Wolverines need linemen to emerge

West started spring workouts with noticeable absence to players who are involved with track and baseball, such as heralded receiver Jadon Jackson and standout quarterback Will Jarrett.

Wolverines coach Bryan Pratt knows those players will be back in due time. What he wants to find out of his team during this spring is those who will man the trenches.

"We want to find where our offensive and defensive line is," Pratt said. "That is the question mark we have, and some of our younger kids will have to come in and play in some open positions like some receiver spots.

"We're not going to have a lot of those players right now, but these first two weeks will give us a chance to evaluate some of these younger players and find some guys that can be components to our football team."

This marks the first season that West will have to fill holes in its starting lineups because of graduation. Pratt said one thing he liked to hear when his team opened workouts last week was players mentioning how much stronger they felt after hitting the weights during the offseason.

"This is a little different for us, but we've all been there before," Pratt said. "We've been at other schools and know how important the spring is. We can get a jump start on getting some of these guys some experience because it won't be a week before it's over when we got to Tulsa team camp and go against a really good bunch of teams there."
