STARKVILLE — Justin Senior has grown comfortable at right tackle.
After starting all 14 games at that position in 2014, Senior started 12 of 13 games there last season.
But this spring Mississippi State offensive line coach John Hevesy asked the rising senior to practice at left tackle because he believed it would help the team and Senior.
“He wanted to do it,” Hevesy said. “He was good with it when I brought it up after the season. I told him, ‘You’re going to practice most of the spring at left. During the summer all of you guys are going to go left to right, left to right, left to right just to work out and so that you’ve all done it.’ ”
Fans will get a chance to see Senior at his new position at 11 a.m. Saturday (ESPNU) in the annual Maroon and White spring game at Davis Wade Stadium as a part of Super Bulldog Weekend.
Senior, who played left tackle in a handful of games as a redshirt freshman, said the switch didn’t affect him. Although it’s on the other side of the line and he has to protect the blind side of right-handed quarterbacks, the transition hasn’t been difficult.
“There is no task too difficult,” Senior said. “I’m a tackle, so I play both sides. The only thing that changes is my stance. It’s the same responsibilities.”
Last season, senior Rufus Warren started 10 games at left tackle, while rising sophomore Elgton Jenkins started two games at the position. Jenkins also started one game at right tackle and Hevesy called him the “swing guy.”
Jenkins probably will fill that role again this season, but Hevesy wants Senior, Jenkins, and rising junior Martinas Rankin to be versatile in case linemen suffer injuries or the Bulldogs have to go deeper into the depth chart.
Playing left tackle could help Senior play at the next level because he can tell NFL teams and scouts he has played both tackle positions. But Senior said he hasn’t thought about life after MSU.
“I’ve just been thinking about being the best tackle I can possibly be right now,” Senior said. “I never think about what everyone else looks at. I just want to be really good. If I’m really good at left or really good at right, that’s good for me.”
Senior said he has played guard in practice. Center is the only position on the line he hasn’t played.
The Montreal, Quebec, Canada, native is no stranger to spring practices. Coming out of Hargrave (Virginia) Military Academy, he enrolled at MSU in January 2012 and went through spring practices. He redshirted that fall. He is in his fourth spring with the Bulldogs.
Hevesy said Senior is focusing on the little things rather than trying to learn the offense.
“He needs to clean four or five of those things (tools) up just technically and fundamentally,” Hevesy said. “We’re also teaching him more specific things he can use because his base fundamentals are there. As you get older, you kind of get more tools to use and situational things more than basics.”
Jenkins is a right tackle by trade, but Hevesy doesn’t know if he will move Senior back to that position or if he will have him play left tackle in the fall. Either way, Senior is happy.
“I’ll play where I need to be and I’ll go where I need to be,” Senior said.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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