The much-maligned offensive line of UCLA football received a bit of good news Wednesday afternoon, when it was announced that starting left tackle Sean Sheller would return in 2011 after being granted an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA.
The extra year will be Sheller’s sixth as a Bruin. He arrived at UCLA as a freshman in 2006, but missed that entire season because of injury. He failed to log any playing time in 2007, then missed the entire 2008 season after injuring his left knee in an ATV accident.
Sheller, who missed only one start (due to team suspension) in 2010, and junior right tackle Mike Harris will be the only two starters returning from a line that called themselves the “Filthy Five.” Center Ryan Taylor and guards Micah Kia and Darius Savage are all lost to graduation.
The news of Sheller’s return may be the best news UCLA has received about an offensive lineman in quite some time. The line has had a number of issues over the past two years, from Xavier Su’a-Filo’s departure for a Mormon mission in 2009 to Kai Maiava breaking his ankle in fall practice and Jeff Baca missing the season because of injury and eligibility issues in 2010.
With Sheller, Harris, Maiava and Baca all expected to return, UCLA and new offensive coordinator Mike Johnson will have some consistency on the offensive line that was seemingly lost at the beginning of last year.