2020 Offensive Line: The Good, The Bad, & The Ratings

The 2020 BYU Offensive Line might be the best O-Line since BYU went independent.

Historically, the most successful BYU offenses have relied on a stout Offensive Line. That should bode well for BYU this season as the 2020 Offensive Line has the talent to become the best unit in the independence era. Today, let's take a closer look at the Offensive Line to understand who is coming, who is returning, and how highly these players were rated as recruits.

Image Note: The visualization excludes unrated players and any player that received a composite score of less than .75. The graphs show the 247 composite score on the y axis and the eligibility on the x axis. 

Returned Missionaries (Number, Name, 247 Composite Score)

• 72 Seth Willis - 0.7817
• TBD Connor Pay - 0.8519
• TBD Tysen Lewis - 0.7903
• TBD Campbell Barrington - 0.8385
• TBD Elijah Unutoa - 0.8449

Transfers (Number, Name, 247 Composite Score)

NA

Returning Players (Number, Name, 247 Composite Score)

• 65 Ethan Atagi - NA
• 56 Clark Barrington - 0.7917
• 67 Brady Christensen - 0.7817
• 66 James Empey - 0.8491
• 71 Blake Freeland - 0.8418
• 75 JT Gentry - 0.7709
• 77 Chandon Herring - 0.7837
• 69 Tristen Hoge - 0.9585
• 64 Brayden Keim - NA
• 76 Harris LaChance - 0.758
• 74 Kieffer Longson - 0.8847
• 61 Keanu Saleapaga - 0.8416
• 63 Joe Tukuafu - 0.7782
• 68 Mo Unutoa - 0.8462

2020 Signees

NA

Other Newcomers

NA

The Good – BYU will have a very experienced Offensive Line in 2020 – BYU returns the entire group (including all starters) from last season except for Thomas Shoaf. In addition to being experienced, the 2020 Offensive Line has the talent to be the best OL unit at BYU in the Independence era. James Empey and Brady Christensen are two standout Juniors with the talent to make a lot of money in the NFL. 

The Bad – As mentioned above, BYU returns all but one Offensive Lineman in 2020. Meanwhile, BYU is anticipating five OL returned missionaries to be on the roster in 2020. While this is good news for the 2020 offense, BYU is facing a severe scholarship crunch as players have returned early from missions and fewer players have transferred during spring ball. Gaining four scholarships (net) along the Offensive Line is a difficult pill to swallow from a roster management standpoint. It’s difficult to foresee a scenario where all returning missionaries are on the roster this season.

The Ratings – BYU’s ability to compete for highly sought-after Offensive Lineman has slowly improved under Kalani Sitake. BYU missed out on four-star Andrew Gentry last recruiting cycle, but they filled the spot with Jake Griffin who was being heavily recruited by multiple P5 programs.

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