Canon Boone sees competition heat up in spring for Bulldogs

A breakthrough appeared to be coming for Canon Boone in the middle of last season.

The Texas native had worked his way up the ladder across his first three and a half seasons and saw it paying off as he was splitting reps on the interior of the offensive line. After becoming a regular in SEC play, Boone would go down with a knee injury against Arkansas and his season came to an end.

It was a tough outcome for Boone, but he didn’t lose hope. The offseason has been about rehabbing with hard work and he’s gotten back into the fight this spring.

“I feel like I’m doing pretty good. I had that injury last year that cut me short, but coming into spring I’m getting better and better each day,” Boone said. “I was focusing on how my body felt every day and adapting and adjust and getting my body right to get back on the field.”

Boone looking to build on promising 2024

Boone played in just one game during his first two seasons under Mike Leach and then Zach Arnett and the Kevin Barbay offense got him on the field for 45 snaps over eight games in 2023. Last season, Jeff Lebby and offensive line coach Cody Kennedy saw him jump into the rotation by SEC play and he would log 165 snaps in seven games.

The junior would get action at left guard, center and right guard along the way with significant snaps against Texas, Georgia, Texas A&M and Arkansas. After playing 12 snaps at right guard and 11 at left guard against Arkansas on October 26, Boone went down with that injury and wouldn’t return.

The next time that the veteran blocker was on the field, he had a new voice in the room leading the way. NFL veteran Phil Loadholt has taken over Lebby’s offensive line and the senior Boone is already learning a lot under his leadership.  

“He’s awesome. You can definitely tell the experience that he brings. He’s definitely pretty hard on us but in a good way. He knows how to mix it up to being hard on the field and joking with us in the meeting with him. I love him. He brings a lot of NFL experience,” Boone said.

“You take everything that he gives you. He has a lot of NFL experience and is going to look at every single thing that you do. He’s going to hit you with it over and over until you get it right.”

The change in leadership has certainly brought some excitement to the players, but the new faces have created more excitement as competition has heated up. Boone is playing his part in the middle of the line staying versatile and playing all three interior positions, but right guard has been his main spot.

The Bulldogs have seen depth and talent increase across the board, an issue that Lebby had at nearly every position in year one. Boone has been impressed with new transfer linemen like Carson Lee and Kolby Keenum, and the players lining up in front of them have also created some havoc.

“It’s incredible. You bring in these brand-new guys that have experience all over the country, I can definitely tell those guys are getting be better every day,” Boone said. “The twitchiness and quickness that they bring to the d-line, it’s night and day difference.”

The lines of scrimmage have seen some fun competition in the spring, but the signal callers have also upgraded in talent and depth.

Like Boone, starting quarterback Blake Shapen went down with a season-ending injury last season and is now healthy. His experience and leadership has been big for the entire offense this year and they’re following his lead. Behind him, two young QBs have been impressing Boone and bright futures are ahead.

“They have incredible talent up and down the depth chart. Obviously, Blake has the most experience coming into his sixth year. Luke Kromenhoek coming from Florida State and KaMario (Taylor),” Boone said of the quarterbacks. “KaMario has a chance to be one of the best quarterbacks that I’ve ever played with. Just the athleticism he brings, the natural posture and composure he brings to the quarterback room.”

Boone and his teammates are just days away from the Maroon and White Spring Game as the team will be at Davis Wade Stadium this Saturday. The finale of the spring will kickoff at Noon and is open to the public.