The “Big Uglies”: Best of the Best

With many players gunnin' for that No. 1 spot, only one could snag it.

Continuing a series that's been going since February, I've finally come to the final position to break down -- the overlooked folks up front whose stats include "pancakes" and "grade", otherwise known as the offensive linemen.

I've tinkered with a list compiled by Greg Riddle of The Dallas Morning News and Rivals.com's Barton Simmons a while back and there's been some changes, but here goes nothing.

Denton Ryan's Garrett Gramling and Pilot Point's Cam Feldt were Nos. 9 and 8, respectively. Then, we added No. 7 Josh Allen of Cedar Hill and No. 6 Daryl Williams of Lake Dallas, and Dalvin Glass and Evan Washington of Dallas Carter and DeSoto, respectively. Austin Woods and Adam Shead were added yesterday and now it's time to reveal the top offensive lineman in the Metroplex who's an incoming senior, according to yours truly.

[DRUMROLL]

1. Luke Joeckel, Arlington HS - Texas A&M seems to be on the recruiting upswing after landing the 6 foot 6 inch, 280-pound tackle a couple of weeks ago -- the same day the Aggies got Gramling and Joeckel's brother, Matt, who is Arlington's highly-touted quarterback. While Matt is a good player, Luke is a blue-chip guy. He turned down offers from Texas Tech, UCLA, Oklahoma, Alabama, Arkansas, LSU and Nebraska to join Mike Sherman's rebuilding project in College Station. Joeckel racked up an incredible 150 pancake blocks last season as a junior. Usually, anything around 100 is considered top-notch. He's listed as No. 147 on the Rivals 250 for 2010, which is the top 250 players in the country, regardless of position. He'll have to put on some weight if he wants to play soon in college, but with another year in high school and a transformation into a college weight program, that won't be a problem.

Adam Boedeker is a sports writer/blogger for the Denton Record-Chronicle. He's still wondering what Ian Kinsler was thinking.

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