By Craig Juer -- Daily Staff Writer

STRASBURG — Tanner Orndorff was stumped. "I can't even ... that's bad. That's horrible," he said, when asked where teammate Cody Pieratt lines up. Pieratt, the Rams' 6-foot-6, 286-pound lineman, is a favorite blocker of Strasburg's new feature back.

Only Orndorff couldn't remember which of the five backsides he sees every time he gets the ball belonged to Pieratt.

Finally, head coach Mark Roller walked by and saved the day.

"Hey, where does Cody line up?" Orndorff asked.

Ah, yes. Right tackle.

The Rams will happily forgive Orndorff's temporary mental lapse if he plays with a nastiness befitting the cannonball into which he spent the offseason sculpting his body.

"I've really gotten in the weight room a lot and built up my legs, conditioning and stuff like that," said Orndorff, who said he took former head coach Glenn Proctor's weightlifting class during the school year before spending the offseason bulking up with a regimen of voluntary workouts and protein shakes.

Orndorff estimated he's gained in the neighborhood of 20 pounds of muscle since his sophomore season.

"You can just tell he's squatting a lot," Rams quarterback Bub McKelvey said.

Orndorff had 13 carries for 131 yards midway through last season when starting running back Josh Kibler was kicked off the team. From that point on, Orndorff's role expanded tremendously, and he finished with 60 carries for 464 yards and four touchdowns, good for third on the team behind Kibler and then-senior Michael Prince.

But Orndorff admits that while he's prepared to be the main back this year, he wasn't completely ready for that much responsibility last season.

"I had a little piece of that last year when we lost Josh Kibler. That's when I had to really adjust," he said. "I guess I didn't fully adjust last year, but I knew this year coming into the season I'd have to step up and be able to do good."

This season, Orndorff has no choice but to be ready to be the man. But Roller, who inherited the team from Proctor in the offseason, likes the hand he's been dealt at running back.

"His build was very impressive, and then once I saw him run I saw he's very quick," Roller said of his first practice with Orndorff.

Quickness is perhaps Orndorff's most important attribute. He admitted he doesn't possess breakaway speed, but his quickness, combined with his muscular frame and low (5-foot-8) center of gravity, gives him the ability to hit a small, closing gap with time to spare. His agility allows him to make the most of what the opposing linebackers and secondary give him.

"When he needs to he'll put his head down and get extra yards. When he doesn't need to, he's weaving his way through and finding holes," Roller said. "We're not expecting him to break 70-, 80-yard touchdown runs, but that's not to say he couldn't do it. We really look for him to get 10, 15, 20 yards, and everything else is a plus."

Orndorff will have to manage a drastic increase in his carries and other offensive responsibilities while still being a force on the defensive side of the ball, where he plays outside linebacker. Orndorff registered 45 tackles a season ago.

"He's one of the hardest hitters we have," fellow linebacker Justin Sager said. "He's got speed on the outside. He's a big threat to offensive games."

Despite his post-practice brain lock, Orndorff has impressed his teammates this season with his ability to digest Roller's new Pro I-formation system.

"Even with the new offense, he's smarter," Pieratt testified.

McKelvey concurred.

"He's not an airhead; he's smart," the quarterback said with a laugh. "I guess he's just more concentrated on what he has to do when he's playing than where the lineman is."

*Contact Craig Juer at cjuer@nvdaily.com