Offensive Line: Five things to know about FSU's OL this spring

With the Florida State football team scheduled to open spring practice on March 21, it's time for our annual spring practice position previews.

Today we focus on the offensive line. Previously, we profiled the Quarterbacks | Running backs | Wide Receivers |

The Big Picture

While offensive line play has been a steady cause for concern among Florida State fans in recent years, the Seminoles should have everything in place to have a very solid spring and 2018 season.

For starters, FSU returns a great deal of experience, with six players who are either returning starters or who have previous starting experience -- left tackle Josh Ball, center Alec Eberle, guards Landon Dickerson and Cole Minshew, guard/tackle Derrick Kelly and center/guard Corey Martinez.

Of the six, Eberle might be the only sure-fire starter considering there is a new position coach leading the group. Eberle, who was named second-team All-ACC in 2017, has started 32 consecutive games in the middle of FSU's offensive line. It would be extremely difficult to imagine him being replaced at this point.

If junior Landon Dickerson is fully recovered from the ankle injury that shortened his 2017 campaign, he also will likely be penciled in. But all of the other spots should see intense competition between seasoned veterans and talented youngsters, including redshirt sophomores Baveon Johnson, Jauan Williams and Mike Arnold.

Competition will be fierce at several spots

One welcomed aspect of bringing in a new position coach is that virtually every player in that group will get a fresh start.

As is often the case when a coach has been in one place for a long time, there were rumblings at times that former OL coach Rick Trickett had certain "favorites" in the group -- and there were other linemen who could seemingly never get out of Trickett's doghouse. Whether those feelings were justified or not, they should no longer be a concern now that new position coach Greg Frey has taken over.

Frey's arrival should give each player a clean slate, and with that in mind, there will be fierce position battles for at least three spots on the offensive line -- guard, left tackle and right tackle.

Josh Ball stepped in as the starting left tackle midway through last season and performed well, but it's not as if his spot is set in stone. He will have to earn the trust of the new coaching staff, and he could be challenged by Williams, Kelly and others. The same should go for the right guard spot filled in 2017 by Cole Minshew; he could be challenged by Kelly, Baveon Johnson and Corey Martinez, although Johnson and Martinez also will be the top backups to Eberle at center.

The right tackle spot will be wide open following the departure of senior starter Rick Leonard.