Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/350567
BY LOU SOMOGYI T he offensive line typically is rec- ognized as the least glamorous position group in football … un- less you happen to be the left tackle. Since 2010, or the season head coach Brian Kelly took over at Notre Dame, 22 offensive tackles have been selected in the first round of the NFL Draft, with the vast majority of them lining up on the left side in college. In com- parison, only 14 quarterbacks were taken in the first round. Furthermore, in each of the last two drafts, offensive tackle, primarily on the left side, easily commanded the most attention of any position group (offense or defense) with five selected among the first 19 picks each time, including Notre Dame's Zack Martin (No. 16 overall) this May. Junior Ronnie Stanley is now the Fighting Irish heir to football's rela- tively overlooked — but extremely lu- crative — glamour spot: left tackle. Sta- tioned usually on an open side of the field and protecting the right-handed quarterback's blind side against the opponent's top pass rusher, the left tackle must have supreme footwork, a vast wingspan and reach, a strong core for ballast, and exceptional mental toughness and smarts to handle all the requirements. In other words, it was an easy de- cision for the Notre Dame staff this spring to shift Stanley, a 13-game starter at right tackle in 2013, to suc- ceed the record-setting 52-game starter Martin at left tackle. Stanley arrived in 2012 and was Martin's top backup from day one, but the move to right tackle last year was to get him on the field as soon as possible. Now, the 6-5½, 318-pound Stanley is back to the marquee role at left tackle. Oftentimes, the left tackle either has played a position such as tight end or excelled in basketball. In his first season at Central Michi- gan in 2004, Kelly moved 6-5 tight end Joe Staley, who caught 11 passes as a true freshman, to left tackle. Three THE GLAMOUR SPOT Ronnie Stanley enters his junior year primed to replace Zack Martin at left tackle