At a press conference on Tuesday Kirk Ferentz mentioned 2 things that could have major implications along the offensive line for the upcoming 2009 football season. First, the coach's son James Ferentz has been reinstated on the team and will play this fall. And second, left guard/right guard/center (who really knows) Julian Vandervelde is maybe, possibly, sort of injured and is maybe, possibly, sort of needing surgery. Ferentz dodged the question on Vandervelde for now, so we'll just have to wait and see. I'm hoping no news means good news, but it's hard to say. I mean, getting your wisdom teeth out is considered a surgery so it could be something very minor.

I hate to see anyone injured, especially during the summer, but if Vandervelde can't play this fall, at least there are some very serviceable guys behind him at guard. Dace Richardson, Dan Doering, Andy Kuempel are all very capable at guard and there are even some more guys that could step in. More intriguing is the possibility that James Ferentz could be the starting center. Right now Rafael Eubanks is listed as the starter at center, but certainly does not have that spotted locked down. Vandervelde was actually also being tried at center some in the spring and Josh Koeppel has been pushing for time as well. However, Ferentz has some definite advantages with his dad being a very good offensive line coach and he's said to be even better than his brother Brian, who went on to have a pretty good career. Before alcohol related arrest #2, I thought Ferentz would be the starter this year, but now after missing most of spring practice, I'm leaning towards 2nd string now.

So, if Vandevelde is out, then I'm seeing the offensive line looking like this now:
LT - Bryan Bulaga, LG - Dace Richardson, C - Rafael Eubanks, RG - Dan Doering, RT - Kyle Calloway

That is still a very good line and I still have hopes that Vandervelde can squeeze in there somewhere if he's healthy.

In a very related story, James' drinking buddies Zach Derby and Tyler Christensen were also reinstated.