Can the D-Line Deliver?
With a wealth of depth returning on the defensive front, big things are expected from a group comprised of ends Thaddeus Maximus, Cameron Heyward, Lawrence Wilson, Nathan Williams and Rob Rose joined by interior returnees Doug Worthington, Dexter Larimore and Todd Denlinger. Throw in names like Garret Goebel and Willie Mobley and you’ve got some live bodies competing for playing time. From my perspective that just leaves two simple questions.
One, can this group overcome existing injuries and avoid new ones to be a standout unit?
Two, are we safe in assuming this group can achieve great things, if healthy, considering we had the same high expectations for last year’s offensive line only to watch them perform a sieve impersonation on a fairly regular basis?
There’s obviously no way to know if this group will avoid the injury bug but they are certainly due to catch a few good breaks on the health front. Goebel and Rose have been nicked up recently and I know we’re all rooting for Lawrence Wilson to stay on the field after back to back seasons cut short due to major injuries and not just because we’re all softies but because he’s shown skills worthy of starting, at least in my eyes.
A healthy Wilson also gives the Buckeyes impressive depth at the end spot. The spring three-deep doesn’t list #87 since he’s not participating in drills but you have to think he’ll challenge and possibly reclaim his starting spot awarded to Ironhead’s Boy last year. At worst, Heacock has what appears to be a nice four-man end rotation with Thaddeus Maximus a clear starter on one side and Wilson, Heyward and Williams playing hungry in search of extended snaps. And what of Rob Rose? I don’t think he’s going to separate himself from the rest if he hasn’t by now but who knows.
On the interior, Larimore and Worthington appear to have a firm grasp on starting spots but Garrett Goebel has caught Heacock’s eye thanks to significant improvement from last season and I still think Heyward is a bigger asset inside as opposed to the edge.
Even with all this depth and experience, the question as to whether or not this year’s defensive front will be a strength is still a valid one after being burned by last season’s o-liners. As we learned, just because guys are coming back with experience, that’s no guarantee they’ve improved or have the hunger to be great. The fact that the success of this year’s defense will hinge largely on how effective the guys up front perform enabling the development of some green players at linebacker, corner and nickel seems like deja vu all over again -just on the opposite side of the ball.
Luckily, I’m an optimist and think the actual returning talent is greater than what we saw from last year’s o-line and I’m certain more leadership will be provided from guys like Wilson and Maximus.
So what do you think? Do you agree this group might have the largest influence on the outcome of the season? And do you think they’ll live up to the hype?
Heyward and Worthington work better in the inside and Gibson and Wilson(if healthy) work better on the outside. I hope this unit can put a lot of heat on opposing QB’s. If not, then the LB’s and DB’s will be counted on to make a major impact.
I am very excited about this line. I think that Wilson and Heyward will have great years, and that Thaddeus records 10 sacks. I read on OHD (http://www.ourhonordefend.com/2009/04/we-still-talkin-bout-practice.php) that “Biddle mentioned that the best OL/DL battle of the practice sessions has been between Boren and Larimore in the interior.” I am beginning to like this defense more and more with Sabino looking great and Orhian doing as well as he has with that impressive vertical. They may be young, but they certainly do not lack the talent to impress.
This is off the topic but I found a positive Buckeye article on the college players in the NFL draft this year with high character. The Buckeyes have the 1st, 4th and 6th spot.
Jenkins
Laurinaitis
Robiskie
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=Ar2RnZFrf4bm5zIxOgjGDNBDubYF?slug=ys-draftwaywehearit041309&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
Thanks for that link. Those guys were great reps for tOSU and will be missed
…we had the same high expectations for last year’s offensive line…
We had high expectations for the Oline last year? Boone, Browning, Cordle and False start Person did not instill any confidence for me. I was hoping that some of the freshman would take over and Beannie could do it almost by himself. Boone has never blocked the speed rusher well, though he did okay against Texas, but that could be b/c Pryor only ran. That offensive line didn’t have the look of greatness or even goodness. Hopefully this d-line can do the job, the only issue I forsee is not stopping the run inside b/c they aren’t that big. They don’t have an athletic 300 pounder, Worthington played at 284 last year and the other guys were slow and white. Heyward needs to play DT full time and put on 15 pounds, then I would feel a little better.
I hear you. Maybe you didn’t, but I do think a high percentage of fans definitely had big expectations for last year’s oline. I wasn’t one of them either. But, besides returning starters up front, many thought Boone might finally blossom and the hype over the Brew Crew and what they might do as freshmen was incredible.
Classic…
http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/9457458/Sources:-Paulus-may-play-football-at-Michigan
Yep hilarious.. you beat me to it.. why would they want a guy who can only play for a year? seems a waste and seems desperate
http://www.thewizofodds.com/the_wiz_of_odds/2009/04/michigans-new-quarterback-is-greg-paulus.html#more
Prolly would be better than Calista….
Okay, the Calista comment was priceless!
now we see the level of desperation in Ann Arbor. No one can tell me otherwise–a D1 coach would not consider this unless he was DESPERATE for a QB…. now let’s ask the obvious question–if DickRod was such a great coach, why wasn’t he able to recruit a good QB to his system???
He would be able to play all 4 years. You have 10 years to use up your eligibility in college sports (only 5 in an individual sport). Since he has not played football in college that eligibility has not started. Furthermore, under NCAA guidelines, since he never played football at Duke, he would not need to sit out a year after transfering to Michigan.
bullshit. he’d have 1 year
Greenie said that this morning, just quoting him. If he only has 1 year I don’t see why Rich Rod would be interested.
they said on the radio this morning (KLAC 570) that he would only have 1 year of eligibility.
snake oil salesman is intested because TAINT Forcier can only bench press 135.
Maybe we shouldn’t say too much about this…after all, we do have cheerleaders walking on to our team.
i dont care if the guy is a belly dancer as long as he can play
that guy runs what, a 4.4 or 4.5 though?I’ll take him!
You all are such morons especially Tampabuckeye, who to me seems no more than thirteen years of age. Why wouldn’t you talk to to Greg Paulus? He adds depth to the QB position, and is one hell of a team leader. Let’s be honest, a three legged dog is a better fit at QB than Nick Sheridan, who sits at the three position on the depth chart. No one is desperate for a starting QB spot, because that postion is already locked up with Forcier. Why not give a guy a shot who was the top-rated quarterback in his class coming out of high-school? He’s basically a free QB. He won’t start and probably won’t see any playing time, but just adds a little cushion to the depth at the position.
if forcier has already locked up the position and this guy is your backup then you’ve got problems. is paulus the much saught after scUM unicorn, aka the “system qb”?
don’t worry, someday soon you will tire of that excuse.
This is off topic but worth of mention. To those who dont know, Duke’s Greg Paulus worked out for the Packers yesterday. On Mike and Mike this morning they were talking about a possible transfer to Michigan. He would not have to sit out at all since he never played football at Duke. I for one would love to see that punk in maize and blue. It would be a great day in Buckeye land if UM is relying on Paulus for success.
Clearly I paid no attention to the previous posts.
does working out for the packers do nothing for/against eligibility?
I’m going to hold my breath on the d-line, after last year’s expectations for the defense were met by only Malcolm Jenkins. I simply don’t think a year more of practices and playing time injects athleticism into players. You either have it, or you don’t.
I think our biggest gap has been in the tackle spots. Championship teams have man-eater tackles that take up at least double and sometimes triple teams. Glen Dorsey disrupted entire game plans and let the edge-rushers loose. We haven’t had that in a long time, since perhaps 2003. If you watch the 2002 defensive line, it was never a question of whether they were going to get to the QB, it was a question of whether he would be able to fling the ball away before Darrion Scott or Will Smith or some blitzing LB put him on his ass. Until our tackles plug up the middle and send the O-line crashing in on itself, we’ll have spotty success on the edges with Maximus and Williams, but never dominance. I’d love to see Heyward and Worthington in the middle, because the Larimore and Denlinger have never impressed me.
@Matt, I completely agree.
While we’ve got great talent and depth at DE, the exact opposite is true of our DTs. Nothing has changed since Illinois decided to run 8 minutes off the clock by running inside over and over and over and over…
It really makes you wonder when we have a guy 6′7″ playing DT. No disrespect to Mr. Worthington, but if he was 6′1″-6′3″, he would be a force. Find me a good starting DT in the NFL taller than 6′6″.
Marcus Stroud and John Henderson off the top of my head.
Watch the texas game again. All those guys are back one year stronger.
I honestly think, this is going to be a very good defensive line. I know it’s very important for them to play well and take the pressure of the young defensive backfield, but I really feel like the key to this team is still the offensive line. I know there is a very mobile QB, but there is not Beanie to lean on anymore, and the receivers are going to be pretty green in terms of experience as well. I really think the success of this team relies on a O line that is young, talented, and unproven.
Personally, I just hope that in fall camp, tackling is stressed hard. We field a young back 7 this year, who can def. play, but a big reason why we have been so good in past years on D is being able to tackle in space, and not allow alot of YAC (USC excluded, ugh). Kids like Hines are head-hunters for sure, but I wanna see them shut the play down when the receiver makes the catch. JL was great at that, as was Freeman and Jenkins.
Another thread jack: The BTN just released their prime time schedule and the Indiana game in Bloomington on 10/3 will be under the lights on BTN.
Nice
Why dont we switch to a 3-4 zone blitz type defense?
A) We dont have the run stuffing D-tackles.
B) We DO have run stuffing line backers
C) We can take advantage of depth at D-end by standing players up at OLB like Nathan Williams
D) We can take advantage of depth at linebacker
E) We can offer Dick LeBeau crazy jack to come coach it
Works for me.
I’m not a defensive scheme genius, but everything I know about the 3-4 says its predicated on having a massive, triple-team inducing nose tackle to make it truly successful. And we don’t have anything approaching that. Without that, the O-Line would blow us open and anyone could run on us for 3 yard clips consistently, at a minimum.
You’re correct, but there’s concern they might be able to do that against a 4-3 anyway.
Sorry Jason, that would never happen.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=273140194
Thanks for that deceptive link Matt….ugh why did I read all of that, and experience that pain again…..willingly!?!?!
I’m a defensive guy and I think in college you can be really
creative. A 3-4 defense would make sense because of our
depth at LB. Our problem is we don’t audible or shift at all.
The play we call is the play we will run. If you watched the
Wild card game Ind vs SD, SD would come out on defense
with a play, but at the 10 second mark, they audibled and
shifted which proved problems for Peyton who is a master at
reading defenses. They ended up beating IND in the 1st round.
Who’s your nose tackle? Can you step up and play it?
NO NO NO NO!
I hate the 3-4!!!
3 yards up the gut every time! even Lydell could run against a 3-4
DON’T SAY THINGS YOU CAN’T TAKE BACK.
Lydell “see you on sundays” Ross with his grandmother playing fullback could run for a positive gain against a 3-4 defense assuming he didn’t trip on his shoelaces on the way to the line of scrimmage for a change….. haha
but seriously, i hate the 3-4 with a pashion.
You dont have to line up 3-4 every play!
With our personnel its a perfect fit, you need an athletic pass rushing NT, your LB’s do the run stuffing.
What running back we face this year is gonna run over Homan?
This idea is so perfect its ridiculous.
The Nose Tackle is typically played by a 300+ pound man-mountain, not an “athletic pass rusher”. It’s more Dan Wilkinson/Ted Washington/Terrence Cody than, say, Doug Worthington.
Just wonering, why doesn’t he try out at Duke, ala Ricky Dudley?
ricky dudley was a big big man, and actually went on to play TE for the raiders if my memory serves me correctly. i don’t think this guy from duke could have that same sort of success in the NFL or the Big Ten