The offensive line isn't a flashy position to watch during a football game. Shoot, it's not a particularly easy position to watch - the frenzy of 300-pound bodies crashing into each other at various angles. Will offensive linemen gain as much camera time as, say, the quarterback or the wide receivers? Nah, probably not.
Yet for both the Marshall and West Virginia University football teams, the hopes of the 2017 season rest at least partially on those broad shoulders.
The Mountaineers break in a brand-new quarterback, Florida transfer Will Grier. The Thundering Herd has a veteran in Chase Litton who would love nothing more than to erase bad memories of a 3-9 2016 campaign. WVU's running backs, led by preseason All-Big 12 pick Justin Crawford, have a reputation to uphold. Marshall wants to see explosiveness in its run game that it hasn't seen since a healthy Devon Johnson terrorized defenses for nearly 1,800 yards in 2014.
It will be the big bodies up front that will lead both teams toward those goals, and both offensive line units have some questions as they enter the 2017 season.
In Morgantown, the Mountaineers said goodbye to some important names. Top on the list is center Tyler Orlosky, a Rimington Trophy finalist and All-American. West Virginia also bid farewell to seniors Adam Pankey and Tony Matteo. Marcell Lazard also departed the team in the spring.
That's not to say there isn't plenty returning. Kyle Bosch was an All-Big 12 pick last season and Colton McKivitz made a couple of all-freshman lists. Also, the Mountaineers will welcome back Yodny Cajuste, who spent nearly the entire 2016 on the shelf with a knee injury. But experience means a bunch on the line, and Orlosky, Matteo and Pankey all were starters on an offensive front that ranked second in the conference in sacks allowed.
Marshall, in some ways, is dealing with the same issue. Clint Van Horn is gone. So is Michael Selby. When healthy, they made up the best right side of an offensive line in Conference USA.
Problem was, they seldom were healthy in 2016.
Van Horn gutted through much of the season, but was hampered by an ankle injury. Selby's college career ended after six games of his senior season due to a torn rotator cuff. The Herd had to juggle its offensive line, placing those slated as backups into starting spots and those looked at as projects into more prominent playing roles.
And, let's face it, that right side went from Selby and Van Horn to, well, not Selby and Van Horn. That's a big difference. (And that's a point some who bemoaned Marshall's 2016 struggles seem to forget.)
The Herd was tied for 85th in the Football Bowl Subdivision with 2.33 sacks allowed per game, ranked 100th with 6.67 tackles for loss allowed per game and 122nd at 108.2 rushing yards per game. Healthy, experienced players would be a godsend for Marshall in 2017. That's what it looks like they'll be getting, and center Levi Brown, on the Rimington watch list to start the year, looks like a solid anchor for the group.
Both teams have big goals this season. WVU, picked to finish sixth in the Big 12, wants to defy expectations like last year, when the Mountaineers were picked to finish seventh and ended up third with a 10-3 season. Marshall's streak of three straight seasons with at least 10 wins came to a screeching halt in 2016, and the Herd wants to climb back up the ladder in Conference USA.
For both, the offensive line will play a significant part in those goals getting realized. It may be tough to divine how they're doing down in those trenches, but make no mistake. As those behemoths collide, what goes on as that dust kicks up is of utmost importance.
Contact Derek Redd at 304-348-1712 or derek.redd@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @derekredd.