How did CFP teams build their offensive lines?

Jedd Fisch wants to develop linemen out of high school, and that's how college football's best do it.

Jedd Fisch has been clear about how he prefers to build Washington’s roster.

The Huskies should always rely primarily on players recruited out of high school, Fisch has said, while using the transfer portal to plug holes and address talent deficiencies. He sees high-school recruiting similar to the NFL Draft, and the transfer portal similar to free agency.

There is no position for which those principles should hold more true than the offensive line. The position demands continuity by its very nature, for purposes of both development and performance. As such, it’s seen as the most difficult to build or replenish via the transfer portal. Starting-caliber players are few and far between — and therefore quite expensive — and familiarity often makes for greater cohesiveness.

“If we can snag one or two (from the portal), great,” Fisch said this season, “but in the end, you don’t really want to live like that.”

Roster turnover necessitated portal reinforcements in Fisch’s first season, when UW at times rolled out a starting offensive line which featured four transfers. They’ve added two more transfers this offseason — Carver Willis from Kansas State and Geirean Hatchett from Oklahoma, though he spent the 2020-23 seasons at Washington — but also signed five high-school prospects (six before Peter Langi’s decision to play elsewhere). When they take the field for next season’s opener, it’s likely the Huskies will fill at least three starting o-line positions with players who came to UW as transfers, even if two of them (Hatchett and Drew Azzopardi) will not be playing at Washington for the first time.

It all has me wondering how the nation’s best built their offensive lines. I focused on the most recent starting five (i.e. the lineup they used in the quarterfinals) for each of the four teams competing in this week’s College Football Playoff semifinals.