He's quite a Load
Published: 5/28/2007 9:50 PM
Last Modified: 5/28/2007 9:50 PM
No football team has more Big 12 Newcomer/Freshman of the Year candidates than Oklahoma. Among the Sooners up for those honors next fall: tailback DeMarco Murray, quarterback Sam Bradford, defensive tackle Gerald McCoy and linebacker Mike Reed.
And yet if Bradford finds he has all day to throw, and Murray sees running lanes the size of a speedway, OU's most valuable rookie might be the one without any stats to speak of.
New left tackle Phil Loadholt.
At 6-8, 360 pounds, the man-mountain from Garden City (Kan.) Community College comes as physically equipped to handle the job as any Sooner rookie ever has. It isn't just the size, either, it's the skill. Loadholt carried his weight well enough to average a double-double on his high school basketball team.
All that's left, it seems, is the speed with which Loadholt can adjust to Div. I football. Reports out of spring practice were very encouraging, until a stress fracture put him on the sideline.
Provided Loadholt comes to preseason camp and picks up where he left off pre-injury, a very good offensive line led by Chris Messner the past two years should become outstanding.
Loadholt is that big a difference-maker.
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
