Following Temple’s fourth practice of the spring season, head coach K.C. Keeler was not particularly happy. He said it was the Owls’ worst of the spring and thought the effort could have been better.

But when he started talking about the offensive line, his tone changed.

“I think of any position that I've seen the biggest jump, it's been the offensive line,” Keeler said. “Now, we're not even close to being where we need to get to, but it's really encouraging to see that progress happening. And there's some good young players there. There really are. I'm hoping they're not a birthday away. I'm hoping we can get them ready for game one.”

The offensive line was one of the few positions that did not see any additions from the transfer portal, and that room returns most of its starters from last season. Keeler said he and his staff are planning on adding competition for the offensive line through the portal next month, but for now, it’s a mix of veteran returners and redshirt freshmen for new offensive line coach Al Johnson.

The veterans in the room: Diego Barajas

The fresh(ish) face: Giakoby Hills

The player with the most to prove: Jackson Pruitt, Kevin Terry, Eric King

The Owls are going through spring practice without center Grayson Mains or guard Luke Watson due to injuries. Keeler said neither will go through spring drills as they get eased back into action in preparation for the summer and fall. Watson is continuing to work back from knee surgery that cost him all of last season while Mains recovers from an upper-body injury after being the starting center for most of last season.

With Watson and Mains on the shelf, the veteran in the room is Barajas. The 6-foot-6 305-pound tackle is now entering his third year with the Owls after spending two years at Laney College.

Barajas saw plenty of action last season at both tackle spots, acting as a filler for Terry and former tackle Melvin Siani. The Alameda, California native started weeks 3-5 at left tackle and then started weeks 6-7 and 10-11 at right tackle. Siani transferred to Wake Forest in the offseason and Temple has yet to add another tackle in the portal, leaving the path clear for now for Barajas.

Without any transfer additions or early enrollee freshmen, there are technically no new faces in the offensive line room.

The Owls return five players on the offensive line who redshirted as freshmen last season, none of which saw playing time. Keeler mostly offered praise to the younger guys as a whole but did specifically mention Hills as one of the younger offensive linemen who has stood out early in camp.

Hills, a redshirt freshman, was known just as much for his defense and special teams work as a senior at New Jersey’s Morristown High School (84 tackles, two sacks and four blocked kicks), but he’s starting to come into his own as an offensive lineman.

“I think Giakoby has done a really nice job. He's really starting to grow up,” Keeler said.

The rest of the offensive linemen that are returning and saw playing time arguably all have the most to prove. Keeler and offensive coordinator Tyler Walker want to emphasize the run game and that starts up front with the performance of the offensive line.

Terry, King and Pruitt all saw significant time as starters last season, but all three experienced struggles at points and were blocking for an offense that averaged just 92 rushing yards per game.

Terry earned the starting left tackle job out of camp as just a redshirt freshman, showing the faith the old coaching regime had in the Clearwater Central Catholic graduate. He started the first two games of last season but missed the next two due to injury. He played in five of the next six games after returning before not playing in the final two games of the season. Terry will now try to utilize spring practices to show he can reliably protect the quarterback's blindside. That’s where he’s been lining up most of the time this spring.

King also earned a fair amount of playing time as a redshirt freshman last season. He did not see action in the first two games but replaced former guard James Faminu at left guard against Utah State. King started every game except the Army loss for the remainder of the season, seeing time at both guard positions.

Pruitt spent much of last season opposite King at right guard. Like Terry and King, Pruitt entered last season with more experience, as he played in all 12 games as a redshirt freshman in 2023, including three starts. He saw time at both guard spots last season, rotating around with King, Faminu and former guard Wisdom Quarshie. Pruitt experienced struggles last season along with King and Terry that led to inconsistent playing time.

Pruitt, King and Terry could make up more than half of the starting offensive line, but all three were inconsistent in their own right last season. With more competition on the offensive line on the way, they will have to prove to Keeler and Johnson.

Front page photo by Landon Stafford