Senior returns to spot of first start in spring practice

Unlike other members of the Rutgers football team making the transition to other positions, senior Desmond Stapleton has experience at his new destination.

Stapleton started 13 games last season for the Scarlet Knights at left tackle, but moved to the right this spring after head coach Greg Schiano opted to insert sophomore Andre Civil to protect quarterback Chas Dodd's blindside.

"It's all right. I'm getting the footwork back and getting used to the footwork," Stapleton said of right tackle. "[I'm] just getting back into the whole body positioning, hitting my targets and everything. It's not that much different from the left side. You just have to get used to it."

Stapleton earned his only start at right tackle against Army in 2009, when Schiano suspended now-San Francisco 49er Anthony Davis for the first quarter while Kevin Haslam stepped in on the left side.

The offensive line's starting situation remains even cloudier two years later. Schiano juggled nine players on the unit's starting five, and the picture became more complicated with penciled-in starter Desmond Wynn's knee injury a week ago.

"We're not sold on anything," Schiano said. "If the best thing is for Stapleton to play left tackle, we know what he can do. He played 13 games at left tackle. So at the end of spring football, we look at everything and try to our best ability to find out who the best five will be."

Freshman Betim Bujari earned first-team repetitions at left guard in Wynn's absence after playing largely on the right side during the spring, while senior Caleb Ruch took snaps at center despite lining up at guard throughout his career.

Sophomore David Osei, who split reps with junior-college transfer Dallas Hendrickson at center, even moved out to tackle during Tuesday's practice.

"Improvement," Stapleton said of his prognosis of the unit. "We saw Betim step up at left guard. He's doing pretty good. He's getting back from moving from right guard to left guard. Caleb's been playing guard his whole career here, so he's stepping up to replace Wynn and doing a good job there."

The plethora of moves along the line occurred during the Knights' first practice after their Saturday scrimmage, in which the starting five received mixed reviews from offensive line coach Kyle Flood.

Flood said he liked some of the things he saw from the group, according to Stapleton, but it needed to be more consistent in lengthening drives and gains.

Led by Stapleton, the line paved running room for freshman Jawan Jamison, who totaled 62 yards on 15 carries, and sophomore Jeremy Deering reeled off a long touchdown run late in the scrimmage.

"That's encouraging, but we need to be more consistent," Stapleton said. "One run is not good enough. We want to start getting more chunks out of the running game. Hopefully, we can be consistent with our running game. We'll gain four or five or seven and all that. You know how that goes."

Whether he lines up on the left or right, Stapleton carries the burden of an offensive line that ranked last in Division I last season in sacks allowed and is eager to disprove the corps' detractors.

But who he lines up next to remains a mystery.