To celebrate the upcoming new year, and new decade, we’ll be offering a retrospective here at NittanyWhiteOut. Over the next two weeks, we’ll reveal all the members of NittanyWhiteOut’s All-Decade team, comprising of the best Penn Staters from 2000-2009. Don’t agree with our picks? Let your voice be heard in the comments! We continue today with a look back at Penn State’s best guards of the past decade.

The guard position is the most thankless of a group of thankless positions. While few offensive linemen stand out, to do so from the guard position is even more difficult.  Tackles can get credit for shutting down an opponent’s top rusher, and centers at least get to snap the ball.  But you rarely hear from the guards, often because they’re tag-teaming to block a defensive linemen, or pulling to become a lead blocker on a running play.  It’s not a prestigious position, and while tackles and centers are often drafted in the first couple of rounds, guards are usually second-day draft picks, or even go undrafted.  The best thing you can say about an offensive guard is that they’re steady as a rock, and our selections below were just that.

Rich Ohrnberger (2004-2008) was as consistent as you could ask anyone to be.  After redshirting, and playing sparingly in his redshirt freshman season, Ohrnberger started his sophomore year as a backup but worked his way into the starting lineup by the start of Big Ten play, and shined, starting the last 9 games of the year at right guard.  By his junior season, Ohrnberger was firmly entrenched as a starter for the Lions, but shifted over to the left side of the offensive line.  That posed no problem for the unflappable Ohrnberger, who started every game of the season and was named a second-team all-conference selection.  Heading into the 2008 season, Ohrnberger was part of a veteran offensive line, and outside of a rough game against Mitch King and Iowa, Ohrnberger, along with the rest of the line, excelled.  Ohrnberger was one of 3 Penn State offensive linemen named to the All-Big Ten team, and a fourth was a second-team selection.  In addition to his spectacular play on the field, Ohrnberger was also known as a notorious prankster and comedian.  Last April, Ohrnberger was drafted in the fourth round by the Patriots, and has played sparingly this year.

Stefen Wisniewski (2007-present) might be the consummate Penn Stater.  Like so many other Lions, Wisniewski has deep family ties to the Penn State organization, with his father, and an uncle, excelling under Joe Paterno.  Rather than fill his father, Leo’s, footsteps, and play defensive line, Stefen took after his uncle, Steve, an offensive guard who was twice named an All-American and, in the NFL, an 8-time Pro Bowler.  Armed with that kind of pedigree, Stefen came to Penn State and started almost immediately for the Lions, becoming the first true freshman to start on the line for Penn State in almost a decade.  After starting 8 games, Wisniewski was named to the Big Ten all-freshman team and built on that in his sophomore year, starting every game for the Lions and excelling as part of a dominant offensive line.  Named a second-team all-Big Ten player, and an academic All-American in 2008, Wisniewski was asked to shift to center for the 2009 season. Wisniewski struggled at times, as did the rest of a very young offensive line, and Joe Paterno experienced regret, wishing he had kept Wisniewski at guard, but that didn’t prevent Wisniewski from being named a first-team all-conference selection center. Again named an Academic All-American, Wisniewski’s on-the-field performance almost pales in comparison to what he’s accomplished off the field, with a GPA that would make all but a handful of students blush and a resume of extra-curricular activies that truly represent his superior character.

Honorable Mentions: Tyler Reed, Robert Price

Releated Posts:

1. The Penn State All-Decade Team: Center
2. The Penn State All-Decade Team: Offensive Tackles
3. The Penn State All-Decade Team: Safety
4. The Penn State All-Decade Team: Cornerbacks
5. The Penn State All-Decade Team: Defensive Tackles

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