Rivals.com listed Texas A&M as one of the teams with an offensive line with something to prove in the 2009 season. Anyone who watched our offense play last season will agree with this sentiment, as the poor play along both our offensive and defensive front helped lead to our 4-8 season. Our problems on the OL were exacerbated by injuries throughout the course of the season.

We return all of our starters from last season on the line, and I expect some of them to be backups this season, as transfer Matt Allen will play at one guard spot, and redshirt freshman Leroy Chevalier will start at left tackle.  I expect Michael Shumard to move back to guard, and Kevin Matthews to return at center. This means Evan Eike will probably move to a back-up spot, along with the possibility that Lee Grimes will move. This will give us some depth along the line, something we were sorely lacking because of injuries last season.

We signed four offensive linemen in the last recruiting class, but I expect (and hope) all of them will get a redshirt year to learn the offense, and to get some time in our strength and conditioning program.

Our season opener is against New Mexico, who finished 25th in the nation last year in rush defense, giving up 122.3 yds rushing per game. This should provide a nice early test for our offensive line to see if we've made any progress early in the season. Typically, an offensive line doesn't gel until a few games into the season, but we should get an indicator of our capabilities when we play the Lobos.

I expect us to pass for more yards than we rush for in 2009, simply because the talent we have at QB and WR, but establishing a running game will be crucial to having a winning record and going bowling this year.