Virginia offensive tackle Blake Steen, the younger brother of former Alabama and current Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman Tyler Steen, committed to Mississippi State on Thursday afternoon.
This is a massive recruiting win for Jeff Lebby and company. Steen can slide in at right tackle and add some much-needed physicality to the unit. I still feel like tackles Jimothy Lewis and Luke Work are both good enough to be in the starting five though, so we might see more movement as far as who’s lining up where. For example..
LT: Jimothy Lewis
LG: Luke Work / Jacoby Jackson
C: Carson Lee / Canon Boone
RG: Albert Reese / Canon Boone
RT: Blake Steen
It’s also possible for Steen to play guard, but I doubt he’ll start off there. This feels more like a move to solidify one of the tackle spots that was in need of more quality depth, even after adding Purdue transfer Jaekwon Bouldin on Thursday. Here’s more info on Steen:
-6-5, 328
-1,202 snaps, 18 starts last 2 years
-Also played LT, RG (sparingly)
-Quality run blocker 📈
-49 pressures last two years 📉
One thing is for sure… this type of move was needed. It still might not be a great group (or at least not yet), but it’s significantly better than it was. There’s room for this unit to climb as they gel too. Great job by Lebby and the rest of the staff for getting this done. They’d continue to move this group on the right direction if they could find a way to close on an interior guy such as former Florida State/Alabama guard Terrence Ferguson or former Penn State guard JB Nelson, who were brought in on visits Wednesday.
At that point, you’d have at least three, potentially four starting caliber options at tackle (Lewis, Work, Steen and potentially Reese) and at least six starting caliber interior options (Ferguson/Nelson, Reese, Jackson, Boone, Lee and potentially Work). You could probably even include Koby Keenum in that conversation too.
This is a massive recruiting win for Jeff Lebby and company. Steen can slide in at right tackle and add some much-needed physicality to the unit. I still feel like tackles Jimothy Lewis and Luke Work are both good enough to be in the starting five though, so we might see more movement as far as who’s lining up where. For example..
LT: Jimothy Lewis
LG: Luke Work / Jacoby Jackson
C: Carson Lee / Canon Boone
RG: Albert Reese / Canon Boone
RT: Blake Steen
It’s also possible for Steen to play guard, but I doubt he’ll start off there. This feels more like a move to solidify one of the tackle spots that was in need of more quality depth, even after adding Purdue transfer Jaekwon Bouldin on Thursday. Here’s more info on Steen:
-6-5, 328
-1,202 snaps, 18 starts last 2 years
-Also played LT, RG (sparingly)
-Quality run blocker 📈
-49 pressures last two years 📉
One thing is for sure… this type of move was needed. It still might not be a great group (or at least not yet), but it’s significantly better than it was. There’s room for this unit to climb as they gel too. Great job by Lebby and the rest of the staff for getting this done. They’d continue to move this group on the right direction if they could find a way to close on an interior guy such as former Florida State/Alabama guard Terrence Ferguson or former Penn State guard JB Nelson, who were brought in on visits Wednesday.
At that point, you’d have at least three, potentially four starting caliber options at tackle (Lewis, Work, Steen and potentially Reese) and at least six starting caliber interior options (Ferguson/Nelson, Reese, Jackson, Boone, Lee and potentially Work). You could probably even include Koby Keenum in that conversation too.
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