Senior offensive lineman Jordan Reid became the second Michigan State football player to opt out of the 2020 season on Friday morning, joining senior defensive lineman Jacub Panasiuk.
Reid has been the only consistently health Spartan along the offensive line over the last two seasons, starting 26 of 26 games at right tackle. That fact means his departure leaves a hole in a unit that can ill afford to have holes at this point in time.
That begs the question, now what? What does the MSU staff do to replace the lone consistent starter on the offensive line.
I’ll go through a few names to keep an eye on in a bit, but it is worth mentioning that Reid’s day at tackle may have been numbered anyway. I’m not sure what the “rep chart” at MSU looks like on the offensive line right now, but there’s a chance Reid would be kicking inside to guard this season. Reid, listed at 6-foot-4, doesn’t exactly fit the profile of what the new staff wants in its tackles. It may not seem like a big deal because it’s only a couple of inches, but 6-foot-6 and taller–with long arms–is the new standard. Reid’s experience is nice, but he and every other lineman are learning a new offense with new blocking schemes. MSU dabbled in zone blocking in 2019, but will go full fledged in 2020. Lastly, Reid’s best future is at guard or even center. He’s built and moves like an interior lineman.
On paper it looks like MSU lost a shoo-in starter at right tackle, but that might not be how the staff is looking at this depending on what their plans for Reid were.
Let’s get to some names to keep an eye on for the right tackle spot.