Camp '09 - Tackles Anchor Offensive Line
8/21/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 21, 2009
FORT WORTH, Texas -- GoFrogs.com continues its preview of the 2009 TCU football team with a look at the offensive line.
Keyed by returning All-Mountain West Conference tackles Marshall Newhouse (6-4, 320, Sr.) and Marcus Cannon (6-5, 350, Jr.), TCU returns three starters on its offensive line.
Newhouse, who appears on the Rotary Lombardi Award Watch List, has started every game at left tackle the last two seasons. He is a cousin of former NFL fullback Robert Newhouse.
Cannon, the largest member of the Frogs, made 11 starts a year ago and was dominant at right tackle in the 17-16 Poinsettia Bowl victory over Boise State. He was also an All-MWC selection in the shot put for the TCU track and field team.
Nic Richmond (6-8, 322, Sr.), who started all 13 games at right tackle in 2007, provides veteran insurance on the line. When Cannon was sidelined for two games last season, Richmond stepped in and played well in victories over BYU and UNLV.
Jeff Olson (6-4, 282, So.) and Trevius Jones (6-3, 310, RFr.) add depth at tackle. Olson has been in the program for two years, while Jones was a redshirt in his first season on campus.
Left guard Kyle Dooley (6-3, 315, So.), who came to TCU as a walk-on, cracked the starting lineup last season and made four starts before a season-ending injury.
Josh Vernon (6-2, 295, Jr.) entered the fall first on the depth chart at right guard. He was locked in a preseason duel a year ago for a starting job on the left side.
Blaize Foltz (6-4, 310, RFr.) and Zach Roth (6-5, 310, Jr.) are both in second-team positions at guard after redshirting last season. Roth came to TCU after playing two years at Garden City (Kan.) Community College.
Jake Kirkpatrick (6-3, 305, Jr.) is slated to replace three-time All-MWC selection Blake Schlueter at center.
Kirkpatrick has lettered in a reserve role the last two campaigns. He did not play football until his senior year at Robert E. Lee High School in Tyler, Texas.
James Fry (6-4, 285, RFr.) is No. 2 at center and will push Kirkpatrick for playing time. Spencer Thompson (6-4, 305, So.) provides depth.
BY THE NUMBERS:
1 - Years of high school football played by starting center Jake Kirkpatrick
4 - Former TCU offensive linemen (Anthony Alabi, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Herb Taylor, Kansas City Chiefs; Michael Toudouze, Indianapolis Colts; Ryan Tucker, Cleveland Brown) active in the NFL
11 - All-Mountain West Conference selections on the offensive line the last four seasons
16 - Bowl games coached in by offensive line coach Eddie Williamson
26 - Consecutive starts at left tackle by Marshall Newhouse
