Photo: #72 Lonnie Teasley, OL, 6-2/310 Sr (4V) Willingboro, NJ (Hofstra University) 2006: Sat out the season as a medical redshirt.
2005: Sat out the entire season to concentrate on academics.
2004: Appeared in, and started all ten games for the Rams on the offensive line...Was part of a WSSU offensive line that saw two running backs surpass the 900-yard mark.
2003: Appeared in, and started all ten games for the Rams on the offensive line...Was part of a WSSU offensive front that saw two running backs eclipse the 1,000-yard mark and lead the CIAA in rushing...WSSU Rookie of the Year.
2002: Sat out the entire season after transferring to WSSU from Hofstra University in New York.
Personal: A native of Willingboro, NJ he is a 2002 graduate of Willingboro High School where he was an All-State, All-County, and All-South NJ selection...A Governor's Bowl participant...
By John Dell , JOURNAL REPORTER
Teasley has missed past two seasons for WSSU
Lonnie Teasley looks around the practice field at Winston-Salem State and wonders if he belongs.
Teasley, a 23-year-old sixth-year senior offensive lineman, has been out of football for the past two seasons. He was academically ineligible for the 2005 season, and he missed last season because of torn knee ligaments he suffered in spring ball in 2006. He could have graduated last spring, but chose to stay around and finish his career.
“Yeah, it’s been awhile since I’ve been out here,” said Teasley, who will likely start at left tackle on a line that’s been in a constant state of flux this preseason. “I didn’t want to go out like I did, so I have a lot to prove to some people that I could come back and play.”
The Rams, under new offensive coordinator Nick Calcutta, will be more balanced between the pass and run and Teasley will be counted on heavily. Teasley, the left tackle, will be protecting quarterback Monte Purvis’ blind side.
Calcutta and Cody Crill, the offensive-line coach, has shuffled young players in an out of the line since camp opened, hoping to find the right combination.
“They are struggling a little up front,” Calcutta said. “We’re not very old up there, so we are counting on some guys who sat out last season.”
One reason the line has been struggling is a lack of cohesiveness, Calcutta said. Bennie Barbour, the expected starter at right guard, has missed nearly all of camp after a death in the family. Barbour is expected back this week, and will hopefully be at full strength by the time that the Rams open the season on Sept. 1 at Bowman Gray Stadium against rival N.C. A&T.
Jonathan Battle, an East Carolina transfer, has been playing at left guard with Michael Helton back at center. If Barbour isn’t ready, Joe Huff, a redshirt freshman, might start with returning starter Joe Blanks ready to start again at right tackle.
“We’ve also got Thurman McDonald and Cory Land, but from what I understand, they both sat out last year,” Calcutta said.
Last season the Rams went 4-7 with their run-oriented offense. But when the running game bogged down, there wasn’t much of a passing game. Purvis, a fifth-year senior, has embraced Calcutta’s offense mainly because it’s more balanced.
Calcutta said that the trend for defenses to have more linebackers makes it imperative that the Rams be more balanced.
“I’m ecstatic at the way the offense moved the ball in Saturday’s scrimmage,” Calcutta said. “We scored and moved up and down the field, and I think our kids did a fabulous job.”
Calcutta has seen film of last year’s games, and he said that not having a reliable passing attack was an obvious weakness.
“There was nowhere to go,” Calcutta said when the running game struggled. “It’s kind of like an option team that cannot throw the football. If they fell behind they had trouble throwing the ball, and I don’t care who you are, being balanced is the way to go.”
Teasley said that the tempo of practices is upbeat and Calcutta’s style suits him nicely.
“We’re getting used to it and we like the new offensive system,” Teasley said. “It’s some of the same plays we used to run and there are some different things as well. We really like that we are more of an attack mode kind of offense.
“Our defense is known for attacking, and now we feel like as an offense we do some attacking as well.”
Calcutta said that getting the line to come together as early as possible will bode well for the entire season.
“Right now, I’d have to say we are a work in progress,” Calcutta said. “We basically didn’t have our offensive line in the spring, so now are trying to get those guys going. I don’t think it will be until the fourth or fifth week of the season that we feel totally comfortable with that phase of the offense.”
Among the probable starting five on the line, only Helton competed in spring football. Blanks and Barbour sat out to let their minor injuries heal.
Helton, even though he’s quiet by nature, has been the rock so far this preseason, Calcutta said.
Helton said that the offense, which scored just 21 touchdowns (15 rushing, six passing) last season, has adopted the “212,” which is the temperature at which water boils.
“I see the tempo of practice a lot faster,” Helton said. “You can really notice the difference because that’s how we were in spring ball. You don’t see guys standing around as much so we are always moving….
“I think we can win them all. We have a chance to do it because this team is talented enough.”
Teasley has missed past two seasons for WSSU
Lonnie Teasley looks around the practice field at Winston-Salem State and wonders if he belongs.
Teasley, a 23-year-old sixth-year senior offensive lineman, has been out of football for the past two seasons. He was academically ineligible for the 2005 season, and he missed last season because of torn knee ligaments he suffered in spring ball in 2006. He could have graduated last spring, but chose to stay around and finish his career.
“Yeah, it’s been awhile since I’ve been out here,” said Teasley, who will likely start at left tackle on a line that’s been in a constant state of flux this preseason. “I didn’t want to go out like I did, so I have a lot to prove to some people that I could come back and play.”
The Rams, under new offensive coordinator Nick Calcutta, will be more balanced between the pass and run and Teasley will be counted on heavily. Teasley, the left tackle, will be protecting quarterback Monte Purvis’ blind side.
Calcutta and Cody Crill, the offensive-line coach, has shuffled young players in an out of the line since camp opened, hoping to find the right combination.
“They are struggling a little up front,” Calcutta said. “We’re not very old up there, so we are counting on some guys who sat out last season.”
One reason the line has been struggling is a lack of cohesiveness, Calcutta said. Bennie Barbour, the expected starter at right guard, has missed nearly all of camp after a death in the family. Barbour is expected back this week, and will hopefully be at full strength by the time that the Rams open the season on Sept. 1 at Bowman Gray Stadium against rival N.C. A&T.
Jonathan Battle, an East Carolina transfer, has been playing at left guard with Michael Helton back at center. If Barbour isn’t ready, Joe Huff, a redshirt freshman, might start with returning starter Joe Blanks ready to start again at right tackle.
“We’ve also got Thurman McDonald and Cory Land, but from what I understand, they both sat out last year,” Calcutta said.
Last season the Rams went 4-7 with their run-oriented offense. But when the running game bogged down, there wasn’t much of a passing game. Purvis, a fifth-year senior, has embraced Calcutta’s offense mainly because it’s more balanced.
Calcutta said that the trend for defenses to have more linebackers makes it imperative that the Rams be more balanced.
“I’m ecstatic at the way the offense moved the ball in Saturday’s scrimmage,” Calcutta said. “We scored and moved up and down the field, and I think our kids did a fabulous job.”
Calcutta has seen film of last year’s games, and he said that not having a reliable passing attack was an obvious weakness.
“There was nowhere to go,” Calcutta said when the running game struggled. “It’s kind of like an option team that cannot throw the football. If they fell behind they had trouble throwing the ball, and I don’t care who you are, being balanced is the way to go.”
Teasley said that the tempo of practices is upbeat and Calcutta’s style suits him nicely.
“We’re getting used to it and we like the new offensive system,” Teasley said. “It’s some of the same plays we used to run and there are some different things as well. We really like that we are more of an attack mode kind of offense.
“Our defense is known for attacking, and now we feel like as an offense we do some attacking as well.”
Calcutta said that getting the line to come together as early as possible will bode well for the entire season.
“Right now, I’d have to say we are a work in progress,” Calcutta said. “We basically didn’t have our offensive line in the spring, so now are trying to get those guys going. I don’t think it will be until the fourth or fifth week of the season that we feel totally comfortable with that phase of the offense.”
Among the probable starting five on the line, only Helton competed in spring football. Blanks and Barbour sat out to let their minor injuries heal.
Helton, even though he’s quiet by nature, has been the rock so far this preseason, Calcutta said.
Helton said that the offense, which scored just 21 touchdowns (15 rushing, six passing) last season, has adopted the “212,” which is the temperature at which water boils.
“I see the tempo of practice a lot faster,” Helton said. “You can really notice the difference because that’s how we were in spring ball. You don’t see guys standing around as much so we are always moving….
“I think we can win them all. We have a chance to do it because this team is talented enough.”
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