Temple’s offensive line faced constant injuries last season, so much so that offensive line coach Chris Wiesehan was never able to start the same five players in consecutive weeks.

It’s a storyline the coaches, players and fans know well by now.

Heading into 2023, the line appears healthier and added depth via the transfer portal and a few true freshmen. The group will be led by fifth-year player Victor Stoffel, who was awarded a single-digit on Aug. 14 and will look to fill the shoes of 2022 single-digit offensive linemen Adam Klein and Isaac Moore.

Returning Players: Jackson Pruitt, Chevez Trask, James Faminu, Jermaine Donaldson, Bryce Thoman, Richard Rodriguez, Victor Stoffel, Wisdom Quarshie.

Key departures: Isaac Moore, Adam Klein, Jimto Obidegwu (transferred to Kent State.)

Newcomers: Eric King, Kevin Terry, Chris Smith, Melvin Siani, Luke Watson, Diego Barajas.

2022 Recap

Temple went the entire 2022 season without starting the same offensive line combination in back-to-back games. Left tackle Isaac Moore was the only offensive lineman to play every game last season. In fact, Moore played in every game of his collegiate career (all at left tackle), setting the Temple record for consecutive games played at 57. The previous record of 54 was held by current Orlando Predators (National Arena League) safety Delvon Randall, who played for Temple from 2015 to 2018.

Despite the injury struggles, the Owls’ front five surrendered just 10 sacks all season, which was the sixth-lowest total in the nation.

True freshman E.J. Warner was sacked eight times while redshirt junior Quincy Patterson, who transferred in from North Dakota State, was sacked twice.

But the constantly-shuffled and oft-injured offensive line was part of the issue for a Temple rushing offense that finished 129th out of 131 FBS teams at just 82.4 yards per game. That obviously has to change if the Owls want to finish in the top half of the American Athletic Conference standings and become bowl-eligible in head coach Stan Drayton's second season.

2023 Preview

With the departure of Moore and Klein, and with second-year head coach Stan Drayton and his staff taking over for previous head coach Rod Carey and his lackluster track record of recruiting good offensive linemen, the position needed reinforcements. So, the Owls brought in five true freshmen and three junior college transfers.

Among them is junior Diego Barajas, who was named first-team all-conference as a sophomore at Laney College last season. Although it’s not certain where he’ll play as of now in the Sept. 2 season opener against Akron, given how much Wiesehan moves around and cross-trains his players, the 6-foot-6, 300-pound Barajas has seen some first-team reps at left tackle during the preseason.

Barajas has admitted that he had always planned on staying on the West Coast so he could be close to his family and also talked during the offseason about fighting through some bouts of homesickness.

But when he came to Temple for his official visit, Wiesehan made his decision to come to North Broad Street quite easy.

“I never really planned on playing on the East Coast,” Barajas, the Alameda, California native said. “I've kind of always wanted to stay close to home just so that I’d be close to my family. … So when I came here for my visit back in December, they showed me the facilities and all around the school. Coach Wies is just a genuine guy. He's going to tell you the truth and I like people like that. I like people that aren't going to sugarcoat stuff. I like people that are going to tell you the hard truth. That's why I decided to come here. He was very persuasive and he definitely knows his way around his words.”

Stoffel, who earned a single-digit No. 4 that he’ll wear in practice (the NCAA doesn’t allow offensive linemen to wear numbers outside of 50-79), will be the guy everyone looks to for leadership. The 6-8, 300-pound missed the first five games of the 2022 season with an injury before starting the final seven at right tackle. It wouldn’t surprise anyone to see him start there again, although he, too, has taken some first-team snaps at left tackle this month.

Being the leader of this group is not something Stoffel takes lightly.

“Obviously, losing Klein and Isaac, two veterans that have been here for a long time and know their stuff, I think it's been big shoes to fill,” Stoffel said. “For me, as a leader of the unit, I’m trying to get all of us on the same page. I'm trying to get everyone to know the playbook and know their stuff so that we can compensate for losing those guys. Obviously, I'm trying to fill their shoes the best I can, but I know that as o-linemen, we can't be five fingers, we have to be one fist. One unit, together. So that involves everybody knowing their stuff. That's something I've been working hard on this summer; making sure the guys know their playbook.”

Wiesehan, who is entering his second year back at Temple since returning from Georgia Tech, has his likely starting center in redshirt senior Richard Rodriguez, who started eight games at center and left guard last season while also battling injuries. Wisdom Quarshie, a 6-3, 305-pound graduate student, started at center in last year’s season opener at Duke and started eight of Temple’s 12 games at both center and guard. While he, like many of his linemates, struggled with inconsistent stretches of play, Quarshie was mentioned recently by Drayton as the most improved player on the line and could be a likely starter at one of the guard positions.

Drayton and Wiesehan will also need to put faith in the development of their true freshmen - Eric King, Kevin Terry, Melvin Siani and Luke Watson.

Wiesehan has been pleased with the toughness and adaptability of his true freshman, specifically King, Terry and Watson.

Watson, a 6-4, 285-pound graduate of Delaware’s Saint Mark’s High School, has drawn praise from the coaching staff this month. Returning starter Bryce Thoman has been out with an injury, and in late-practice periods open to reporters on Aug. 11 and Aug. 18, Watson was taking first-team reps at guard.

“All three of those guys have been very functional,” Wiesehan said earlier this month of Terry, King and Watson, “which is a testament to that room in the summer. We were gone a lot of July, so there’s a lot of leadership developing in there as far as taking those young guys under the wings, growing them on and off the field, and it’s shown up. Those guys have done a very nice job. All three are very coachable and have great families. There’s some resiliency among them when things get tough, which I really appreciate.”