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Auburn believes Prince Tega Wanogho could ascend to ‘all-conference’ level at left tackle

Josh Vitale | AU Writer
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Jun 19, 2018 Updated 3 hrs ago

The biggest thing J.B. Grimes wanted to teach Prince Tega Wanogho this past spring was how to use his hands better at left tackle.

The rising junior had already been blessed with all the size he needed at 6-foot-7 and 307 pounds. He wasn’t short on athleticism, either: He grew up playing soccer in his native Nigeria, came to the United States to play basketball and began his football career at defensive end.

But his hands needed work. The veteran offensive line coach noticed that as soon as he turned on the tape after returning to the Plains this offseason. An offensive lineman is supposed to keep his hands inside a rushing defender. Wanogho wanted to spread his wide like he was guarding a ball-handler driving toward the basket.

Grimes started by slapping standard-issue rubber handcuffs on Wanogho during drills. He’s so strong that he broke three pairs, which is something his coach had never seen before in all his years of coaching. But the feeling eventually stuck.

“I saw him, from Day 1 to Day 15, make extremely good strides when it came to that,” Grimes said in Cullman last month. “He’s a gifted guy. He’s got a lot of ability.”

So much ability that Wanogho secured the starting left tackle job before the end of the spring and flashed the potential for — in Grimes’ opinion — much, much more.

“I’ve got him rated right now as a guy that is a really good starter in the SEC, and I think he’s ascending,” Auburn’s offensive line coach said. “I think he could ascend into an all-conference type player.”

Wanogho certainly won’t surprise anybody this season. He did last year, when his candidacy for the starting left tackle job only seemed to materialize during the latter part of fall camp.

Auburn came out of spring practice in 2017 with Darius James at left tackle, Marquel Harrell at left guard, Austin Golson at Center, Mike Horton at right guard and Braden Smith at right tackle. Wanogho mounted a challenge in the fall, and when the season opened Sept. 2, he was at left tackle, James was at right tackle, Smith was at right guard, Horton was at left guard and Harrell was out of the starting five.

There may be some shuffling this fall, but not at Wanogho’s spot. Smith, James, Golson and Casey Dunn al graduated after last season. Wanogho, Harrell and Horton are the only three players with starting experience at the SEC level, and Grimes has already cemented them as the foundation of his offensive line. The battles will rage on only at center and right tackle.

“Prince's ceiling is very high. He's very talented. He does have experience, and he's a guy that we have challenged to take that next step,” head coach Gus Malzahn said this spring. “He's starting to be more vocal and starting to be more a leader. And that's what Coach Grimes is looking for. He's looking for leaders up front. I've been very encouraged with that.”

That’s what made the strides Wanogho took with his technique this spring so crucial. He won the starting job out of fall camp last season, but he didn’t keep it all season. Auburn made a change to its starting five after allowing 28 tackles for loss and 16 sacks through the first four games of the season. Golson moved to left tackle and Dunn entered the lineup at center. Wanogho started just three of the Tigers’ final 10 games.

This season, Wanogho is going to be counted on to help anchor an offensive line that could be breaking in two first-time starters. Grimes feels like he has what it takes as long as his fundamentals are where they’re supposed to be.

“I see myself making great improvements,” Wanogho said. “I feel like now is the right time to take the next step and be a leader for the younger guys coming up. That's what I try to do every day out there.”

Josh Vitale is the Auburn beat writer for the Opelika-Auburn News. You can follow him on Twitter at @AUBlog. To reach him by email, click here.

so often there are two headlines on articles. you have seen mine which was a gotcha. but besides that there are still two more. one inside the post and yet here is the headline designed to get me to click.........and it worked

 

So much ability that Wanogho secured the starting left tackle job before the end of the spring and flashed the potential for — in Grimes' opinion — much, much more . . .
Opelika-Auburn News

  so it seems that so far prince has won a starting job..............awesome!

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My goodness man these titles lol

also Prince is the Jay Electronica of this forum haha

only real hip hop heads will understand this reference.

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i did that on purpose...........nothing wrong with a little fun.

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5 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

i did that on purpose...........nothing wrong with a little fun.

This was literally my reaction when I read that title

 

giphy.gif

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35 minutes ago, DAG said:

My goodness man these titles lol

also Prince is the Jay Electronica of this forum haha

only real hip hop heads will understand this reference.

 

IMG_1250.GIF

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I feel a lot better about who's coaching our OL this year. I think we can see some improvement. Something that I never really saw with Hand. He wasnt bad, but I never really saw significant "coaching them up" with him.

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