Go Joe Bruin
Fansided

UCLA Football: Most Underrated Player by Position – Offensive Line

By Michael Chavez

Aug 30, 2014; Charlottesville, VA, USA; UCLA Bruins offensive linemen line up against the Virginia Cavaliers at Scott Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 30, 2014; Charlottesville, VA, USA; UCLA Bruins offensive linemen line up against the Virginia Cavaliers at Scott Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

As we continue our Most Underrated Series we move forward to the UCLA Football offensive line where we take a look at Christian Garcia.

Tasked with both protecting quarterbacks and opening holes in the run game, the big uglies up front are the foundation for any offense. It won’t matter how great your passer is or if you have the next coming of Adrian Peterson in your backfield if you can’t handle opposing defenses at the the point of attack.

Related Story: Most Underrated WR On UCLA

Rolling out five studs game in and game out is tough enough but the UCLA Football team faces an especially challenging task of replacing three starters from last year’s line.

The Bruins’ offensive line likely would have been drastically different had graduate Jake Raulerson been accepted into Westwood but without him there will be some shuffling.

UCLA Bruins
UCLA Bruins /

UCLA Bruins

The edges are set with Conor McDermott and Kolton Miller at left and right tackle respectively but there are questions inside. UCLA has options in the interior with Scott Quessenberry, Kenny Lacy, Andre James, Josh Wariboko, Poasi Moala, Christian Garcia and have three freshmen joining the program in the fall who may or may not be able to snag a starting spot on the line.

The guy who makes our list though isn’t an unproven commodity, incoming freshman, but also wouldn’t shock the world if he was a starter on Sept. 3rd. That would be Christian Garcia.

Garcia spent his three years at UCLA either redshirting or buried on the depth chart. However fall camp 2015 saw him running with the two’s and then surprisingly started UCLA’s bowl game against Nebraska on short notice after Alex Redmond left the teams a few days before the Foster Farms Bowl and declared for the NFL Draft.

In that game Garcia proved he can do all that the coaches will ask of him and is a reliable option. He handled Nebraska’s power up front by knocking defensive tackles off the ball and pulled very well as a lead blocker. He demonstrated solid hand use and quick enough feet to handle stunts and recover as a pass protector.

You don’t need to be the most hyped guy on the team or have racked up a ton of starts in order to be extremely valuable to your team and Garcia personifies that type of player.

He has a little bit of a sloppy build and could stand to get stronger but is the kind of player on the offensive line that could really save this team if it finds itself down a man or two. He is versatile enough to play all three interior positions and I believe in a very rare pinch could play limited snaps at right tackle.

You don’t need to be the most hyped guy on the team or have racked up a ton of starts in order to be extremely valuable to your team and Garcia personifies that type of player.

Having a guy like him in your deck won’t excite the fanbase or keep opposing coaches up at night. What it does do is give your head coach a little room to breath, a little more sense of calm and possibly helps your team go from 9-4 to 11-2.

Next: UCLA Vs. Texas A&M Preview

Next week we will take a look at an underrated defensive lineman as we continue our list of underrated players at each position. Let me know who your underrated offensive lineman is or predict next week’s player by leaving your thoughts or comments below.  If you missed our most recent post in the series make sure you see it here.