Prince Tega Wanogho's first season as a varsity lineman in 2017 was a mixture of highs and lows.
He started the season opener and throughout September. Yet he eventually lost his starting job partly due to problems with pass protection and partly due to personnel shuffles at other spots along the offensive front. Wanogho didn't hang his head, however, and gained some needed experience late in the season as a de facto tight end. After all, conceding snaps to an experienced and skilled guy like Austin Golson is hardly an insult.
Now Golson is gone. That means it's time for Wanogho to regain his grip on a starting spot.
He appeared to make significant progress to that end during spring ball. The general thought going into spring was that Wanogho would slide to right tackle to make room for former five-star signee Cal Ashley, but Grimes never felt the need to make any adjustments. Gus Malzahn said in April that Wanogho remained in the top spot at left tackle throughout spring ball, which almost certainly means he'll open fall camp in that position as well.
It's worth noting that Wanogho may fare better with new offensive line coach J.B. Grimes, who is more of a technical teacher. He's a stickler for details. Former offensive line coach Herb Hand was more about fostering trust, coaxing maximum effort, thinking about the game on a different level. Grimes also values those things, but he's more of a taskmaster. Wanogho, a Nigerian who didn't focus on football until his senior year of high school, appears to glean more from Grimes' teaching methods and that may help him take the next step in terms of skill development.
That's really the issue here, too. Wanogho is a phenomenal athlete who is intelligent, who is adamant about learning from his mistakes, who never loses sight of his personal goals. Despite all that, he simply wasn't good enough to block top-tier defensive ends and tackles off the edge last season. He couldn't stop lunging toward defenders in an attempt to dictate terms of their rush rather than adjusting to the rush. He'd lunge, his feet would stop moving and that created a terminal situation for Kerryon Johnson or Jarrett Stidham or both.
Wanogho was used as the de facto tight end in the Tigers' tackle-over formation late in the season and played with better leverage. He wasn't lunging as much. As such, he was able to stay in front of defenders more consistently. Grimes believes Wanogho has turned a corner, so to speak, and has a chance to become a break-out player this fall — assuming the junior maintains his focus on personal improvement.
And that's one area where Wanogho never disappoints.
ON THE UP SIDE: Strength, long arms, intelligence, unrelenting spirit
ON THE DOWN SIDE: Footwork, hand placement in pass pro
VOTING RESULTS: No. 7 (The Bunker), No. 10 (Bryan Matthews), No. 18 (Jay G. Tate), No. 19 (Jeffrey Lee)
PREVIOUS RANKINGS: This is Wanogho's first year in the AuburnSports.com Top 20.
THE AUBURNSPORTS.COM TOP 20 FOR 2018:
13. OT Prince Tega Wanogho
