My opinions [worth a nickel max]:
1). Kelly will still want to fling it more than pound it, and so will ask Coach Harry to emphasize a pass-blocking rather than a run-blocking philosophy --- of course Harry will do what he can both ways, but the HC will demand more work on pass than run.
2). This outlook then has consequences for Coach Harry. On the one hand he requires mobility, deftness of feet, quick first steps, and good initial punch, but, as we saw, he will also require that the interior three positions be brawlers who will not be shoved back into the QBs face [or worse].
3). Whereas his tackles will emphasize "dancing/punching" [as the Master ZMart demonstrated], his middle will be more like power wrestlers [sort of like Elmer should be]. These wrestlers do their dirty work standing more straight up than when in typical run block mode. So, in one way or the other, every lineman on a "Kelly Offense" line is engaging more in violent dancing than roothog forklifting.
4). So what will Harry do? He PROBABLY wants to find the best "dancers" he can get and get them as strong as possible, both for the wrestling in the middle and the snowplough Earth-moving on run plays. Who then will be these guys? They can't be at all clumsy.
Ronnie Stanley seems a natural Dancer-puncher --- not as good as ZMart but NOBODY is, maybe even in the NFL. Steve Elmer seems a natural Wrestler-brawler, and I believe will be to guard what Stanley is to tackle. After that I see no obvious choices, veterans or not. In theory, NMart should be a competent CENTER. Unless he had affecting injuries that he was carrying, he surprisingly seemed to cave too much at guard.
Knowing squat, I'd have a genuinely open competition for all the spots, but with a rather strong conviction that Ronnie and Steve were going to be two of them. Knowing even less than squat, I'd have a hunch that the other three guys would come from NMart, Nelson, McGlinchey, Bivin, Barrs, and Mustifer... I'd also wonder if Mustifer got a look at DLine, and I'd hope that Montelus did. If the spring indicated that Nelson, Bivin, and McGlinchey were running with Stanley and Elmer, I'd have naive optimism. McGlinchey seems to be able to quickly reach and punch, Bivin was an accomplished Basketball player, and Nelson has been ga-ga'd about as an elite stud. This line would still be REALLY tall, and if Everett was still back there, this might cause our well-known troubles, but not so much with Malik.
As to playing more than an Iron Five --- well, you just usually don't do it. But with veterans like NMart and Hegarty [if back] you might be able to get those sorts of knowledgeable guys in there, even though they had less practice reps. The trouble is, of course, getting guys like Barrs, Byrne, Mustifer, McGovern reps --- all of whom are probably better than, say Matt Hegarty [or Hanratty...should everybody be asked back, which is a Kelly character trait].
I cannot look at our OLine roster and see anything but VERY strong potential. As some have mentioned, ND recruits nearly all Tackles --- but so does everybody else who is a power program. ZMart proved that a great tackle can also be a great guard, and I must believe that Harry will find the right mix.
