Now that it’s June, I’m sure we’ve all seen the preseason watch lists for the different awards in college football, whether it be the Heisman, the Biletnikoff or the Bednarik. Sure, those awards are fun, and everyone loves to talk about them, but I want to talk about my favourite team award in college football- the Joe Moore Award.
The Joe Moore Award goes to the best collective offensive line unit. This will be the 8th year of the award’s existence, and previous winners include Alabama (twice), LSU, and Notre Dame with Michigan taking home the award last year.
Let’s take a look at the teams that could be in contention for the 2022 Joe Moore Award.
Louisville Cardinals
The Joe Moore Award focuses on the collective unit, rather than the parts of the whole, so it may be surprising to see Louisville on a list such as this.
The line is built on the strength of the interior with the three-headed monster of Caleb Chandler, Bryan Hudson, and Adonis Boone. Chandler’s a 6th-year player for the Cardinals entering his 4th year as a starter He’s improved each year he’s been with the program and this past year was a first-team All-ACC and a PFF first-team All-American. Hudson is a transfer from Virginia Tech who played well in his first year as a starter at the college level last season. Boone is a senior who brings plenty of fire in the run game. Having spoken with Boone before, he mentioned he takes pride as a finisher and has gotten tutelage from Mekhi Becton during his Louisville career. On the outside, the team has redshirt sophomore Renato Brown on at right tackle with Trevor Reid opposite him on the left. Having focused on Reid specifically for summer scouting, I can say that he’s far from a finished product but he improved greatly over the course of the season. If his play strength and tenacity can match his athleticism this year, he’s going to be a force for the team. If Louisville’s offense finds consistency, the fact that the offensive line has so much chemistry is going to be a key factor in deciding their season.
Alabama Crimson Tide
Insert the “can’t keep getting away with it” gif when it comes to Alabama. They’ve already won it twice and this year’s group is one of the strongest units in the Saban-led era. Guards Emil Ekiyor and Javion Cohen are two of the best at the position heading into the 2022 NCAA season. Center Seth Mcglaughlin and right tackle JC Latham are underclassmen carrying a lot of hype with them. Lastly, there’s former Vanderbilt tackle Tyler Steen slated to take over in the wake of Evan Neal leaving for the NFL. Steen’s had plenty of experience at Vanderbilt and could be due for a huge uptick in performance with better talent around him.
At the end of the day, Alabama is going to put up absurd offensive numbers this year and they also have a spectacular running back coming into the fold this season with Georgia Tech transfer Jahmyr Gibbs. They’ll be on television plenty for the voters to see how dominant this offensive line can be.
Georgia Bulldogs
You could almost copy and paste everything I just said about Alabama and it would still make sense. Georgia is loaded along the offensive line. Did they just lose Justin Shaffer and Jamaree Salyer to the NFL? Yes. Do they have the pieces to fill in for those losses and keep going? Absolutely. Broderick Jones played great for Georgia down the stretch while filling in as an injury replacement and he might have been the best offensive linemen the Bulldogs had last year. Right tackle Warren McClendon has been solid for the Bulldogs in his time as a starter as well and enters his third year as a starter. Sedrick Van Pran at center held the fort down in the center of the line last year and might be one of the best interior linemen in next year’s draft. Rounding that group out are guards Warren Ericson and Tate Ratledge.
Georgia will be their dominant force on the ground, and much of that comes from good coaching and elite talent. This offensive line is no different and with three potential top 100 picks along the offensive line in Jones, McClendon and Van Pran, they have to be among the early betting favourites for the award.
