By ROBERT CESSNA
The Texas A&M football team's first-team offensive line appears to be Kevin Matthews at center, Michael Shumard and transfer Matt Allen at the guards, with converted defensive lineman Lucas Patterson and Lee Grimes at the tackles.
Yet, as practice was winding down Monday morning, true freshman Patrick Lewis was at left guard, sophomore Danny Baker was at right tackle and Shumard was at left tackle.
True freshman Stephen Barrera took a few snaps with the first unit last week, as did redshirt freshman Brian Thomas. Another starting candidate is Evan Eike, the sophomore from Bryan High who started every game last season. And it's hard to miss true freshman Rhontae Scales (6-foot-6, 318 pounds), the team's biggest player.
"We'll see how they come along," A&M head coach Mike Sherman said. "Realistically, I would hope that we'd have eight guys to work with -- the five starters and then a center, a swing guard and a swing tackle."
A&M's certainly has created competition and versatility. Shumard still takes snaps at guard, where he played last year. Lewis is listed as the backup center, and Thomas can play multiple positions.
Baker, though, played all five positions in Monday's two practices. Last year he even started a game at tight end.
"It's almost a curse, I mean he's a very good athlete," Sherman said. "He's smart, he can play all the positions. We have to really give him an opportunity to find a spot. I really like Danny Baker, he's worked real hard. I see him playing and playing a lot this year in some capacity."
It's nice to have those kind of options, especially in the offensive line where Sherman had few quality choices last season. He was forced to start true freshman Joe Villavisencio against Iowa State because of injuries.
"We just lacked the depth that we needed to get through a season," Sherman said at Big 12 Media Days. "You know the guys that we played with, they gave us everything they had. I have no question about their effort, their toughness. They gave us everything they had."
But it certainly wasn't enough. A&M averaged only 2.9 yards per carry and gave up 39 sacks.
"You see the stuff that the media writes and you know everyone hates on the offensive line," Matthews said. "At first, it gets at you and you want to find the guys who wrote about it.
"But now, honestly, I don't think we're looking at the media much. We know we struggled last year and that we need to get better."
A tough spring didn't help. The offensive line often had about half of its players held out of contact drills because of injuries. That left only a handful of scholarship players to compete.
The first week of fall camp looked vastly different, with offensive line coach Jim Turner and Sherman, a former offensive line coach, working with 20 players.
"I'm pleased with the group," Sherman said. "I think they're working hard. I think they show a lot more physical toughness in their jobs than we did last year."
The offensive line is being helped by an improved running game.
"I think we're really turning it around," Matthews said.
A&M FOOTBALL
* Monday: Two workouts. Practice No. 9 -- two hours outside in the morning in full pads; practice No. 10 -- 90 minutes inside in shorts, helmets and shorts.
* Next practice: 8:25 a.m. Tuesday, outside
* Practice info: A&M students, faculty and staff will be admitted by showing their ID. Students and former students can also enter by showing their Aggie ring. Cell phones, cameras and recording devices are not permitted. No fans will be allowed at practices in the McFerrin Center.
* Tentative upcoming practice sessions: 8:25 a.m. and 4 p.m. (inside) Wednesday; 8:25 a.m. Thursday; 8:25 a.m. and 4 p.m. (inside) Friday.
* Season opener: Sept. 5 vs. New Mexico
* On the Web: Read Robert Cessna's blog on Aggie football at AggieSports.com.
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