Getting granular with the O-line

This is sort of a "bill is due" season for the Iowa offensive line. Kirk Ferentz pretty much admitted that when spring practice opened Wednesday.

In 2008, center Rob Bruggeman and guard Seth Olsen landed in the NFL. This April, tackles Bryan Bulaga, Kyle Calloway and Dace Richardson could end up in the league. That's a lot of weightroom, technical training and video room study shipped to the league that pays.

"You see five guys of that caliber in two years, you're going to pay a price," Ferentz said. "Flipping it around, the hottest guys in contention right now are guys who've been in the program a couple of years."

Ferentz's first mention there was junior Markus Zusevics, who's listed as the No. 1 right tackle going into the 15 spring practices, which wrap April 17 with an open scrimmage 1 p.m. at Kinnick Stadium.

"He's not going to be a 320-pound player, but that's OK," Ferentz said. "He's got the potential. He's improved with each year."

According to the spring depth chart, Zusevics had a decent weight gain over the winter, going from 278 to 295. Ferentz said 280-285 was more likely.

"He's a volleyball player from Chicago (at Prospect, Ill., High School)," Ferentz said. "It was an interesting recruitment and he played center initially, but we thought he was a pretty athletic guy and had growth potential.

"He's worked extremely hard to mature physically. He's in the 280 to 285 range. I think in the last year he has really started to get his feet on the ground a little bit. It's going to be interesting to see how he does."

You lose that much firepower, you're going to change, though. One of those changes will be visible. Bulaga weighed in at 312. Calloway was a 320-pounder. Richardson was 32o at the combine.

Iowa won't have a 320-pound tackle this season. It will have eight to 10 players in the mix for the two deeps and playing time.

"I don't think they are two miles away from things," Ferentz said. "I think they are approaching where they need to be. We aren't going to be as big as we were last year, I know that, physically, but that's fine. I think potentially we'll have guys who can play.

"I think we're going to have some good competition, and I'm not overly concerned. I'm anxious and curious to see how

 things play out here in the next four weeks. It'll be fun to watch everybody compete."

Ferentz admitted that the spring depth chart was a game of darts, but that doesn't mean spring doesn't mean anything. It'll be a runway to where you stand in fall camp. And, of course, it's always better to have your name at the top than a few rungs below.

The two known commodities are sophomore Riley Reiff (6-6, 300) and senior Julian Vandervelde (6-3, 300). Reiff started 11 games last season, including three for Bulaga when he went down with a thyroid condition. Vandervelde, who sang the national anthem at President Obama's visit to Iowa City on Thursday, has 24 career starts.

Their roles have obviously expanded. Ferentz doesn't want Reiff to feel the pressure of leadership. He'd rather that goes Vandervelde's way.

"Riley just has to go out and play," Ferentz said. "I think Julian is the den mother, if you will, or the boy scout leader. I've seen Julian grow, too. I think he's aware of what's going on.

"The thing about Riley is that he doesn't say much, but he just goes out and competes. I was scared to death in the second game of last year when Bryan was out. But he (Reiff) seemed to come through that game and he just kept getting better. He's not afraid of competition.

"It'll be interesting this spring because he and Clayborn will be banging heads a little bit, so that'll be fun. All he has to do is go out and keep playing like he has been playing and keep growing. He doesn't say much, but he is pretty solid out there."

Ferentz touched on other names in the hunt.

Juniors Adam Gettis (6-4, 280) and Cody Hundertmark (6-4, 285) are fighting it out at right guard. Hundertmark switched from defensive end going into the Orange Bowl practices last December. Gettis started against UNI and then didn't see much action after that.

Coming out of the quote where Ferentz said Zusevics wasn't going to be a 320-pounder, he said, "Same thing about Gettis, Hundertmark. We moved over (Hundertmark) in December, I think it is going to be a great, great move and he seemed to learn very, very well, very quickly."

Redshirt freshman Nolan MacMillan (6-6, 288) is listed as the No. 2 right tackle. He nearly had the redshirt pulled last fall, but stayed out of competition. He suffered a sports hernia late last fall and sat out Orange Bowl practices. He will be limited this spring, Ferentz said, but he will be expected to compete in the tackle group.

"He's not full speed yet. I don't know if he will be in a week or two," Ferentz said. We're hoping he can be. I was hoping he would be back where he would be in the competition, too, and see where he fits in in terms of the one through 10."

Woody Orne isn't on the two deep, but the 6-5, 295-pounder is in the mix. Orne transferred in from South Dakota State last season, where he earned all-freshmen in the Missouri Valley Conference in '08. Orne was a top basketball prospect coming out of Fairfield High School.

Ferentz mentioned "Marshal Yanda story," but then he cautioned.

"I don't want to say it's a Marshal Yanda story, but it's one of those deals where he probably grew and developed more after he got out of high school," Ferentz said. "He reached out to us and probably wanted to play in a BCS conference and program. I think that was his goal. We were fine with it. He did a nice job in the fall and we are anxious to see him."

The clock is ticking for Orne, who'll be a junior this season. Is he in the mix?

"Yeah, potentially," Ferentz said. "He has some things to learn, but again, he's an older guy. He played in his true freshman year. I think he's definitely a candidate."

Center is a dead heat between senior Josh Koeppel (6-2, 273) and sophomore James Ferentz (6-2, 275). It's a dead heat in nearly every way imaginable, coach Ferentz said.

"Size-wise and really the whole thing, it's about even right now," Ferentz said. "They're almost identical. They're almost the same height and weight. In this case you also have two City High guys that were football/wrestlers. It's about dead even right now. Both those guys are about equal, but experience-wise, Josh has a little bit of an edge. I thought they both did a nice job in December and we will see what happens in the next 15 days."

A tier of linemen from the 2009 recruiting class is probably still a year away from serious competition for playing time. That group includes MacMillan, center Conor Boffeli (who went from 250 to 285 in the offseason), guard Drew Clark (270 to 288 and No. 2 behind Vandervelde at LG) and tackle Brett Van Sloten (who went from 270 to 290).

"We have a tier of guys in that younger group, last year's freshman, guys like Boffeli, Van Sloten, who've shown some good things," Ferentz said. "I don't know how close those guys (are to playing), but probably going to be in two-deep. They have to get going."

LT - Riley Reiff (6-6, 300), Kyle Haganman (6-5, 285)

LG - Julian Vandervelde (6-3, 300), Drew Clark (6-4, 288)

C - Josh Koeppel (6-2, 273) OR James Ferentz (6-2, 275)

RG - Adam Gettis (6-4, 280), Cody Hundertmark (6-4, 285)

RT - Markus Zusevics (6-5, 295), Nolan MacMillan (6-6, 288), Woody Orne (6-5, 295)