Need a portal DL | Syracusefan.com

Need a portal DL

It's honestly our best even without it.
Dline is not in as bad of shape as everyone is making it out to be
Sure I would take a solid Dlineman in the portal if we could
 
Can you elaborate?
Sure, I am by no means an expert but here are my thoughts

Okechukwu /Lockett/Linton/Darton gives us a solid 4 players for the DLine backbone.

We have 6 R-Fr in Simmons/Geer/McDonald/Fuentes-Cundiff/Alberga &Wright (walk-ons so doubtful he sees time)
I think Fuentes-Cundiff/Geer seeing time in 2 & 1 games shows they have abilities the staff likes and could step up into a rotation role.

Having Jaquez Jr and Nolton as Jan enrolee's also helps out with giving them time to develop into players that might see the two deep especially Nolton if his listed size is true.

We do lose a ton of experience and production after last year but I don't think the sky is falling and we need to get every kid that shows up in the portal on DL.
 
Geer looked very good in the limited action I saw. Kid is 6-6, already 255. A full year in S&C he will be stronger and pushing 265. I am really high on him, he is my choice for breakout player on D.
 
Sure, I am by no means an expert but here are my thoughts

Okechukwu /Lockett/Linton/Darton gives us a solid 4 players for the DLine backbone.

We have 6 R-Fr in Simmons/Geer/McDonald/Fuentes-Cundiff/Alberga &Wright (walk-ons so doubtful he sees time)
I think Fuentes-Cundiff/Geer seeing time in 2 & 1 games shows they have abilities the staff likes and could step up into a rotation role.

Having Jaquez Jr and Nolton as Jan enrolee's also helps out with giving them time to develop into players that might see the two deep especially Nolton if his listed size is true.

We do lose a ton of experience and production after last year but I don't think the sky is falling and we need to get every kid that shows up in the portal on DL.
Yup. They are putting feelers out to high end DL transfers. Some will transfer out after the spring. They can be patient and get the right fit. This also allows the staff to evaluate the position after spring ball and determine how aggressive they should be in the transfer portal.
 
Yup. They are putting feelers out to high end DL transfers. Some will transfer out after the spring. They can be patient and get the right fit. This also allows the staff to evaluate the position after spring ball and determine how aggressive they should be in the transfer portal.
Do you think Post-Spring is enough time for a DL to acclimate to the system and contribute year 1?
 
Yeah DL needs 1/2 players. They need it for depth in case a guy or two goes down….they also don’t need to be an immediate starter IMO.

We currently will likely have 13 players that are in the DL room


Think we have much bigger issues at WR. Need at least 1 WR who is just going to be a dog and take everything that’s thrown at him
 
Agree but DB seems pretty high on the young players. We do have a couple of DL that played in a number of games returning. Also the younger players have good size and were recruited for the 3-3-5.
OK sure we can be high on true freshman like Lockett who played a fair amount and looked good, Okechukwu who played a decent amount and looks good and redshirt freshman Greer who hasn't played any snaps. I'm high on those guys. But these kids are young, inexperienced and I have serious concerns over if they can they take over all this playing time and at what level will they produce. And the depth beyond that is very thin regarding experience and size. Think of who we lost, their expierience, their production and their size.

McKinley WIlliams 6-4 285 lbs
Kingsley Jonathan 6-4 260 lbs
Cody Roscoe 6-1 275 lbs
Josh Black 6-3 290 lbs
Curtis Harper 6-2 285 lbs

You can say the younger guys were recruited to the 3-3-5 but they aren't quite yet the size these guys were. And the 2022 kids are much less than that except for Belizaire. I think we have to bring AT LEAST one more guy in who has good size and experience.
 
Sure, I am by no means an expert but here are my thoughts

Okechukwu /Lockett/Linton/Darton gives us a solid 4 players for the DLine backbone.

We have 6 R-Fr in Simmons/Geer/McDonald/Fuentes-Cundiff/Alberga &Wright (walk-ons so doubtful he sees time)
I think Fuentes-Cundiff/Geer seeing time in 2 & 1 games shows they have abilities the staff likes and could step up into a rotation role.

Having Jaquez Jr and Nolton as Jan enrolee's also helps out with giving them time to develop into players that might see the two deep especially Nolton if his listed size is true.

We do lose a ton of experience and production after last year but I don't think the sky is falling and we need to get every kid that shows up in the portal on DL.

I think we're too young overall. And I'm a cockeyed optimist who thinks the youth is promising.

Would be nice to have a couple of older guys there, for strength, experience and leadership.
 
Yeah DL needs 1/2 players. They need it for depth in case a guy or two goes down….they also don’t need to be an immediate starter IMO.

We currently will likely have 13 players that are in the DL room


Think we have much bigger issues at WR. Need at least 1 WR who is just going to be a dog and take everything that’s thrown at him
Well we have a WR coach now who is known as a strong recruiter, hopefully he has an ace up his sleeve.
 
I think we're too young overall. And I'm a cockeyed optimist who thinks the youth is promising.

Would be nice to have a couple of older guys there, for strength, experience and leadership.
I think bringing in a veteran DL would be smart but the sky is not falling with the DL overall.
 
OK sure we can be high on true freshman like Lockett who played a fair amount and looked good, Okechukwu who played a decent amount and looks good and redshirt freshman Greer who hasn't played any snaps. I'm high on those guys. But these kids are young, inexperienced and I have serious concerns over if they can they take over all this playing time and at what level will they produce. And the depth beyond that is very thin regarding experience and size. Think of who we lost, their expierience, their production and their size.

McKinley WIlliams 6-4 285 lbs
Kingsley Jonathan 6-4 260 lbs
Cody Roscoe 6-1 275 lbs
Josh Black 6-3 290 lbs
Curtis Harper 6-2 285 lbs

You can say the younger guys were recruited to the 3-3-5 but they aren't quite yet the size these guys were. And the 2022 kids are much less than that except for Belizaire. I think we have to bring AT LEAST one more guy in who has good size and experience
Agree we probably need one more guy but still think the DL may surprise. Harper was in the two deep and transferred. We do not know the reason but it could have been that he was getting passed on the depth chart.
 
Do we know that the defensive coaching staff would want a big, run stuffing DT? I know that the 3-3-5 places value on lighter, more athletic players so that assignments, blitzes, etc. can be disguised.
 
I expect we will be bringing in more transfers after spring ball.

We will probably lose a couple of guys after spring ball if the depth chart doesn't fall the way they hope it will*. Then we will go after replacement from the portal. After spring ball, the portal will be the only source for new blood.



* This is a potential problem with having three QBs all with the same amount of eligibility remaining (3 RS Fr in 2022). This could also happen in the secondary. We have three new freshman DB's and a transfer who just enrolled and will be participating in spring practices. If one of these guys jumps a guy who was already here (ala Chestnut last year), we could very easily see departures from the secondary.

The potential for possible movement in the secondary created when a younger player passes an older player in the depth chart has always been part of the game.

In the secondary we currently have the following scholarship players on campus.
  • RS Sr: Coley (1)
  • Jr: Simmons (1)
  • RS So: Williams, Greenwood, Nunn (3)
  • So: Chestnut, Carter, Barron Hannah (4)
  • RS Fr: Folk, Oliver (2)
  • Fr: Foster, Perry, Wilson (3)
** Peterson will be here in the summer.

The portal is new, and I'm old school, so I'm not comfortable with everything that comes with it yet. I like the competition because I believe competition makes everyone better; iron sharpens iron. But I'm not comfortable with the roster churn and the related instability that can come from a mercenary program where players keep coming and going. Again, I'm old school, I like to see how teams recruit and then watch how those recruits are developed into contributing players.


It's going to be an interesting spring. Let's see who is ready to compete.
I could see possible transfers after spring ball of
Cooley, Nunn, Greenwood, at least one WR or OL.
Never want guys to leave but it seem inevitable now. Always hope they get their degree before they leave.
 
I could see possible transfers after spring ball of
Cooley, Nunn, Greenwood, at least one WR or OL.
Never want guys to leave but it seem inevitable now. Always hope they get their degree before they leave.
I really hope Nunn sticks around. I know its been tough with injuries and some studs in front of him but i think he's got some potential at corner. He'll only be a redshirt sophomore and he could have a path to future playing time there for us.
 
Agree we probably need one more guy but still think the DL may surprise. Harper was in the two deep and transferred. We do not know the reason but it could have been that he was getting passed on the depth chart.
I know. Its certainly possible they could surprise but its far from a sure thing. We can't leave it all up to hope and chance. We really need to get some proven players where we know what we will get. Just saw money posted in another thread that it sounds like they may be waiting until Spring to grab DL supplements. Hopefully we can get some quality guys then as we could likely offer a good shot at playing time that others can't at that point.
 
I really hope Nunn sticks around. I know its been tough with injuries and some studs in front of him but i think he's got some potential at corner. He'll only be a redshirt sophomore and he could have a path to future playing time there for us.
Depending on how he's come back from the knee injury, Nunn could be the third corner this year and then start next year when Garrett leaves.
 
Do we know that the defensive coaching staff would want a big, run stuffing DT? I know that the 3-3-5 places value on lighter, more athletic players so that assignments, blitzes, etc. can be disguised.
This is just my opinion, but I think optimally we want a DE who is 255-265 and who is good at getting to the QB. You want another DE who is 265-280. You want a DT who is 275-290. None of these are just strong run pluggers. They all need to have explosion and burst to shoot gaps. height isn't of much concern. The DE's don't have to be long rangy guys with high top end speed to hold the edge quite as much as in a 4-3. That is more often left up to LB's and DB's. They need to be able to shoot gaps to stop both the run game and help push back the pocket in passing situations.
 
A guy like Cody Roscoe at 6-1 275 lbs works really well in our scheme. Obviously we can use some guys that are lighter as well for passing downs. But for earlier downs that is the size we need with just 3 defensive linemen. We can get guys with some burst at these sizes.
 
Do you think Post-Spring is enough time for a DL to acclimate to the system and contribute year 1?
Depends on who they get and how hard the player works. If someone comes that has familiarity with the scheme it will decrease the learning curve.
 
Last edited:
This is just my opinion, but I think optimally we want a DE who is 255-265 and who is good at getting to the QB. You want another DE who is 265-280. You want a DT who is 275-290. None of these are just strong run pluggers. They all need to have explosion and burst to shoot gaps. height isn't of much concern. The DE's don't have to be long rangy guys with high top end speed to hold the edge quite as much as in a 4-3. That is more often left up to LB's and DB's. They need to be able to shoot gaps to stop both the run game and help push back the pocket in passing situations.
Do think with the new OC Rhino moves full time to DT. Mang showed promise as a blocker last year at TE and with his size is better suited in the passing game than Rhino.
 
Do think with the new OC Rhino moves full time to DT. Mang showed promise as a blocker last year at TE and with his size is better suited in the passing game than Rhino.
Rhino was bad at D Tackle but you never know. This staff might give him a shot there.
 
When Okechukwu was recruited his HS coach said he could probably play inside and outside depending on his weight etc.

I think if Linton & Geer can play a lot of snaps at DE you could see Caleb O play at DE and DT. That could help ease some depth questions perhaps.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
167,147
Messages
4,683,212
Members
5,901
Latest member
CarlsbergMD

Online statistics

Members online
324
Guests online
1,671
Total visitors
1,995


Top Bottom