Tulsa Football Position Preview: Offensive Line
Chris Paul is the type of offensive lineman coaches wish they could clone.
The 6-4, 331-pound junior from Houston is the headliner of a mostly young group that was thrown into the fire last season.
"Chris Paul is a big guy who can really move," said TU coach Philip Montgomery. "He's long, he's physical, he kind of leads the charge for us, in my opinion."
Paul has been a starter since he was a freshman at TU as a guard, but will be moving out to right tackle this season. He started all 12 games at left guard last season, and started eight games, including the final seven, as a redshirt freshman at right guard. Paul was getting extended playing time from the time of his first game in 2018.
"We've looked at moving him back out to the tackle spot - that was his natural spot when he got here," Montgomery said. "But by need, we moved him inside. But I think we're going to move him back out.
"I think Chris has a really bright future - a guy who has a chance to play at the next level."
Paul, whose dream job is to be the U.S. Secretary of Defense, is the AAC representative to the NCAA Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee for 2020-21. He also serves as chair of the conference’s SAAC executive board for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 academic years. Paul is majoring in Computer Information Systems.
Paul led an offensive line in 2019 that went through some ups and downs while experiencing growing pains, but with all but one starter returning, the 2020 offensive line should be in good shape to excel this fall.
"Last year we were really, really young and we had to throw some guys into the fire a little bit," Montgomery said. "As the season went on, obviously, they got better.
"We started off in the spring moving some pieces around a little bit. You have to multi-train multiple guys in case this or that happens. Being able to move those pieces around and making sure guys can play multiple spots and making sure we have the best five guys on the field."
Backing up Paul at right tackle are redshirt freshman Jeremy Jones and true freshman Dillon Wade.
The only starting spot vacated by graduation is at left tackle. With Chris Ivy departed, redshirt freshman Tyler Smith is taking over. A 6-5, 332-pounder from Fort Worth, Smith got a head start on the position last season when he started the last two games at left tackle in place of an injured Ivy. Smith played in the maximum four games he could play when maintaining his redshirt.
"Tyler Smith is a guy, as a young kid, who is just so explosive, so strong and so long," Montgomery said. "I think we're going to have an opportunity to have two dynamic type tackles. And we have to play to their strengths."
Behind Smith at left tackle are junior college transfer James Middleton and true freshman Jaden Muskrat.
With Paul's position move, last year's starter at right tackle, X'Zauvea Gadlin, was expected to move to guard and again be a starter. However, Gadlin has opted out of playing this season due to COVID-19.
With Gadlin out, the guard spots are being manned by Dylan Couch and Dante Bivens. Couch, a 6-3, 299-pound transfer from Kansas State, started the last four games at right guard after starting the season opener at center. The Pryor HS grad started the last three games of 2018 at left guard.
Bivens, a 6-3, 324-pound junior from Spring, Texas, started seven of the first eight games at right guard in 2019. Also in the picture is Tiller Bucktrot, a 6-5, 305-pound senior from Stroud who has started five of his 36 games played at Tulsa. Bucktrot is currently working behind Bivens, while redshirt freshman Chester Baah is backing up Couch on the right.
"Dante started some games there last year, Dylan started some games there last year," Montgomery said. "You've got Tiller that can jump in there at either one of those two guard spots, so those guys are kind of working their way through it."
At center is Gerard Wheeler, a 6-3, 331-pound junior from Plano, Texas, who started the final 11 games of 2019.
"Gerard is coming back and did a really nice job for us," Montgomery said. "He's a guy who is extremely strong. Especially with all the different fronts we see, he can handle just about anybody you want to when you put him on the space, so when you've got that nose sitting right there, he does a nice job with that."
Dylan Couch can move over to center from right guard to provide depth, while true freshman Gabe Cantu is also working at center.
While most of the depth for the offensive line comes from young, untested players on the roster, the top six or seven linemen at TU already have enough credentials to expect the 2020 Golden Hurricane offensive line to set a high bar.
"We've got more experience than we've had. From a size standpoint we’re right where we want to be," Montgomery explained. "So, as those guys continue to grow and mature, I think we've got a chance to be good up front. We've just got to stay healthy and stay away from the virus."