“I think Ickey showed us he’s a dominant run blocker,” head coach Dave Canales said earlier this spring. “I think he showed us that he is very reliable in the past in pass protection. I think he’d be the first to tell you, cleaning up some hand placement things, some footwork stuff—those are all goals of his.
“But I think we got our left tackle. I love playing with having Ickey over there and having T-Mo (Taylor Moton) on the right side. I feel pretty good about just playing ball against pretty much anybody.”
Ekwonu’s fifth-year option is an individual career marker. But the tackle tips his head to the line Morgan put together last season by bringing in Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis while moving Austin Corbett and Cade Mays to center.
“I mean, I feel like it kind of just goes to show the confidence that the front office and everybody has in our group,” Ekwonu said. “Obviously, we had a very close bond last year, and I’m just excited to have that bond grow more and more, you know, just having that continuity.
“I feel like it means a lot in offensive line room especially, so definitely excited to have everybody back. Everybody’s tuned in, ready to go to these OTAs, so definitely excited.”