BEAUMONT, Texas – With the start of preseason camp in full swing, LamarCardinals.com will be doing its annual position-by-position breakdown of the team heading into the season opener at Texas State (Aug. 31, 2024).
 
Today LamarCardinals.com will break down the LU offensive line.
 
OL Quick Facts:
Letterwinners Returning/Lost: 8/3
Starters Returning/Lost: 4/1
Newcomers: 3

 
Stats: The Cardinals return four of five starters from a line that helped produce the league's No. 2 rusher and quarterback (in terms of QB efficiency). The Cardinals were fifth in the conference last season averaging 148.0 yards rushing and seventh averaging 186.9 yards through the air. 
 
Key Player: Jevale Roberson and Eli Ripley – this really is a take your pick option. Roberson was the savvy veteran who entered last year having been around the program who bought into the direction of head coach Pete Rossomando and his staff and became a leader on the offensive line, while Ripley was a junior college transfer last season. A versatile athlete, his ability to play multiple positions last season paid huge dividends as the Cardinals were battling through early season injuries. Both ended last season earning All-Southland Conference honors.
 
The Storyline
Last season, Lamar's offensive line opened the year in the midst of a nightmare spending the first half of the season moving players around and coming up with new starting rotations all due to injuries. A situation that all teams must face seemed to hit LU extremely hard during the early part of the season. If there is any silver lining to all of those injuries it's the fact that you're forced to throw young guys into the fire and see how they respond, gaining experience they may not otherwise had at this point in their career.
 
With that being said, Lamar returns four of five starters from last season, including two all-conference selections, and a host of other players with starting reps due to the injuries.
 
While Jacob Dicharry is the lone 2023 starter not back, the Cardinals have a stable of returnees who got starts last year. In addition to the aforementioned Ripley and Roberson, both Thomas Le Boucher and Devin Fregia got starts at left tackle (while Fregia also got starts at guard). Reggie Brooks enters his junior campaign after getting starts at both guard and tackle last season. Knox Boyd transferred in last year and locked down the right tackle position starting 10 of 11 games. Rising junior Kade Verden also got some starts early in the season on the right side of the line.
 
Two players who could be on the verge of breakout seasons with the Red and White are underclassemen John Hester and Kortez Winslow. Hester, a sophomore from Hawkins, is entering his third season with the program after redshirting the 2022 campaign. During the 2023 season, Hester played in two games but made significant strides during the offseason. Winslow utilized his redshirt season in 2023 but is a former first-team all-district selection from Houston Nimitz High School and has the potential to really make his mark in 2024.
 
We've yet to talk about B.J. Williams who is entering his junior season and has also been a starter during his career, or Bryce Loftin – a highly-recruited prospect in the 2023 signing class from Port Neches-Groves High School where he helped lead the Indians to a state championship appearance.
 
Big Red enters the 2024 season with eight true or redshirt freshmen. Meaning, if one – or even two – of the returnees has a slow start to the season, the Cardinals should have enough depth where one of the younger players could step in and fill the role. As Lamar fans saw with the injuries early in 2023, you can never have too much depth on the offensive line.