who with the exception of a couple of games last year was playing hurt. I don't see any star running backs, but a lot of depth.

jimbob · June 1, 2012

Fun to guess about these guys. Feldt will never start for UNT. Lemon may be All Conf, but olny because Mac has hyped him from the start (he was a good freshman though). Johnson was a pretty bad RT, but came alive as a LT last year, who'd a thought. Feeley will do well as RT this year, but some of the DEs he'll play against are real BEASTS (LSU dude is 1st round NFL). The guy that most people overlook and shouldn't is Fortenberry. Don't be surprised to see him on Sundays the season after this. No other lineman is even close. Lemon maybe in 2/3 years if he can learn the plays.

footballmommy · June 1, 2012

I agree with jimbob, it will be a lot of fun to guess about our oline. The funny thing is the hype around Cam Feldt and if anyone was at the spring game, it explains A LOT why he is not still a Razorback. He was a great recruiting tool for his brother and I think his brother may live up to expectations set for him. The oline will be a strong force this year barring no injuries. Fortenberry comes in as a 3 year player as center. Everyone can argue the fact that he was 3rd string or whatever, but the statistics show, he's been consistent. He should prove to be one of the best center's in the Sunbelt conference this year. He's a great kid and I see good things to come for that young man. While I'm on that note, I hear he has a brother that will be a Senior next year that Tulsa and New Mexico are looking at strong!!! Might be a great opportunity for UNT to glance his way......just a thought. Now back to the players at hand, with the guards of Y'Barbo and Lemon who both have experience now and from the looks of Wintrich's program are going to be beasts. Feeley and Johnson will do well at tackle. Feeley knows the game and has the size to dominate whether going up against first round NFL recruits or not. When he's on, he's on! Johnson is still finding his feet and how exactly they are to be used,but Coach Simmonds and Wintrich seem to be giving these guys all they've got. Now, for the season to start and these guys to give all they've got back. I'm excited for this last season of Sunbelt play and for the upcoming Conference USA. With the coaching staff in place, it will be a great season!

Harry · June 1, 2012

Here is a profile I found for Avery Fortenberry:

http://www.maxpreps.com/athletes/KdrWGsSENUenUhZ5hb_kZQ/football-fall-11/stats-avery-fortenberry.htm

GrandGreen · June 3, 2012

Fun to guess about these guys. Feldt will never start for UNT. Lemon may be All Conf, but olny because Mac has hyped him from the start (he was a good freshman though). Johnson was a pretty bad RT, but came alive as a LT last year, who'd a thought. Feeley will do well as RT this year, but some of the DEs he'll play against are real BEASTS (LSU dude is 1st round NFL). The guy that most people overlook and shouldn't is Fortenberry. Don't be surprised to see him on Sundays the season after this. No other lineman is even close. Lemon maybe in 2/3 years if he can learn the plays.

Feldt is a sophomore, so he has time to develop. Way too early to dismiss him. Just because some were ignorant enough to think because he transferred from a big program that he would dominate, doesn't mean he won't be an asset to the team. It not going to be easy though; Ellerd, Anyiam, Thompson and Shaw are all worthy competition.

UNTLifer · June 4, 2012

Feldt is a sophomore, so he has time to develop. Way too early to dismiss him. Just because some were ignorant enough to think because he transferred from a big program that he would dominate, doesn't mean he won't be an asset to the team. It not going to be easy though; Ellerd, Anyiam, Thompson and Shaw are all worthy competition.

Funny how many tout how important Rivals' star ratings are for our recruits, C. Feldt was a 4 star, yet dismiss this later. I didn't think he would dominate, but I did have high expectations based on his rating comjng out of HS and being recruited and signed by Arkansas.

El Paso Eagle · June 4, 2012

Funny how many tout how important Rivals' star ratings are for our recruits, C. Feldt was a 4 star, yet dismiss this later. I didn't think he would dominate, but I did have high expectations based on his rating comjng out of HS and being recruited and signed by Arkansas.

You bring up the never ending hindsight = 20/20 of the posting world. Afterwards it is easy to show how knowledgeable you are. This is also known as “the longer I wait the smarter I was” syndrome.

UNTLifer · June 4, 2012

This is why I prefer rating a recruiting class a couple of years down the road.

MeanGreenTexan · June 4, 2012

It's time we have an offensive offensive line... if you know what I mean.

Our guys should not only be big, strong, skilled and mean, but maybe consider not shaving until after the bowl game and only bathing in the pond outside of Apogee. The stench can only help when they line up against the equally smelly swamp people of Baton Rouge, then become an advantage against other inferior opponents.

Marty · June 5, 2012

Here is a profile I found for Avery Fortenberry:

http://www.maxpreps....fortenberry.htm

There's another Fortenberry brother that plays for Austin College (not near as big though!):

http://www.austincollege.edu/40335/aubrey-fortenberry/

GrandGreen · June 5, 2012

Funny how many tout how important Rivals' star ratings are for our recruits, C. Feldt was a 4 star, yet dismiss this later. I didn't think he would dominate, but I did have high expectations based on his rating comjng out of HS and being recruited and signed by Arkansas.

Ratings are at best, probabilities, far from absolutes. There is a lot of differences between getting a four star recruit out of high school and as a transfer years later. Everyone is quick to discard the ratings by citing endless examples of 2 stars that became great college football players as well as highly rated recruits who don't. Yet, many seem to think those high school ratings are still meaningful after a player has actually played in college.

Stating the obvious, to get most four or five star athletes from high school usually means that your university has actually beaten out many schools including upper tier schools for their services. This doesn't mean they are good players but it does mean that many thought they had the potential to excel at the college level. Getting a transfer to sign is a lot different, most are transferring because they aren't getting a lot of playing time. The difficulty of signing them has to do with how they perform at the college level, reason for transferring, and as always potential. Some are in great demand, others not so much.

Unless the athlete is exceptional, most "big time" programs don't want them because they had rather use that ship for another highly recruited high school athlete. In most cases, the player has not done well at the college level and most would have to set out a year. So usually, the transfer goes to a program lower on the athletic chain and the recruiting is a lot less competitive than when the same player was in high school.