UCLA Football: The Center of Concern

The UCLA Football team wrapped up its second day of fall practice today and while the team continues to develop each phase of the game, one question still needs answering: How will the offensive line fare in 2016?

UCLA Football lost four year starter Jake Brendel this offseason to graduation and while he wasn’t the most dominant center to ever play the game he was the glue that held the offensive line together. Shortly there after it looked like the Bruins would receive some relief in the form of graduate transfer Jake Raulerson from Texas. That relief would never come though as Raulerson was denied admission to the university.

To complicate matters the Bruins also needed to replace guard Alex Redmond and right tackle Caleb Benenoch as both left school early to pursue the NFL. In the case of right tackle, Kolton Miller has essentially been named the starter and demonstrated his ability to play at a high level last year. Poasi Moala and Kenny Lacy will take over at right and left guard respectively.

The only spot that has yet to be truly won is center. Scott Quessenberry came to UCLA in 2013 and was believe to possibly be the center of the future or at the very least a strong starter for the next few seasons. Light in the pants but a tactician, Quessenberry started five games at left guard as a true freshmen and then parlayed that momentum into 13 starts, one at center, in 2014 helping to pave the way for PAC-12 leading rusher Paul Perkins.

More from Go Joe Bruin

That’s where his story takes a turn. Quessenberry missed the 2015 season with shoulder surgeries but has since been cleared for play. It was thought he would reclaim his starting guard position but the aforementioned problems have placed him squarely in the middle of a worrisome situation (pun intended).

Rewatching Quessenberry’s starts, it’s hard to not see the same types of problems that have shown up so far in practice. He’s not a mauler and can be driven back by power. He struggles to re-anchor against the bullrush and doesn’t have a powerful punch. He can be beaten with speed inside especially if the defensive lineman can convert speed to power like former University of Texas DT Malcom Brown.

On the plus side, he wins with technique and hand placement. He worked very well in the zone system the Bruins were operating under former offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone. Trouble is, the Bruins have a new offensive coordinator and Kennedy Polamalu likes him some power football. Something Quessenberry isn’t necessarily built for.

Of course once the pads come on the story could be different. He could find a way to win with a renewed strength and as we get further and further away from his past shoulder surgeries, Quessenbery could become a much different guy than the one we’ve seen.

That change, if it ever will happen, can’t take much longer. The Bruins face off against a very impressive Texas A&M defensive which has some very underrated and active defensive tackles. Only a few weeks later they’ll face off against Stanford and if history has shown us anything in the past five years or so, the Cardinal aren’t easy to deal with upfront.

Next: Jim Mora Talks About Day 1 of Fall Camp

The final fly in the milk is Quessenberry’s backup. Gyo Shojima is a redshirt juinor from Japan. He hasn’t seen action in his time at UCLA but was named a team captain for Santa Monica College in 2014. Not exactly a calming situation.