Indiana University Athletics
Indiana’s Blind Side In Good Hands With Spriggs
10/16/2015 2:30:00 PM | Football
By: Sam Beishuizen | Twitter
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana's offensive linemen take turns passing off credit to one another. In a position room full of recognizable talent, nobody takes credit by themselves.
They pass block as a unit. They open up running lanes as a team. A lineman is typically only as effective as the teammates lined up beside him because everything they do is connected.
Within the unit, each player has a role, a specialty. Each individual player carries a responsibility based on what he does best for the group's cause.
For senior Jason Spriggs, the job is simple: Protect the quarterback.
"It's definitely something I take very seriously," Spriggs said. "There's a lot of pressure that comes with lining up on the blind side."
Spriggs is the left tackle for an Indiana team with right-handed quarterbacks. On every snap, it's his job to neutralize opposing pass rushers from taking advantage of the quarterback's blind side for a sack.
It's a burdensome role for any left tackle. Quarterbacks are more susceptible to injury when they can't see the pass rusher before he hits them. Each play, the pass-throwers health rests on Spriggs' shoulders.
"Not everyone can do it, but Jason takes a lot of pride in what he does," offensive line coach Greg Frey said. "He's very good, very consistent. He's really done a good job of leading our group, and really, he's come a long way with that."
That may be an understatement.
Spriggs earned the starting job at left tackle as a true freshman despite weighing only 268 pounds. The year before arriving in Bloomington, Spriggs was a tight end while playing for Elkhart (Ind.) Concord High School. Suddenly, he was protecting his quarterback against future NFL Draft picks William Gholston and John Simon in back-to-back weeks.
Just more than three years later, Spriggs has become a staple of Indiana's offensive line. He's grown to a sturdier 6-foot-7, 305 pounds, and he has made 40 of a possible 41 starts.
Indiana head coach Kevin Wilson has described Spriggs as the type of player who will "be playing on Sundays" in the future. Wilson would know—while an offensive line coach and offensive coordinator at Oklahoma, Wilson sent three offensive tackles to the NFL via the first round in Jamaal Brown, Davin Joseph and Trent Williams.
CBS Sports ranked Spriggs as a top-10 player at left tackle and is only one of a handful of media outlets projecting him as between a second-to-fourth-round draft pick next spring. Even at the professional level, finding a sturdy lineman to protect a quarterback's blind side in a quarterback-driven league is no easy task.
"He's as talented as any lineman I've coached, and a couple of them were high picks," Wilson said. "You don't go high playing at that position by combine numbers. You go by consistent play. They're going to pay that quarterback $120 million, so you better be able to block, too."
Spriggs has had to adjust on the fly throughout his career to a changing offense.
His freshman season featured a balanced attack, but injuries at quarterback forced a handful of different players to take snaps. IU ran a similar offense his sophomore season, but a two-quarterback system with one pro-style quarterback and a mobile threat kept him on his toes.
During his junior season, Indiana pounded the ball on the ground behind All-American running back Tevin Coleman. Now in his final season, Spriggs is blocking for a mix of both a potent ground attack with junior Jordan Howard and a proven passing game behind the arm of senior quarterback Nate Sudfeld.
Spriggs said he's comfortable blocking in whatever offense Wilson and offensive coordinator Kevin Johns want to use. He adapts to whoever's behind him and does his job just the same as always.
Because regardless of who's in the game, Spriggs' priority remains the same.
Protect his quarterback.
"I don't think there's anyone else I'd rather have protecting me," Sudfeld said at Big Ten Media Day with Spriggs fielding questions just a few feet away.
"Jason Spriggs is as good as they get."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana's offensive linemen take turns passing off credit to one another. In a position room full of recognizable talent, nobody takes credit by themselves.
They pass block as a unit. They open up running lanes as a team. A lineman is typically only as effective as the teammates lined up beside him because everything they do is connected.
Within the unit, each player has a role, a specialty. Each individual player carries a responsibility based on what he does best for the group's cause.
For senior Jason Spriggs, the job is simple: Protect the quarterback.
"It's definitely something I take very seriously," Spriggs said. "There's a lot of pressure that comes with lining up on the blind side."
Spriggs is the left tackle for an Indiana team with right-handed quarterbacks. On every snap, it's his job to neutralize opposing pass rushers from taking advantage of the quarterback's blind side for a sack.
It's a burdensome role for any left tackle. Quarterbacks are more susceptible to injury when they can't see the pass rusher before he hits them. Each play, the pass-throwers health rests on Spriggs' shoulders.
"Not everyone can do it, but Jason takes a lot of pride in what he does," offensive line coach Greg Frey said. "He's very good, very consistent. He's really done a good job of leading our group, and really, he's come a long way with that."
That may be an understatement.
Spriggs earned the starting job at left tackle as a true freshman despite weighing only 268 pounds. The year before arriving in Bloomington, Spriggs was a tight end while playing for Elkhart (Ind.) Concord High School. Suddenly, he was protecting his quarterback against future NFL Draft picks William Gholston and John Simon in back-to-back weeks.
Just more than three years later, Spriggs has become a staple of Indiana's offensive line. He's grown to a sturdier 6-foot-7, 305 pounds, and he has made 40 of a possible 41 starts.
Indiana head coach Kevin Wilson has described Spriggs as the type of player who will "be playing on Sundays" in the future. Wilson would know—while an offensive line coach and offensive coordinator at Oklahoma, Wilson sent three offensive tackles to the NFL via the first round in Jamaal Brown, Davin Joseph and Trent Williams.
CBS Sports ranked Spriggs as a top-10 player at left tackle and is only one of a handful of media outlets projecting him as between a second-to-fourth-round draft pick next spring. Even at the professional level, finding a sturdy lineman to protect a quarterback's blind side in a quarterback-driven league is no easy task.
"He's as talented as any lineman I've coached, and a couple of them were high picks," Wilson said. "You don't go high playing at that position by combine numbers. You go by consistent play. They're going to pay that quarterback $120 million, so you better be able to block, too."
Spriggs has had to adjust on the fly throughout his career to a changing offense.
His freshman season featured a balanced attack, but injuries at quarterback forced a handful of different players to take snaps. IU ran a similar offense his sophomore season, but a two-quarterback system with one pro-style quarterback and a mobile threat kept him on his toes.
During his junior season, Indiana pounded the ball on the ground behind All-American running back Tevin Coleman. Now in his final season, Spriggs is blocking for a mix of both a potent ground attack with junior Jordan Howard and a proven passing game behind the arm of senior quarterback Nate Sudfeld.
Spriggs said he's comfortable blocking in whatever offense Wilson and offensive coordinator Kevin Johns want to use. He adapts to whoever's behind him and does his job just the same as always.
Because regardless of who's in the game, Spriggs' priority remains the same.
Protect his quarterback.
"I don't think there's anyone else I'd rather have protecting me," Sudfeld said at Big Ten Media Day with Spriggs fielding questions just a few feet away.
"Jason Spriggs is as good as they get."
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