South Carolina’s Mason Zandi ready for demands of left tackle spot

Mason Zandi broke into South Carolina’s starting lineup a year ago when Brandon Shell moved to left tackle, opening up a spot on the right. This year Zandi makes the same transition.

With a 6-foot-9, 308-pound frame, it might be tempting to see Zandi’s natural place as being a road-grader on the right side who leans on opponents in the run game. He’d disagree.

“I feel more natural at left tackle,” Zandi said. “I played there my senior year, and I played up until last season at left tackle.”

The Chapin product will now be charged with protecting the blind side of whichever quarterback earns the starting nod for the Gamecocks. He started 10 games a season ago before an ankle sprain ended his campaign early.

His coaches expect he’ll slide in well to the new role, even if it’s not a simple transition.

“It’s not easy to change just because you obviously have to change your stance and your footwork is different because you’re working out of a left handed stance,” offensive coordinator Kurt Roper said. “But he’s got a lot of length. He’s got good athleticism. He’s huge. It’s almost like running around a house to get there. But he’s a guy that has really good feet and is able to change directions.”

Zandi said he gets a boost coming off his first starting season because he’s now got a wealth of film to go over. Locked in those videos is the chance to break down mistakes, in practice and in games, and correct them.

He’s also taken to South Carolina’s higher offensive pace. He noted in the past, offensive linemen tired on long drives, while defenders rotated in fresh legs. Now the situation flips the advantage back to his side of the ball.

And as a senior manning one of the most crucial spots on the line, he has an extra responsibility to his teammates.

“For me personally, as a fifth-year, there’s a lot of things that I like to point out to some of the young guys,” Zandi said. “Seeing defenses, seeing different blitzes, looking at angles and looking at different things and just trying to help them out. I don’t know if it’s specifically because of that spot, but I’m also a fifth-year.”

This story was originally published April 2, 2016 at 10:12 AM with the headline "South Carolina’s Mason Zandi ready for demands of left tackle spot."