Defensive Line

[CadaverDawg]

After looking more in depth at our roster, it is somewhat alarming to see how few DT's we even have on the team, much less DT's with experience. That being said, do you expect Diaz/Turner to try and mix in some 3-4 this year on certain downs to better fit our personnel? I know that may be tough to just up and do, so that's why I'm asking if it would even be possible?

It certainly would fit our personnel right now to be able to play Ryan Brown, Jones, Jefferson along the line, with Benny, Richie, Gerri, and JT behind them as 4 big time LB's. Then we would instantly add quality depth to DT with Adams, James, Thomas...while also giving us more flexibility at DE by sliding Jones and Adams out occasionally in potential running situations, since both have DE experience.

Again, I'm assuming switching to some 3-4 sets isn't an easy transition to teach, so it may not be possible at all...I just feel like our talent and depth currently on D is setup better for a 3-4 look.

I'm only seeing 5 true DT's on the roster that can help us in 2015 (Jones, James, Adams, Thomas, Hoyett), and only 3 of them have ever played a live snap for us. That's concerning. We're a Chris Jones/Nelson Adams injury away from potential trouble at that spot. Am I missing something?

[Ifyouonlyknew]

We ran 3 man fronts a lot last year in passing downs with Preston at the nose.

[CadaverDawg]

We ran 3 man fronts a lot last year in passing downs with Preston at the nose.

True, I wasn't thinking about that.

So, do you see Manny continuing that? And if so, will he be doing it more out of necessity, or because that's just what he wants to run?

Also, I think Cory will be a big surprise this year in terms of his talent...but who else do u see stepping up? James? Hoyett? Could F Adams or Harris help?

I think N Adams & Jones will shine as starters

[Coach34]

Nick James has to play to his ability or we could be in trouble. But if he does- then DT is an absolute strength. He's our key

[Ifyouonlyknew]

I think Jones, Adams, James, & Thomas are all solid in the 2 deep. Hoyett & F. Adams will provide spot breaks. I'm sure there will be times we use a 3 man front but I don't expect it to be used as a base defense.

[CadaverDawg]

I think Jones, Adams, James, & Thomas are all solid in the 2 deep. Hoyett & F. Adams will provide spot breaks. I'm sure there will be times we use a 3 man front but I don't expect it to be used as a base defense.

The draft and graduation really hit us hard on the DL. Can you give a quick synopsis of how our DT/DE class is going to look in 2016? Will we bring in some Juco's? Any immediate impact Freshmen you're expecting? It looks like most of our young DL talent is DE primarily...is that accurate?

Who knows, if Jones and James play up to potential, we may be looking at N Adams and C Thomas as our only returners next year, along with Hoyett and F Adams. I'm slightly concerned about 2015/2016 DL. We knew we were losing several Seniors last year, and while Smith was a surprise, I feel like we didn't do too good of a job recruiting DL lately. Was it the Juco misses standing out? Lack of high school talent? What happened at this position, since it seemed like we were loading up on talent at DL for a while.

I have my own theories, but wanted to get others' thoughts.

[BankerDog]

Once you look at the stats, Nelson Adams had better stats than both PJ Jones and Kaleb Eulls. Don't sleep on Jonathan Calvin either. He's a strong pass rusher and had really good stats all during the spring. Corey Thomas will be ready to play

[CadaverDawg]

Once you look at the stats, Nelson Adams had better stats than both PJ Jones and Kaleb Eulls. Don't sleep on Jonathan Calvin either. He's a strong pass rusher and had really good stats all during the spring. Corey Thomas will be ready to play

Yea our combo of Jones and Adams is solid. And I like Thomas a lot, and am hopeful that James can help us more this year. It's everything beyond that group of 4 at DT that concerns me.

[Coach34]

we have a juco DT committed right now

[mic]

As long as we stay somewhat healthy at DT we are all good..
Yep just as long as Chris plays as advertised And Nick plays a few more snaps we will be very strong up front.

[CadaverDawg]

we have a juco DT committed right now

Should we be concerned that an average rated Juco DT is our only DL commit at this time? I know many feel good about Kobe Jones and some feel good about Simmons...but it seems like we are putting a lot of eggs in those baskets. Who else do we feel good about? I'm glad we have a good OL class it appears, but the other side of the trenches isn't looking very deep right now. Looking at our current depth chart, you would think we'd have at least 2-3 DL commits already. We need Kobe and Simmons to jump on board.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

Should we be concerned that an average rated Juco DT is our only DL commit at this time? I know many feel good about Kobe Jones and some feel good about Simmons...but it seems like we are putting a lot of eggs in those baskets. Who else do we feel good about? I'm glad we have a good OL class it appears, but the other side of the trenches isn't looking very deep right now. Looking at our current depth chart, you would think we'd have at least 2-3 DL commits already. We need Kobe and Simmons to jump on board.

We feel very good about how our DL class will end up.

[BHildreth3]

I see us playing a little bit of 1-5-5 at times if the DL doesn't play as well.

[5 Star]

Roster shows 14 of them. 3 1st year guys, 3 redshirts, 8 veterans. Just looking at the numbers alone, we should be OK. JUCO guys need to come through.

[Bothrops]

I've been concerned about the d-line since the end of last season.

[CadaverDawg]

Roster shows 14 of them. 4 1st year guys, 3 redshirts, 8 veterans. Just looking at the numbers alone, we should be OK. JUCO guys need to come through.

Not at DT.

like I said, most of our youth at DL is more built for DE, not DT. But we'll see. Jones, Adams, James, Thomas, Hoyett, Adams is about it at DT...and including an undersized True Freshman at DT may even be stretching it. All the others are DE's with the exception of maybe Harris, who is built more like a DT but I thought had been moved to DE.

Brown
Jefferson
Calvin
Coleman
Mullins
Harris
Dale
And you could argue F. Adams

All DE's

Jones
James
N Adams
Thomas
Hoyett
F Adams (maybe)
Kendall Jones (don't know anything about him)

6-7 (5 true DT's)...That's our DT group

[cheewgumm]

The good news is we have spots available for stud DL coming out. Playing time!!!!

[somebodyshotmypaw]

Nick James has to play to his ability or we could be in trouble. But if he does- then DT is an absolute strength. He's our key

This is so accurate. He has potential, which means he hasn't done anything yet. Nick is a big key. We really need him to play well. Think of LSU and Fournette trying to pound the ball on us. Think of Auburn and their up-tempo. Think of Bama and Arkansas trying to run the ball on us. We need Nick to live up to his potential. He is hugely critical to our success.

[MSUDawg4Life]

Not long ago, we were happy to go into the season with 3 DTs and 3 DEs ready to play. Now. we expect to rotate 5 DTs, 4-5 DEs and are worried if those guys aren't proven. Speaks to the development of the program.

With that said, we have the bodies. At DT, Nick James, Cory Thomas and Braxton Hoyett have to show up and play. We have a good feeling Chris Jones and Nelson Adams are going to be ready. At DE, we're not worried about Ryan Brown and AJ Jefferson. Between Johnathan Calvin, Will Coleman, Torrey Dale and Grant Harris, we need at least two of those guys to decide they want to play Bulldog football. Three would be preferable, but we could get by with just two.

Coach Turner has his hands full. I'm sure he's expressed to those guys that they don't have time to be dick dancing around. It's time to put up or shut up.

[archdog]

I agree on the James comment, but look out for Coleman. I think that guy is going to come out of no where.

[maroonmania]

Not long ago, we were happy to go into the season with 3 DTs and 3 DEs ready to play. Now. we expect to rotate 5 DTs, 4-5 DEs and are worried if those guys aren't proven. Speaks to the development of the program.

With that said, we have the bodies. At DT, Nick James, Cory Thomas and Braxton Hoyett have to show up and play. We have a good feeling Chris Jones and Nelson Adams are going to be ready. At DE, we're not worried about Ryan Brown and AJ Jefferson. Between Johnathan Calvin, Will Coleman, Torrey Dale and Grant Harris, we need at least two of those guys to decide they want to play Bulldog football. Three would be preferable, but we could get by with just two.

Coach Turner has his hands full. I'm sure he's expressed to those guys that they don't have time to be dick dancing around. It's time to put up or shut up.

True, but the days of being able to get by with 2 to 3 DTs for the year have long since passed with offenses that are trying to run the max number of plays possible in a game. If you try to do that now your DL will be falling out or totally ineffective at crunch time in the 4th quarter. You need at least 4 ready to go and a 5th in case of injury to one of the first 4 at the very minimum. We have about what we need as long as everyone of the 5 or 6 (if Fletcher is ready) come ready to play and we don't have a rash of injuries.