Have to replace the Charles "Big Bully" Johnson (Image: Hipple)
Second in our series of Top Questions for 2007. Part I involved the offensive line. Part two revolves around....
Where will the pash rush come from?
-- Quentin Moses is a senior and Charles Johnson declared that he will enter the draft. They represent 11 of our 30 sacks on the season (stats pre-
Roderick Battle (rising So) is a nice young player, and Marcus Howard (225 lbs) has his moments in obvious passing downs. However, they aren't the Pollack, Moses, Johnson, or Charles Grant type players that we've had for the past 6 years at DE.
Jarius Wynn (Juco early enrollee) has the size (6'4" and 270 lbs) and speed to potentially be that special kind of player for the Dawgs. We should know by the end of Spring how he's progressing. Also, there's always the chance that Brandon Miller (SAM) will move to DE. There are also several guys redshirting that will help out here, but we're likely going to have a drop off at DE next year. It's just a question of how much.
PWD
Part III and IV later in the week.
7 comments:
Sugar Bowl? Nice to see you slipped the 'dawgs a bowl upgrade in there :)
I'm guessing part III is "Who will catch the ball?". ;)
Nathan - nice catch.
Anon - Yeah, something like that.
Don't forget about Kiante Tripp and Brandon Wood. At 6'6 265 and 6'2 270, they've both got SEC-ready frames to handle the grind at DE. Now hopefully they can grow up fast.
Also throw in Jeremy Lomax, who at 6'5 235 still has some growing to do, but with an offseason gaining weight under Van Halanger and some valuable back-up time in '06, could be a suprise contributor in '07
I'd wager Tripp plays DT while Wood is also "a biscuit shy of DT" according to Ray Gant in the Columbus paper.
As for Lomax, he really didn't play that much this year. He played in 9 games and secured 3 solo tackles.
PWD
I can see the two moving to tackle eventually, but DE may be where they start, not unlike Marcus Stroud and Johnathon Sullivan did, given the lack of size and experience at the position. With Atkins and Crawford backing up Owens and Weston, there may not be as much need for them at DT.
Fair enough Charley.
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