As I watch the National Championship game tonight and study the rosters of the top 4 teams, you notice that they have an abundance of defensive line talent. I thought we did a great job last year finding some DL diamonds in the ruff but we seem to have fallen off this year in landing a couple of DL. If we want to constantly compete for conference championship and top 25 ranking, we need step up our efforts and focus to create depth on the DL. Thoughts?
Recruiting Expectations
- Thread starter shon46
- Start date
There just aren't many college ready defensive linemen playing high school football. The ones out there are very sought after and end up at top 30 P5 programs. We need to look for kids who have yet to fully develop but have great upside potential. Bascially we need our two star defensive linemen to develop into 3 and 4 star players after a redshirt and freshman year. I always like kids with good frames (can add weight), big butts and thighs, quick feet, and a wrestling background for DL recruits. A mean streak is also a plus.
Dont get me wrong, I know we have historical struggled to land top talent out of high school but Snake Oil did a good job of mixing JUCO talent with Highschool guys. I think we need to get back to that!
I don't want to use a lot of schollys on the DT position bc bill young only uses a true DT on 1st and 2nd down, then moves a DE inside for 3rd down, I agree we need good depth though this staff has done a good job evaluating and getting guys to campus. Just need to land some
Tyrunn Walker seemed to do just fine.
Typically, offensive lineman play offense bc they are not as athletic or fast which are critical qualities to possess for a dominant defensive player.
Yeah & he played both in High School and is smaller in frame than the rest of our linemen. I usually assume that makes him a little faster. What are you trying to say?
Our defensive line depth was poor. Monty 1st crop of recruit yielded one freshman DT good enough to play his 1st season. We need DTs with some length and can rush the passer and stop the run. Question is do we recruit a 6'3 300 or 6'3 265 DT? Can we put 15lbs of weight on a DT in one year? Where do we recruit large DTs
TU needs to sign two or three high school or JUCO guys per year to compete for championships. Walk-ons are fine and great but for every 100 walk-ons you get, maybe 2 will actually contribute. Converting OL to DL is rare where a DL can convert quite easily to OL and make the OL much more athletic.
We just need to make a better job identifying DT at 6'3 270 range. Are we willing to think outside the box? Search for DT in SEC country in state like Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi
Jackson, its hard for us to compete in those states. That's why the coaches hit texas and Oklahoma hard because they have ties to those states and have relationships with the high school coaches. And don't you think the sec school would offer those guys as well?
I don't think so brother, we have kids from those states on the team now. Mississippi is a problem because of the education system.
We looking for DT so Mississippi have some big DT. We have to check. We can sow up Louisiana and Tennessee.
We looking for DT so Mississippi have some big DT. We have to check. We can sow up Louisiana and Tennessee.
You absolutely have to think outside the box when recruiting these type of kids bc your competing with everyone. I like the philosophy of recruiting kids with wrestling backgrounds. I am a huge fan of recruiting Canada, Hawaii, and the JUCO's. When Snake Oil was at Tulsa, we had a pretty good pipeline going in Louisiana so successful recruiting in the south has and can be done.
maybe its just me... but if the kid is 6'3 270 and can play right out of high school... he can pick his school
The average size of a D1 DT is 6'3 285. If he has pass rush skills at 6'3 270 then he can play DE til he ready to move to DT. We can compete against teams like Oklahoma, Arkansas and Auburn. We just need to identify DT early in the recruiting process and be ready to add muscle and weight for one year. Miami Hurricane in the 80s recruited LBs to play DT but Im not saying we recruit LB but DT with good feet.
Last edited:
And he doesn't lie.
All kidding aside.. for our conference our recruiting needs are simple..
Offensive linemen that can run block.
Our offense has always been our best defense. The teams we play will not be deep on the DL either... the more we can pound them with the running game , the tireder they will be by the 4th qtr... you pound them with waves of fresh OL, and big fullbacks
The old way of thinking isn't going to land us in the top 25 anytime soon. I don't know about you but I want to actually beat teams like OHio State and the big boys and if you want to do that, you need a defense as well as an offense.
You need a deep defense and some guys who can do some special things. OkState will likely be a top 10 team next year on the fact that they return most of their offense. I'm not sure they will be anything special on defense...so we need to play defense against them to have a chance. Our offense will put up plenty of points regardless of who the QB is....our defense will need to do the job next year.
Defense win championship. We had a very improved secondary. Our pass rush was better but I run defense need work. We need more speed at LB. Did we lose the starting LBs core to graduation?
I want to beat them too... but I also believe that if the other team doesn't have the ball, they can't score.. long grinding drives of 7 plus minutes shorten the game and defeat a lot of talent advantages...
I believe we can beat OKstate our defense will have some length/speed at the LB/DB areas.. with Robinson at 6'1, whitfield at 6'4, mitchel at 6'2 and the speed of Revels, petera, suits etc..
I would even look at moving Trevis Gipson to like a Middle backer or even outside with his size and speed..
Petera is one of our better pass rusher. Moving him to OLB help us but do it hurt us because of his successful pass rush skills? We have some red shirt freshman who can take over the Left DE spot.
Monty has had a ton of success getting bigger and bigger bruisers on the OL. We haven't even really seen Tiller or Rowdy yet and those guys are behemoths. Our OL will be good as long as Monty is here. He knows its a key to his style offense.
Bivens is a 6'4" 310lb OG. Between him, Rowdy, and Bucktrot, there is some serious NFL sized guys getting ready to open some running lanes.
I've seen a couple publications showing them as a top 15 or even top 10 team next year.
Those same publications have us just outside the top 25.
A win vs a top 15 B12 team, especially OSU, would be an incredible way to start the season!
I agree that we have a legit shot at doing it!
Our defense line will be the question mark alone with LBs. Spring football will bring out the best linemen on the team. Our best front 7 maybe gipson LDE, shindalar DT, Mouton DT and Smith with Suits Revel and Petrea.
