A crowded four-man quarterback battle takes a back seat to trench decisions, as Tulane works out who protects the blindside and who anchors the middle.
New Orleans, La. – The offensive line is a critical component of the Tulane Green Wave’s success next season for all of the plans they have on offense.
It’s a position group that saw a ton of turnover losing all starters from last season but right guard Reese Baker, who lined up at right tackle in first team reps on Day 1 of training camp.
That line had Boston College transfer Ryan Mickow at left tackle, Elijah Baker at left guard, FIU transfer John Bock at center, Gresham Perry at right guard, and Reese Baker at right tackle.
On Day 2, things looked a bit different. Baker was back to his spot at right guard, and like we saw most of spring, Mickow was back at right tackle. Dominic Steward took first team reps at left tackle, next to Elijah Baker at left guard, and Bock remaining at center.
Figuring out the best group of parts and where to place them will be essential to unlocking the Green Wave offense.
That will be more essential to the quarterback competition than the actual winner, which has yet to separate through the first two days of camp.
It’s difficult when there are four competitors splitting limited time and reps. Even three was a crowd back in 2024 when they were looking at Ty Thompson, Kai Horton, and Darian Mensah.
So, the look at Kadin Semonza, Zeon Chriss-Gremillion, Dagan Bruno, and Trace Johnson has been limited, and it’ll be important to see how they handle pressure once pads come on for Friday on Day 3 of camp.
For now, figuring out the right group of five in front of them must get done in the first few weeks of camp.
One can feel pretty confident about both Bakers at guard, with Reese Baker being a top option and Elijah Baker filling in strongly at the left guard role against Ole Miss in the regular season when Derrick Graham was injured and Shadre Hurst slotted over to right tackle.
It really will come down to figuring out the tackle spots and settling into a starting center, which has steadily been Bock through the first two days, who coach Will Hall referred to as “Big Back Bock” in his post practice remarks.
Mickow will end up at one of the two tackle spots, but it’s a bit surprising that he’s been on the right side when the left is the quarterback’s blindside, and presumably the most important spot out there to leave up to more inexperience in Steward, who is also a bit smaller at 6-foot-5, 280 pounds.
Mickow, in comparison, is 6-foot-7, 311 pounds. Now, Reese Baker isn’t huge either at 6-foot-5, 292 pounds.
So, there’s been talk of Tulane having a smaller o-line, and it looks like one of the tackles will end up being a bit undersized. With that may come a bit more speed and agility.
It’s one of those positions that someone once referred to as wearing “pajamas and slippers” when it comes to assessing players in a practice setting. That group more than anything needs some pads to illuminate the risers and fallers and who bests slots where.
