The offensive line is going to look completely different for the Deacs this season. Not only is Wake no longer running the slow-mesh, which came along with its own unique blocking scheme, but the Deacs also had a ton of turnover in the trenches during the offseason.
At a glance
Key Returners: George Steih, George Sell
Key Additions: Fa’alili Fa’amoe (WSU), Melvin Siani (Temple), Devin Kylany (WSU), Rodrick Tialavela (WSU), Jacob Dennison (Ohio), Ja’Marion Kennedy (La Tech),
Key Losses: Nick Sharpe (SCar), Matt
Gulbin (MSU), Luke Pettibon (FSU), Zach Vaughn (WMU), Keagan Trost (Mizzou), DeVonte Gordon (graduated), Erik Russell (graduated)
While losing all of the starters on the line from last season sounds bad, I think it is a good chance for the Deacs to reset. I can’t say whether it was due to the slow-mesh scheme or the personnel, (probably a combination of the two), but Wake ranked 104th, 128th, and 126th in the country in sacks allowed over the past 3 seasons. In those 3 years, Wake QBs were sacked a total of 129 times, which comes out to 43 sacks allowed per year or almost 3.5 sacks allowed per game over 37 games—only Old Dominion (133) and Akron (131) allowed more sacks in that time period. The Deacs also averaged just 130 rushing yards per game and never more than 3.5 yards per carry over those 3 seasons.
The bad news is that Dickert’s Washington State teams were not much better over that 3-year time frame, allowing 116 total sacks (7th most). The good news is that new Wake Forest offensive line coach Jared Kaster was only at Wazzu for 2024. In his 1 season with the Cougars, he managed to drop their average from nearly 3.2 sacks allowed per game to just over 2.4. He also helped Washington State rush for 2,168 yards and 4.6 yards per carry in 2024 after they finished 2023 with barely 1,000 yards and just under 3 yards per carry on the ground. Hopefully he will be able to engineer a similar turn around in the trenches for the Deacs this season.
With the amount of experience they had to replace, I think the staff did a really good job of putting together a solid offensive line in the offseason. Fa’alili Fa’amoe was the top right tackle in the transfer portal and visited LSU and Michigan before following Kaster to Wake Forest, so he should be a lock to anchor the unit this season. Rodrick Tialavela and Devin Kylany also followed Kaster from Washington State after starting 10 games apiece for the Cougars at left guard and center respectively—I would have to imagine they will continue starting in those same roles for the Deacs this season. Wake also picked up 6-6, 300 lbs. Temple tackle Melvin Siani, who had the 7th highest pass blocking grade in the AAC last season, in the portal. If I had to guess, I would say Siani starts opposite Fa’amoe at left tackle and redshirt senior George Sell, who played nearly 500 snaps on the line for the Deacs last season, fills out the final guard slot.
The line is the most critical unit on the offensive side of the ball. No matter how good a team’s skill positions are, if the line can’t block, the team isn’t going to score points. How well Wake is able to move the ball this season, especially on the ground, is probably going to be a direct result of how good the offensive line is. Thankfully, it looks like Dickert has put together a solid group for his first season.
