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Home > Bison Media Zone > Zabel the obvious choice for next Bison left tackle, or is he?
Podcast: Bison Media Zone
Episode:

Zabel the obvious choice for next Bison left tackle, or is he?
Category: Sports & Recreation
Duration: 00:00:00
Publish Date: 2024-03-20 17:11:04
Description: FARGO The baton from one left tackle to another at North Dakota State has been passed like a badge of offensive line honor over the years. More recently, Dillon Radunz was a staple for three seasons before being taken in the second round in the 2021 NFL Draft.

Cody Mauch took it from there, starting 38 games beginning in the spring 2021 season. Mauch got drafted in the second round, handing the reins to Jalen Sundell last season. Sundell is currently hot in training for his NFL shot.



Enter Grey Zabel.



Will 2024 be his year at the coveted left tackle position?



“Whatever fits best on the offensive line,” Zabel said. “The coaches are going to put us in the best place to win and wherever that is I’m happy with it. All offensive line is, is what hand you put down in the dirt and what type of sets you take on pass (protection). Other than that, we still preach running off the ball and playing physical here.”



Zabel was a guard for most of his career including the first three games of last season. He was switched to right tackle for the rest of the season and with the departure of Sundell, obvious speculation is Zabel will switch sides.



NDSU head coach Tim Polasek said he’ll leave it up to offensive line coach Dan Larson as to where the 6-foot-6, 301-pound Zabel fits best.



“You’d like Grey to be a left tackle, there’s no doubt about that,” Polasek said, “but even going through the process back at Iowa and talking to some general managers about Tristan Wirfs. It’s like, what’s the big deal if you get hit in the face or if you get hit in the back. It will be more of how the pieces come around him. He’s so versatile. He is sharp. He cares. He’s worked hard this offseason at studying his game so I have all the confidence in the world that we have plenty of time to make that decision.”



Zabel, who never redshirted coming out of Riggs High School in Pierre, S.D., may be in his fifth year of playing because of the pandemic, but Polasek made note he was one of the hardest workers in winter workouts.



“It was an awesome offseason,” Zabel said. “I got back in the weight room, got my body right and gained a few pounds and then just worked together with everyone else.”



As for everyone else up front, the biggest question marks are probably the two guards and center. Who fits best and where? Where will veteran seniors Hunter Ponscious and Jake Rock play? Is senior Mason Miller best at guard or tackle? Will Marshall transfer Trent Fraley be a factor? How about the younger players who redshirted or were down on the depth chart last year?



Polasek said it’s too early to get into the specifics of where players fit.



“I do think we have a chance to be pretty good, it’s just not right now,” he said. “We have a lot of room for improvement and we have to find out what the best combination of five is.”


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