Auburn’s offensive line class of 2007 would end up being one of its most productive. Lee Ziemba was a 4-year starter who would set the record for games started. Ryan Pugh would push for playing time at RT as a true freshman before taking over at center. A third freshman pushed his way into the starting lineup as well.

The Recruit

Ramsey was a top offensive line recruit in the south, and he was one of 3 consensus 4-stars brought in by the Tuberville coaching staff in the 2007 class. After

The Player

Auburn struggled to start the 2007 season. After the humiliating home loss to Mississippi State, the story goes that OL coach Hugh Nall asked Tommy Tuberville if he wanted to redshirt two of those freshmen (Lee Ziemba had already earned a starting spot), or if he wanted to play the best 5 offensive linemen they had. After pulling those redshirts, Ramsey and Ryan Pugh were plugged into the starting lineup and helped stabilize an offense that was threatening to go off the rails. After a 1-2 start, Auburn would win 8 of their final 10 games behind those young linemen.

Alright, so I got this far, and now I have to bring up what a certain fanbase will never let go about Chaz Ramsey.

No lie, it looks really bad. But let’s remember something: low blocks, or cut blocks, are perfectly legal. Heck the flexbone offense run by the service academies wouldn’t exist without it. What is illegal is blocking high and low at the same time, which is what happens here. Chaz Ramsey is the one called for the penalty, but he’s not the one who made the error. That would be Lee Ziemba, the man to his right. Tuberville confirmed after the game that Ramsey was supposed to block low on Dorsey, while Ziemba had #93 with a chip block from tight end Cole Bennett. Ziemba blocked the wrong man, and because he blocked high, that made it a chop block. God forbid anyone in Louisiana listen to that though.

That said, it’s not a good sign when a penalty committed in your fifth start is the most memorable moment of your career. While Pugh and Ziemba would go on to pave the way for a national championship 3 years later, Ramsey had given up football in 2008 due to a serious back injury. A back injury that would eventually result in him suing a trainer and former offensive line coach Hugh Nall after being rushed back into training before he was cleared by Auburn’s own medical staff.

Only getting 10 career starts out of a consensus 4-star player has to be considered a disappointment. It’s even more of a disappointment when it seems like it could have been avoided with proper adherence to medical treatment.