(Part II of a look at Notre Dame’s offensive line)

A 400lb bench press.  A 600lb squat.  A 20lb increase in muscle.  You show me a dude that can boast either one of those first two numbers, and that is somebody that I either want on my side, or it is somebody that would literally make me pee my pants if they ever wanted to get in a fight with me.  The 20lb increase in muscle is certainly worth some boasting of its own as well.  Strong numbers for very strong men.  These numbers are also:

A.) Asaph Schwapp’s bench press (it might actually be 450lbs)

B.) The squat of every significant Notre Dame lineman

C.) The amount of weight put on by quarterback Jimmy Clausen in the off season

Oh, a shout out to the man behind all of the mountains of muscle-the program’s strength and conditioning coach.  You are the reason that some of these young men have necks so big that no clothing designer can match.  You help produce men so large that fast food restaurants had to introduce triple patty burgers and Supersize fries (large enough to feed a family of five) to appease their appetites.  You are also the hope for any team that has had a down year can turn it around, that a 3 star recruit can overachieve, the hope that 5 wins can turn into a bowl game, and the hope that tomorrow is a new day.

At Notre Dame, that man is Ruben Mendoza, and his off season revolved around building a bigger and stronger offensive line, in hopes that the Irish offense can start scoring some points again.  Every lineman is now over 300lbs, they are all stronger (the previously mentioned 600lb squat) and more physically ready to pound away in the trenches.  The fans are supposed to be optimistic over this, but what happens when Mike Turkovich has to protect against a d-lineman that has 4.5 speed off the edge?  Is the size gain going to help his feet?

Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated addressed Notre Dame’s o-line in his latest mailbag and he words it far better than I,

“There’s just one little thing, though. Considering the trend among defenses is toward leaner, faster defensive ends and hybrid linebackers, shouldn’t it be of greater importance that Notre Dame’s blockers be quick on their feet? At 6-8, 330 pounds, I imagine there won’t be too many defenders plowing over left tackle Sam Young — but they could still run past him.”

I’m glad the lineman are bigger and stronger, but I hope that the coaching staff has really worked on making their feet quicker, and explosion out of stances.  Speed is the name of the game and that even trickles down to the offensive lineman.  I hope that the strength gains help put some defenders on the ground, but I also hope that the guys are quick enough to keep the pass rushers at bay.

What makes the perfect big ugly?  Tower of power, or sweet feet?