worked at tackle and guard during
his career, he grasps the overall line
picture.
"It's helped because I understand
what everyone is doing," Martin said.
"You have to be a student of the game.
You have to see the [defensive] linemen and backers and recognize things.
That's the biggest thing I'm trying to
work on — become a better student of
the game."
Fifth-year senior left guard Chris
Watt said now that offensive line coach
Harry Hiestand is in his second season
with the program, the overall communication was better this spring, putting
the line a little ahead collectively from
where it was last season. Although
Watt has developed excellent chemistry with tackle Zack Martin on the
left side, his greater role will be to assist the younger Martin or Hegarty at
center.
"Nick is really technically sound,"
Watt said. "But as far as certain plays
in our offense … I'm going to help
Nick a little bit more than Zack. Our
protections are sort of built into that."
In an emergency, Watt might have
been a contingency option at center
in 2013, but Hiestand didn't want to
break up the chemistry of the pow-
Martin worked at tackle and guard his first two seasons before his skills and knowledge were needed at
center in 2013 and beyond.
Photo by Bill Panzica
