After starting out the season as a guard, community college transfer Wendell Taiese made the move to left tackle in the most recent depth chart released by the ISU football team.

Taiese, who transferred to Iowa State in the offseason from Laney College in Oakland, Calif., has yet to play in a game this season. However, this move is one that coaches feel will benefit the offensive line.

“We had to move for depth reasons to give us two solid guards and tackles,” said head coach Paul Rhoads. “Certainly when he came in, we tried figure out what was going to be his best spot. We settled on guard, but he easily could have been a tackle from day one.”

Along with Taiese’s move, lineman Jacob Gannon has rejoined the team and is listed as the second tackle behind redshirt freshman Jake Campos.

Gannon, who left the team nearly two weeks ago due to a personal health issue, rejoined the team last week. Rhoads would only say a few words to say about Gannon on Sept. 22, however.

“Jacob Gannon will be ready to play, yes.” Rhoads said.

Whether that means Gannon will enter the game Sept. 27, fans will have to wait and see.

Campos, originally from Des Moines, got his first start against Kansas State in week two after Gannon left the team. Campos stepped in and did everything that was asked of him, according to coaches.

“He really competed hard as a redshirt freshman,” Rhoads said after the Kansas State game. “He was going against one of the best in the Big 12 and he never backed down from that challenge. He improved from the beginning of the game to the end and never stopped competing through the whole process.”

Campos’ play even impressed fellow player Allen Lazard, who also got his first career start against Kansas State.

“I think Campos did a phenomenal job too,” Lazard said following the game. “He worked his butt off all game. From what I heard and from watching down the field, he did a great job out there.”

First year offensive line coach Brandon Blaney has made it his focus to get the line to work together this year. Center Tom Farniok said players on the offensive line have seemed to start to grasp that concept, too.

Farniok noted that he first saw the line really playing together during the second half of the Iowa game two weeks ago, something that he thinks was a big part of the win.

“No one was like, ‘I’m playing good. I don’t need to change anything,’” Farniok said. “At the Iowa game, we just knew what we needed to do and that’s what we did. I think it was definitely shown there what we can do as a line.”

And when they take on Baylor on Sept. 27, one of the biggest challenges will come from the Baylor defensive line, one of the best in the Big 12. ISU quarterback Sam Richardson knows that the line has a big challenge ahead of it but feels confident that it can get the job done.

“There are definitely some big guys up front,” Richardson said of the Baylor defensive line. “It will be a great opportunity for our line to kind of prove themselves. It’s a very confident defense, and one that will give us a test on [Sept. 27].”