The SMU Mustangs are entering the final week of their spring workouts. For the offensive line, as much as any position group, a lot of the the workouts have been about teaching and trying different combinations of linemen.

In other words, nothing is decided.

That’s not entirely true. Senior-to-be Ben Gottschalk appears to have a solid grip on the starting left tackle job, and Taylor Lasecki, who started at center in 2012 as a redshirt freshman, clearly has the upper hand to retain his spot. But a lot of players, many of whom have just one or two years of college experience, have taken their shots at the other three positions, hoping to catch the eye of new offensive line coach Wes Suan.

Chauncey Briggs has cracked the offensive tackle rotation in part by losing more than 30 pounds in his first year at SMU (photo by PonyFans.com).

One youngster who has forced Suan and the other coaches to take notice is tackle Chauncey Briggs. Coaches prefer to play veterans over young players, especially on the offensive line, where success depends so much on the chemistry that is developed between players as they get used to playing with each other, so throwing in a bunch of youngsters is not considered ideal.

But Suan will have no choice but to play some youngsters. SMU graduated all five starting linemen from its 2011 team, but had three seniors — Bryan Collins, Jordan Free and Blake McJunkin — ready to step in. Now those three are gone, but there isn’t a stable of seniors-in-waiting to take their spots, so Suan will have to get some young players ready in a hurry. One of those young players is Briggs.

Whether he ends up earning a starting spot remains to be seen. When he signed with SMU in 2012, Briggs was heralded for his athleticism and mobility, but he arrived in Dallas overweight, tipping the scales last summer at 355 pounds. He spent his redshirt year learning the offense and shedding weight through working out and smarter eating — he said got down to 320 by the time the Ponies went to Hawaii to whip Fresno State in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl — to the point that he looks like a new player.

Briggs didn’t say whether the decision to slim down was his or that of the coaches, but he said the change was necessary, as much for survival as for his effort to try to claim a starting role.

“I had to get lighter, and I had to get stronger,” he said, laughing. “You can’t be out of shape in this offense. You have to be able to run and you have to have quick feet to handle speed rushers — and you have to be able to go for four quarters.

Briggs’ hard work paid off. He has spent spring workouts fluctuating between first-team right tackle and working with the second-team line at both tackle positions.

“I can play both,” he said. “There’s an adjustment, doing everything one way with your hands with your feet, and then flipping everything and doing it the other way when you switch sides. But I can do either one.”

He has the ability to play on either end of the line, but Briggs admitted that he is more comfortable on the left side. But Gottschalk is in the way on quarterback Garrett Gilbert’s blind side, meaning if Briggs doesn’t win the starting right tackle job — Seaver Myers also has worked with the first-team offensive line at right tackle — Briggs’ versatility as a swing backup will be invaluable to the Mustangs.