PonyFans.com

According to Insiders:

Matt Hart
Ht: 6-6 Wt: 305 40: 5.3
Position: OT
Projected as: OL
Huffman (Hargrave), Texas

Biography:
Matt is an offensive line prospect boasting great height/weight for the position and projects first as an offensive tackle, then as a guard. Has quite a bit of potential/upside to tap, and with solid coaching, should continue developing.

"We're more of a sprint-out/quick passing team," Huffman head coach John Baker said. "So, we're hoping to eventually do more drop-back passing this year. For what we do, Matt is very good. I think he has really good feet, but hard to grade his pass blocking right now since we're not yet a drop-back passing team. But there's no question that he is one of the best, if not the best player in our district."

Schools of Interest:
Houston, Arkansas, McNeese State, Princeton, SMU, Stephen F. Austin, TCU, Yale (all have offered - which is interesting, since Ivy League schools don't have athletic scholarships)

Hey Lotus, was all that last part written in the Insiders report?

Sounds impressive. Add this guy and the Barret McCraw kid (Pleasanton HS) and we have the foundation - or at least the lead blockers - for a solid class.

We signed some size in 2003, and then focused on skill guys in 2004. If the offensive line is as thin (numbers-wise) as it sounds like, we need to load up this year AND continue signing a few every year.

EP Pony Fan wrote:We signed some size in 2003, and then focused on skill guys in 2004. If the offensive line is as thin (numbers-wise) as it sounds like, we need to load up this year AND continue signing a few every year.

It's not so much that we are thin at the OL position, but very young. We have a total of 15 on the roster. One is a JR, six are SO's and the rest FR-RS and FR-HS. We need to bring in good OL's every recruiting class from now on to keep a constant flow of experienced players in the future. A few JUCO's wouldn't hurt either in the immediate future. Ditto DL's.

I agree with EP Pony Fan. If in fact Darrin Johnson can't go this weekend, that means we have a starting offensive line of LT Ben Poynter, LG Bryan Turner, C Brad Kieschnick, RG Martin Guidry and RT Chris Urbanus. Not a bad starting line. And in Caleb Peveto and Justin Boren, I think we have two of the strongest, most capable backups we've had in ages. However, you need to be at least 2-deep -- and preferably 3-deep -- on the offensive line. I have yet to hear that Kenard Burley is ready yet -- word is he's a year away. I have heard nothing about how Mike Benson has done after moving to the offensive line (and to me, silence is deafening in this case). I have heard nothing for three years from Dustin Morton. If something happens to a lineman, do we lift the redshirt off Sean Lobo and throw him in there? Hope not -- more than any other position, offensive linemen need to redshirt, to learn the schemes and simply add bulk and strength.

So yes, we're young. But until those others are ready to contribute -- and we add some more who also are ready to contribute -- I think "thin" is a very fair assessment. Not to sound like BUS or anything, but we need a lot more offensive linemen.

I agree with PK - SMU needs to sign talented OL's in every class.

They are the foundation of a successful offense and they usually take time to develop.

Most teams have 12-15 OLs ready to play.

Think this kid is related to OL Matt Hart who played in the early 1990s? Where was he from?

Matt Hart was a Texas Tech QB in the early 1980s. In fact, I think he may have been the QB for Tech on a cold blustery day in Lubbock in 1981 when Leach pulled off the "Miracle on 4th Street"

BIG MEN.

We should have 45 big men on the team at all times. To get there and stay there that mean recruiting 11 to 13 every year.

That IS the key.

45 seems a little high, but generally I agree. The number of big guys on the froggie bench was impressive, to say the least. Besides, you always need to recruit a bunch of them, because you're not going to "hit" on every one.