North Carolina A&T spring game spotlights rebuilt offensive line growth

North Carolina A&T spent its spring game answering the question that will define Shawn Gibbs’ second season: can the Aggies get bigger, sturdier and more reliable where games are won and lost? In Truist Stadium, the Blue & Gold Spring Game mixed live scrimmage work with situational periods, but the clearest takeaway was up front, where a rebuilt offensive line looked noticeably heavier and more settled than the group that helped a 2-10 team limp through 2025.

That matters because last season’s numbers told the story. A&T finished 2-10 overall and 2-6 in the Coastal Athletic Association, scored 246 points and allowed 523, and averaged just 2.8 yards per rushing attempt. The Aggies ran for 1,743 yards on 453 carries, but they never had a player top 100 rushing yards in a game, a warning sign for a program that spent too many Saturdays behind the chains. Gibbs has spent the offseason trying to fix that problem by prioritizing size and strength in the trenches, and the spring game suggested that message has reached the roster.

The reshaped line featured Elon transfer Ahmarion McLeod, South Carolina State transfer Eli Williams and Coastal Carolina transfer Desmond Jackson, along with returning starter Andrew Dorsey. Gibbs said after the game that he had seen clear progress from the unit, and that progress was easy to spot in the way A&T tried to play faster and more physically than it did a year ago. New offensive line coach Donovan Jackson, hired March 17 to replace retired veteran Ron Mattes, now has the task of turning that collection of bodies into a dependable five-man front before CAA play demands it every week.

The backfield rotation also fit the program’s new emphasis. Shimique Blizzard, the leading returning rusher after a 2025 season that produced 292 yards and a touchdown, got work alongside JT Smith, Jailen Hicks, Teriq McLaughlin and Jayden Williams. Quarterback remained more of a stability question than a true open battle, with Kevin White handling many first-team reps and four quarterbacks in all seeing action. White threw for 1,516 yards last season, and the staff’s willingness to spread snaps across the room showed a desire to build depth behind him.

A&T’s spring game did not erase the memory of losses like the 68-7 defeat at UCF or the 62-20 loss to North Carolina Central, but it did show a team trying to get harder to move and harder to break. For Gibbs, that is the baseline for Year 2, and the line of scrimmage now looks like the clearest place where the Aggies can change their standing in the CAA.