2017 DL

gtrower

gtrower

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Aug 22, 2010
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I've been harping on our subpar DL for years now as I'm sure most on the board have. We've had two guys in the last 8 seasons that could generate a consistent pass rush (Morgan for one season and Attaochu for two or three). I don't have the stats in front of me, but I'd guess we're in the bottom 10% of the P5 in sacks over that time frame.

That being said, looking over our depth chart for 2017, I'm pleasantly surprised to see some actual depth at DE forming. Freeman, Saint-Amour, and Woods were all highly rated guys with factory offers. Woods was the welcome surprise near signing day of the '16 class. Didn't see him this season so I assume he red shirted.

WDE
Freeman (SR) 6'2" 250
Saint-Amour (JR) 6'3" 247
Merriweather (RS-JR) 6'3" 235

SDE
Simmons (SR) 6'3" 235
Branch (RS-JR) 6'3" 270
Woods (RS-FR) 6'4" 262

DT has some depth as well, although we're gonna miss Gamble. I honestly can't remember Kallon's name getting called all that much this year. I had a lot of hope for him coming out of HS. I saw Branch listed at both SDE and DT on the rivals DC. He played well against UK and figure he'll get snaps wherever we can get him on the field. Not as sold on the DTs as I am on the DEs. Adams showed flashes in short yardage situations. Henderson will probably be the anchor. Need some development from the FR/SO this year.

NT
Henderson (JR) 6'1" 295
Adams (SO) 6'2" 349

DT
Branch (RS-JR) 6'3" 270
Glanton (RS-SO) 6'3" 276
Martin (RS-FR) 6'1" 271

So overall we've built more quality DE depth than I had realized - although none of them have proven to be able to produce pressure like Morgan/Attaochu could by themselves. Still have question marks at DT though which will be the difference between seriously challenging for the Coastal or settling for another 7-9 wins.
 
I've been fairly happy with what Pelton has done given how difficult it has been for him to recruit and retain defensive linemen. We seemed to have churned through quite a few in the past few years. Overall, I'd like to see us recruit bigger (taller and heavier) interior linemen so we can free up our linebackers and give the defense a lot more flexibility. Although, given that the defense plays best when it plays simple scheme, perhaps that isn't the best.
 
RE: Woods - suffered some sort of shoulder injury in the spring, so technically will have to get a medical redshirt, but not an "intentional" redshirt, so to say. Have to believe he'll see a lot of the field this coming fall.
 
gth874t said:
RE: Woods - suffered some sort of shoulder injury in the spring, so technically will have to get a medical redshirt, but not an "intentional" redshirt, so to say.
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This is some great analysis, @gtrower. Will be key to finish out recruiting strong. Right now only DL commit is SDE Cortez Alston from Westminster. I hope to see staff go hard after Robert Porcher (decommitted from Nebraska about a month ago) - he will choose on NSD. Beyond him, I'm not sure what other targets we have (5* Aubrey Solomon is still out there, but he's likely factory bound).
 
I believe the DL is the hardest area for us to recruit. Fewer HS kids meet the physical requirements and factories get first choice leaving few possibilities for us.
 
gth874t said:
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How it works:
1. A player has 5 years to play for 4 seasons. Any season he misses is automatically his Redshirt season. Woods will be a R-FR next season and have eligibility for 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020.
2. At the conclusion of the last year of eligibility (2020), if the player missed two seasons for reasons beyond his control (i.e. injury), the player can petition the NCAA For an additional year of eligibility (2021 season).

The other way you can get a medical redshirt, which doesn't apply because Woods didn't play in 2016, is if a player suffers a season ending injury before Game 4 of a season, that player can petition the NCAA for that season not count against eligibility. But this type of redshirt doesn't grant a 6th year of eligibility.
 
gtphd said:
How it works:
1. A player has 5 years to play for 4 seasons. Any season he misses is automatically his Redshirt season. Woods will be a R-FR next season and have eligibility for 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020.
2. At the conclusion of the last year of eligibility (2020), if the player missed two seasons for reasons beyond his control (i.e. injury), the player can petition the NCAA For an additional year of eligibility (2021 season).

The other way you can get a medical redshirt, which doesn't apply because Woods didn't play in 2016, is if a player suffers a season ending injury before Game 4 of a season, that player can petition the NCAA for that season not count against eligibility.
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K. My point was that him redshirting wasn't intentional (though it could have been planned prior to injury), rather, his injury forced him to be redshirted.
 
I agree the ingredients are there to have a very good line, even with the graduations. There still needs to be a good offseason of development and training, but Adams is a beast of a NT and I like Glanton a lot. He seems to me to be a guy who understands leverage and uses his hands well (basically the anti-Kallon) and if he can gain a little more size, that starting interior can be stout against the run. Obviously Freeman will be at one starting end, and I thought he looked good rushing the QB in the game against Kentucky (as good as he has since his freshman year) and on the other end Simmons is probably the best pure pass rusher on the roster and just needs to get better at containment on his edge against the run or when QB's escape out the back side. And, there's lots of guys who could be behind those four that could rotate in and give quality snaps every game.
 
beej67 said:
So 8 returners on D?
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If I'm not mistaken Gamble, Kallon, and Davis are the only guys on the entire 2-deep that we lose on defense. Our starting secondary is gonna be really good with the 4 seniors + Gray. LBs are deeeep with Lewis/Mitchell/Alexander/Curry and we haven't even seen Cooksey yet who was one of the better looking LBs I've seen us get out of HS. Chance to be pretty good on defense if we can get some DTs playing well.
 
beej67 said:
So 8 returners on D?
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The announcers during the Kentucky game mentioned we had 8 coming back on D and 8 on O. It sounds about right without doing any research.

Also, I thought it was interesting that they thought we should be ranked to start the season.
 
No way we're ranked. But if we can find a QB, could be a good year.
 
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