JUdging from the quality of now,17,5 will remain more or less.
Probably not. He knows himself he has 50lbs to lose, very close to what I had in mind. He's gonna lose 1 inch per 15lbs lost on average, put him down at least 3 inches from where he is now. Some muscle will be lost as the hill is a steep and very inclined one to climb and you're looking at another inch lost.
16 inches is what we're looking at when lean. 16.5 tops.
You must really be an endomorph to get that heavy on so few cals, I mean you're close to 6 feet you said, I think. If you're not doing post workout cardio now, I would seriously start.