Jacksonville State football wanted to get bigger on offensive and defensive lines, so have they?

Jacksonville State football and Rich Rodriguez have been hoping to get bigger on both sides of the line, coinciding with the move to the FBS level last year. So, after seeing the team at spring practice, where does that goal measure up.

The numbers show that the current roster didn't get bigger just yet, with only seven offensive lineman on the spring roster being listed at over 300 pounds, compared to eight in the fall, but that will change with two incoming freshman weighing over 300 pounds. While some are lacking weight, they bring height that shows they could be still strong additions to the Gamecocks, even without adding any weight.

The other benefit for the Gamecocks is with getting FBS size in the building, its helping both sides of the line to get better with real game reps. One player that is key in that is transfer Cam Jones, who is all of the 6-foot-8 and 330 pounds he is listed at.

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"We love it, because we get in that in game look everyday," Chris Hardie Jr said. "For guys like me and like J-Rock Swain, we love that because we're getting better. It's all about competition and we love it."

The defensive side of the line stayed about the same with by the time the season rolling around, they'll be 10 defensive lineman weighing in over 250 pounds, but that doesn't include any players who could see time as edge rushers. For the defensive line, while they may not have gotten the size influx, they wanted to still get better, coming off of a bowl win in 2023.

"We have gotten some size in, but as far as the guys that we already have here we wanted to take another step off of last season and build more, in the trenches as far as size and ability. We wanted to go out and compete more," Hardie said.

There is still time for Jax State to get bigger, either by addition or just continuing offseason workouts. The roster may not have fully updated weights for each player, so some could have gotten bigger over the offseason. For Rodriguez, there is still time to get the roster and position groups to where they want them, but the right steps are being taken.

"We still got a little more size on the D-line. I think our o-line has gotten a little bit bigger and more comfortable with what we're doing. Our tempo is going to be a big part of that but our defensive line we have some guys who are really athletic defensively. I'm worried about our size a little bit, we're going to try adding to that this summer," Rodriguez said after the team's first spring practice.

Maxwell Donaldson covers high school sports and Jacksonville State athletics for the Gadsden Times. Find him on Twitter/X @_Max_Donaldson and contact him at MDonaldson@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Did Jacksonville State football get bigger on offensive and defensive lines?