The football roster has been updated on the official Vanderbilt athletics Web site, and offensive lineman Reilly Lauer, who started off and on for the past two seasons after switching from defensive end, is no longer on it.
Not sure exactly why, but I do know that Lauer, at 6-foot-7 and 272 pounds, was awfully lanky and light for an SEC offensive lineman. Technically he was a skilled pass blocker but lacked the power and drive to be an effective run blocker. After starting 10 games at left tackle as a sophomore, he surrendered his position in 2009 to Thomas Welch, who'd started the entire 2008 season at right tackle and was the line's MVP. That left Lauer to duke it out with little-used freshman redshirt James Williams for the right tackle position. Lauer was soundly beaten out by Williams, who had a terrific spring and pre-season camp and looked like the real deal until he broke his ankle in the LSU game.
Lauer filled in for Williams, starting the rest of the season at right tackle, but Vanderbilt clearly struggled running the ball off the right side, which it had done so effectively behind Williams against LSU. A redshirt freshman, Caleb Welchans, also played right tackle and pushed Lauer throughout the season.
Again, not sure why Lauer's gone. Even though he's started most of his career, he wasn't guaranteed a starting job in 2010, even with starters Welch, Bradley Vierling (center), Eric Hensley and Ryan Custer (guards) graduating. Redshirt freshman Ryan Seymour made freshman All-SEC and is being groomed to replace Welch, Williams should return from injury, and Welchans continues to improve and has three more years of eligibility. Seniors Joey Bailey and Chris Aaron have experience playing center, and redshirt junior Kyle Fischer has 12 career starts, mostly at guard.
Coach Bobby Johnson has been mentioning redshirt freshman Wes Johnson a lot since the end of the season, and he could start immediately at either tackle or guard. Another redshirt freshman, Mylon Brown (Jerome's nephew), is a massive guy with quick feet who could also make a splash this year. If any of the verbal commitments have a chance to play as true freshman, it's Grant Ramsay, a likely guard. Of course, if Maplewood (Tenn.) senior James Stone commits then he'll compete right away at tackle — otherwise, we'll probably see him on the field in Tuscaloosa in 2011, wearing Crimson.
A few other things we learned from the updated roster:
• Lineman Justin Cabbagestalk, who was arrested in Tampa before his freshman year, appears to be doing fine on and off the field and is still listed.
• John Burrow, who didn't play last season as a redshirt freshman defensive lineman, is now listed as an offensive lineman and is officially going by the name "Jabo."
• As expected, Collin Ashley is no longer on the roster and has apparently left school.
• His fellow freshman, fellow Texan, fellow receiver Brady Brown had been rumored to be leaving too but is still listed on the team. Good news.
• Running back Jermaine Doster is not listed on the roster, which means he's probably off the team for good after getting into trouble at mid-season.
• Walk-ons Reece Lovell, Dan Sutton, Chavez Scott and Will Parker Roe are no longer on the roster.
You'll notice that graduating seniors such as Mackenzi Adams and Patrick Benoist are still listed on the roster, along with players like Brandon Bryant and Justin Wheeler, whose careers ended with injury but are apparently still in school.
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5 comments:
Reilly Lauer was no All-SEC lineman but his loss will hurt. The line had major problems last year and he had a good amount of experience which would have only helped this year. Underclassmen are going to have to step up on the line, well not just on the line but underclassmen are going to have to step up if they want a repeat of the 2008 season
Yes, it would be nice to have his experience, especially when players start getting injured, which is what happens when you're facing the freakishly talented and large defensive linemen in the SEC.
But I don't know that he would have started. Remember we returned all five starters in 2009 but two of them (Lauer and Kyle Fischer) weren't opening day starters. Line coach Robbie Caldwell had James Williams, a kid with little playing time as a redshirt freshman, looking like our best lineman at the start of the season. So don't be surprised if one or two young guys — like Ryan Seymour, Wes Johnson, Mylon Brown — become permanent starters.
Maybe our Wes Johnson will burst onto the scene like the other Wes Johnson in college sports
That's right. And as an offensive lineman, he'd have to be pretty darn good to get the attention of Wes the Orangeman.
he left for reasons unrelated to football
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