Change is never easy, but it was necessary for the Utah State offensive line.
Two players have made position changes to bolster the Aggies’ offensive front. Junior Roman Andrus has moved from defensive end to offensive tackle, while Damian Hobbs — a former quarterback who transferred from Oregon — is now a tight end.
“I bought into it. It’s been going really well and I’m really glad I made the change,” said Andrus, who is tabbed as the starting left tackle for Utah State, which opens at Wisconsin on Friday.
After high school graduation in 2012, Andrus went to BYU and redshirted as a freshman before going on a two-year church mission. He came back to BYU in 2015, then transferred before the following season to Snow College.
As the California native contemplated leaving Snow for Utah State, Aggies’ offensive line coach Steve Farmer had a position change idea. After the season ended at Snow, Andrus began working with coaches there about offensive line technique in preparation for the change.
“Ever since high school, I played on the defensive line. I was kind of a late bloomer, and smaller, so I was a rushing end actually,” Andrus said. “I kind of just kept growing and getting stronger. Even at Snow, I was still a D-lineman and, talking to coach (Steve) Farmer, he told me I had some potential playing offensive line.”
It does not take long to notice that the 6-foot-4 Andrus isn’t just big. His quickness gave coaches the notion of putting him on the edge.
“That’s a 270-pound defensive lineman at Snow that came here and is now 290, lost body fat and his transformation in just eight months is good,” Utah State coach Matt Wells said of Andrus.
Although he’s still learning the finer points of offensive line technique, Andrus’ experience on the defensive line helps him mentally.
“Stuff that would annoy me when I was trying to rush, I just picked up on those things and it’s helped me,” Andrus said.
Hobbs was a 6-foot-2, 245-pound quarterback last season. He actually shares with current starter Kent Myers the school record for most touchdown runs by a quarterback in one game thanks to a three-TD effort last season against Wyoming.
“The intent was to play quarterback, but I did what was best for the team,” Hobbs said. “I feel like it’s what was best for me to help this team win.”
Hobbs enters the week as the backup tight end on the depth chart behind Dax Raymond.
“The learning curve, I guess you could say, is pretty steep. But coming from quarterback, it’s been kind of a smooth transition because I knew what tight ends are supposed to do,” he added. “Coach Luke [Wells, USU’s tight ends coordinator] cleaned it up, got in the finer details of the position.”
Hobbs said blocking is the most foreign aspect of the position for him, but knows it is essential for the Utah State offense.
“You have to have a physical mentality every play. That’s what I’m trying to do and trying to come out and compete in the run game when I have to block big guys,” Hobbs said. “It’s been going really good. I like it a lot. It’s football at the end of the day, so that’s always fun.”