Davis, Haslam ‘bookends’ for developing offense

Between learning the playbook, learning to run the Rutgers’ offense, competing amongst each other and trying to find a wide receiver that can get open and hold on to the ball, the Rutgers football team’s quarterbacks don’t have time to worry about the pass rush.
Thanks to junior left tackle Anthony Davis and senior right tackle Kevin Haslam, they don’t have to.
Senior center Ryan Blaszczyk described the pair best, referring to them as the team’s “bookends.”
“Kevin and Anthony, when they’re on their game, they are the best two tackles in the Big East,” Blaszczyk said. “Having Kevin, a fifth year senior, and Anthony, a three-year starter, they know the game and they know what they’re going to see so it’s definitely very good on [the quarterback’s] mind having two tackles out there who protect him.”
The two tackles have a combined four years of starting experience between them to go along with two years of starting experience for Blaszczyk and a year of experience for guards Caleb Ruch and Art Forst.
“It’s extremely [valuable] to have your entire offensive line back with a whole new quarterback, new wide receivers, our running back situation changed a little bit,” Haslam said. “Having the whole line back is huge because we kind of gelled at the end of last year, and once we did, to have everyone back again is a really big thing for us.”
And because the line already knows what to do after spending all of last season together, all of spring practice and much of the upcoming training camp is about attention to detail.
“We really focused on communicating better,” Blaszczyk said. “We came in every day and just tried to get the details of the position better. We were returning guys so we didn’t really have to do a lot in terms of installing. We just had to work on the details.”
This offensive line, specifically Davis and Haslam, have the added advantage of experience at multiple positions on the line. Before Davis took over for Pedro Sosa at left tackle, Davis played right guard for the Knights and before Haslam found a home at right tackle, he played both left guard, right guard and filled in at left tackle.
“[Playing experience] helps me know what’s going on out there on the field,” Haslam said. “If you know what everybody else is doing out there then obviously you know what you’re doing. It also helps younger guys like [sophomore right guard] Art [Forst]. If he needs help I’ll tell him something really quick. Knowledge of how everybody else plays will help you in the long run. The whole line basically knows everybody’s position.”
For Haslam, who has the most in-game experience on the line with the exception of Blaszczyk at center, the spring and summer are about getting more comfortable at right tackle.
“It’s been my fifth go-around at it so really I just try to use this to get better at all of the little things,” Haslam said. “I started right tackle in the middle of the year last year so this is kind of helping me to get more accustomed to it.”
Davis said that Haslam has also developed as a leader in the locker room and will be looked to next season as an even bigger one with the losses of quarterback Mike Teel and wide receivers Tiquan Underwood and Kenny Britt as offensive leaders.
“Haslam is a great technique player. I learned a lot from him by watching his technique. He’s a hard worker,” Davis said. “He’ll put extra time in the weight room to set an example for the younger kids.”
And it’s not just the quarterbacks that enjoy the protection of the two tackles, but the running backs as well.
“They bring great protection and open up great holes,” sophomore running back Joe Martinek said. “Running behind those guys, all of the line really, is something great to run behind and they definitely help me improve in my game.”