I'm concerned to. It's the weak link of the team right now and we don't really have any studs on the horizon; there are no art jones or jay bromleys on this team. The two frosh were scrambles. We don't seem to have any preps lined up if Milan falls through. Day should have been a bigger priority.
Next year is even more concerning unless someone emerges. We lose Crume and who knows if Raymon plays again, poor kid.
I don't agree with this. Its important to keep in mind that college football is all about attrition. Every year, every team loses key players and has to replace dependable starters with guys who are unproven commodities. As stated above, attrition is the name of the game.
I'm willing to bet that by the end of the year, DL is going to be viewed as a position of STRENGTH for this team. We're loaded with depth / experience at DE. And we're returning 3/4 of last year's starters. I just don't get the hand-wringing about DT. Crume is going to be a beast this year. It's his turn, and barring injury he is going to step up. That's one of the most confident predictions I can make about this year's team. From there, we need to cobble together a rotation from the remaining guys.
Isaiah Johson flashed big time last year, and is moving inside to DT permanently. He'll factor into the rotation this year.
Marcus Coleman garnered early consideration from Notre Dame before getting injured in high school. He emerged as a front runner in spring practice and earned a starting role. He's a third year sophomore who's been in the S&C program and is now positioned well to contribute. He'll factor into the rotation.
We saw the article about Ron Thompson getting some time in flexible lineups at DT. Okay... that doesn't seem ideal at 260 pounds, but that's 10 pounds more than Kevin Mitchell played nose tackle. If the coaches think he can be an impact player, I'm really curious to see for myself what he can do.
Thats four guys right there--a more than adequate rotation at DT. And we've got other players vying for PT as well.
Wayne Williams is going to be a project, but I'm guessing that he'll play a LOT this year, and will be more comfortable by the 3rd or 4th game of the year.
We have two true frosh--Harvey and Samuels--that the coaching staff likes. A lot. I'll bet one of them redshirts, and the other will play.
And Raymon comes back next year.
To say nothing of the incoming frosh we've lined up in the class of 2015 [especially Cross, who
does sound like a stud prospect].
So in summary, while there are some question marks, but with three starters returning, a full rotation / depth at DE, and some green but promising guys inside, are we really in as bad of shape as some are suggesting? It's one thing to say that we're unproven--no argument there. It's quite another to say that its the "weak link of the team." I don't buy that, given the reasons outlined above. I think we're in good shape from a both a numbers and talent perspective--we just need to see what some of these DTs can do. They'll get their chance to start demonstrating that on Friday.
I guess I'm a lot more bully on this positional units chances than a lot of what I'm reading in this thread. Having three returning starters is huge, and is going to give us a pillar of stability that the others can lean on as they get up to speed on the D-Line. Don't overlook how important that factor will be.
