Eleven days until the season opener at Clemson and LSU continues to tinker with its offensive line. During the portion of practice viewed by the media on Monday, Paul Mubenga was running with the first team over DJ Chester at left guard and freshman Carius Curne was starting at right tackle over Weston Davis.
Chester has been the first team left guard through preseason camp, but head coach Brian Kelly and offensive coordinator Joe Sloan said the competition at the guard spots was still ongoing.
Chester started every game at center last season and moved to his natural position of guard with Virginia Tech transfer Braelin Moore coming in to start at center.
Mubenga started five games as a redshirt freshman last season, and the coaching staff has always been enamored with his upside.
It might be more of a surprise to see Curne moving past Davis on the depth chart at right tackle. That’s because Davis and Tyree Adams have been the starting tackles throughout camp, which ends on Tuesday.
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Curne was ranked as the number one high school prospect coming out of Arkansas and On3 ranked him number two at his position nationwide.
Expect the battle for the starting five on the offensive line to continue all season as the coaching staff has done a nice in bringing in competition at the various spots, outside of center.
Moore is the clear-cut starting center for the Tigers after starting the last the two seasons at Virginia Tech.
“Our center position in Braelin Moore sets up the rest of the group for success, his combination work is outstanding, his recognition of fronts, getting us to be an elite offensive line, if you have a center that can kind of set the state for that it allows everything else to set up in place,” Kelly said.