The Cardinal Countdown: 74 Days Until Kickoff

#74 Geron Christian

Class: Junior

Ht/Wt: 6-6/318

Position: Offensive Line

Hometown: Ocala, FL

Twitter: @geron_christian

Thoughts: Christian is “the vet” of the offensive line, having started every game he was eligible to play in (26 straight starts) since arriving on campus, which makes him one of the most consistent players on the team. In fact, the coaches voted Geron “most durable” last season and presented him an award at the spring game, which then immediately broke (not really, but that would have been great). Geron has been a solid piece of the offensive line the last couple years and although they have taken their share of hot takes from the fanbase, Christian’s play has been impressive in my eyes overall. Has he made a few mistakes? Of course, as has every other player who stepped on the field the last two years, but he’s remained productive enough that he hasn’t lost his stating gig and has been consistently praised by the staff for doing his job each and every week.

Coach Summers has publicly stated that he will mix things up this year on the line, (he let Thomas and McNeil play guard in Spring) and while I think Geron has the talent to compete in both spots, my guess is he remains at tackle and has a great year setting the president for what Summers expects to see from players up front.

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Game 5: Murray State Racers

Key Player: Kenney Wooten, Junior, Defensive End

Wooten came to the Racers from Itawamba Community College and started making an impact quickly in the Spring. Wooten didn’t arrive on campus until January but showed enough flash in the first few practices that Racers coach Mitch Stewart said he had what it takes to be the next big pass rusher for Murray in 2017. Now, when Stewart says “big” pass rusher it may be a slight exaggeration as Kenney only stands at 6-1, 235lb…but we all know some big hits can come in small packages (i.e. Griffin Uhl). If we’re being honest, Murray shouldn’t be in the game with UofL by halftime but I’ll be interested in seeing how the Cards respond against Kent State and Murray State if they manage to get through the first three games at 3-0. Another 5-0 start will have the Cards positioned well to make some noise down the stretch.

Sweet Tweet:

Geron and the rest of the “big uglies” (very endearing term) along the line have been fighting for respect the last two seasons. Fans are the worst at both revisionist history and recency bias, unfortunately the combination of those two things paints the offensive line as poor performers for two straight years…and that isn’t true. In games against lesser competition they have performed admirably and even in a few of the big games they have taken on the challenge (Texas A&M, FSU, etc) and succeeded. I get the concern, I get the frustration, but I’m banking on the fact that another year of experience and a proven Coach Summers will have the line garnering a little more respect in 2017.