Three players are out

[ironmikecw]

Brad is Matt's backup and played alot last year He is at about 265 and strong as a bull. He is also pretty quick with a huge motor. I don't think any line will throw him about like a rag doll. He has always played middle linebacker till he came to BG. Don't underestimate him he will suprise you in a big way.

[Cork]

I never said size was meaningless. My contention has been that it is ridiculous to say a player can't get the job done simply because he doesn't fit some statistical profile. A 260lb kid is perfectly capable of playing DT if he has the quickness and athleticism to overcome the lack of size. It has been proven at this very university.

Let's give Williams a chance before we say he can't do it...

I think I read Falconboy's post the same as Flipper. Just because we don't have 300 pounds all along the line, doesn't mean it's time to give up, berate the coaches, or think of doomsday. When comparing our DL the last two year, one has to take into account the lack of experience also. I like our DL, a lot, but putting soph's and a true Freshman up against OSU can't be a good study regarding size.

But cheer up. Our last recruiting class had DL-men of 260, 280, 282, and 265. And if I remember right, a couple were 6-5.

[Falconboy]

Where and who do we have d-lineman that are 6'5??? The new d-line recruits are at good size for freshman like Nick Davis at 6'3 and 280. Hopefully in another year he can put on around 25 lbs and get up to 295 or 300 pounds , which would be great. We'll have to go after at least one more d-lineman with losing Lance to his heart condition. No disrespect to ironmike, but unless your son Brad is built Arnold Swartzanegger he IS going to get used like a piece of tissue paper. I just to don't see a 265 pound defensive lineman getting any penetration against a o-line that we're going to see in Oklahoma. Getting good pressure on qb White is going to be key if we are going even imagine a win. White couldn't have won the Heisman for nothing, and he'll tear us apart if he feels no pressure from our defense.

falconboy

[factman]

As i said befere falconboy, why don't you go out and line up against Brad and give us a first hand report if he can handle it!!!!!!

[Cork]

Where and who do we have d-lineman that are 6'5??? The new d-line recruits are at good size for freshman like Nick Davis at 6'3 and 280. Hopefully in another year he can put on around 25 lbs and get up to 295 or 300 pounds , which would be great. We'll have to go after at least one more d-lineman with losing Lance to his heart condition. No disrespect to ironmike, but unless your son Brad is built Arnold Swartzanegger he IS going to get used like a piece of tissue paper. I just to don't see a 265 pound defensive lineman getting any penetration against a o-line that we're going to see in Oklahoma. Getting good pressure on qb White is going to be key if we are going even imagine a win. White couldn't have won the Heisman for nothing, and he'll tear us apart if he feels no pressure from our defense.

falconboy

From Phil Steeles Pub:

Jeff Fink DL 6-5 260 PS#233
Nicholas Davis DL 6-3 280 PS#353
Lance Latkiewicz DL 6-2 282 PS#365
Brandon Mack DL 6-5 245 PS#506

Now before you shoot from the finger tips regarding
who is playing and where, the point was what is trying
to be done in recruiting.

The overall package is more important than just
one criteria. DL -men do more than absorb the OL.

[Flipper]

falconboy, I'm pretty sure Brad Williams isn't planning on just standing there while those Okies try to pound his brains out. You may find that they will have grown tired of trying to catch up to him by the time the 4th qtr rolls around... 8)

[hammb]

As i said befere falconboy, why don't you go out and line up against Brad and give us a first hand report if he can handle it!!!!!!

I hate to defend falconboy for his brash style of posting, but I would find that quite irrelevant. Unless of course falconboy is an interior lineman for a major Division1A college.

The OU interior linemen look like:

OG Kelvin Chaisson - Jr. 6-5 303
C Vince Carter - Sr. 6-3 294
OG Davin Joseph - Jr. 6-4 312


I have the utmost confidence in Brad's ability, but he's giving up 30 pounds or more against any of these OL guys. Say what you want about athletic ability overcoming size, but doubt very seriously that these guys are 300 pounds of blubber. 2 of them were freshmen all americans. Carter has gotten every accolade a Center can get. The other guys are no slouches either, Joseph was a former DL guy, so you know he's athletic.

I am not picking on Brad or anyone else on our DL. I felt approximately the same way before the OSU game last year and would've felt the same way right now if Leininger were still available for that game. I don't care for our defensive coaches' philosophy of undersized DL guys who are fairly quick. Quickness is great, but at some point you have to stop lining up LB size guys on the DL if you want to consistently compete with the Oklahoma's of the world. I mean this as no knock on anyone on our roster, but you could put Ray Lewis at DT against Oklahoma (245 pounds) and he would get dominated even though he'd be the most talented player on the field.

I'm hoping I'm wrong, but I expect our DL to again get dominated by the more talented offensive lines that we play against. If I had to pick one thing to complain about in our recent years of success this would be it. We're just not bringing in the kind of DL players that can dominate the line of scrimmage against a quality OL.

[Falconboy]

Our d-line will be a little more formadible when guys like Brandon Mack and Fink and Davis get even bigger and more experienced. But right now we don't have a dominant front four yet. Hey factman, me at 5'11 and 185 lineing up against Brad would prove squat! Just what would that prove, that a 6'3 260 pound guy could push me around? Hah! Big deal, of course he'd could push ME around. Oh yeah, I forgot about Mack at 6'5 and Jeff Fink. I didn't realize Fink was actually tabbed in at DL. I thought somebody said they thought he'd be a O-lineman. I think Fink should be d-lineman anyway. To tell you the truth, if it wasn't that we're thin at d-line , wouldn't Brad make a better middle linbacker anyway? He has the prototypical size for that position anyway.

falconboy

[factman]

falconboy....you make my point!!! You have never played D-line before, nor do you have the slightest idea of what it takes to be a good defensive lineman!!!!

[ironmikecw]

Brad has been through some scrapes beforeand is a very tough cookie. Look at the picture of the d-linemen that Spart posted. Brad looks to be the largest in the group. Being the youngest of 3 boys (all who played college football ) He has been through the mill. After the spring game the offensive line going against Brad said they could not stop him even with double teams. NUFF SAID

[Cork]

First of all Devon is still pretty small for DE in my humble opinon if he indeed is still only 233lbs. Yes Crossley is 6'3 and 250 ,thats decent size for a D1. DE. But I'm talking about the DT's . What are we going to there?? Thats always been our problem. If Leigieger is not in the lineup for Oklahoma, then I'm afraid any paper thin chance we imagined we might have to win is completly gone. Oklahoma will pound us to smithereens, no question. Our offense just isnt' that strong enough to overcome major losses on the defensive side anywhere. Ive never felt so uneasy about this season untill now. Our depth at D-line is just not good enough yet. Andy Grubbs loss doesnt' frighten me as much at knowing we got the one of more of the fab five to step in , assuming their good enough.

falconboy

I would just like to bring back the original point of contention. Other than the disrespect of misspelling a name a couple of times, there are sentences above like "What are we going to there??", "paper thin chance", "pound us to smithereens", and my favorite "never felt so uneasy about this season". In other words, DOOMSDAY in a single post. A whole season down the tubes.

The issue is not what makes the perfect D-linemen. I think everyone would like 6-8, 342 pounders who can run 4.38/40. If you like dreaming like that, you'll enjoy Toledo's recruiting list every year where all players clock 4.28/40's and can read.

The points made, as I remember them, were:
1. Size isn't the most important factor, especially only a 30 lbs difference.
2. We ARE recruiting well. (the listings of the DL's were just my indication)
3. Cheer-up! No need to defeat the season before one game.

[UK Peregrine]

Well said Cork.

This is essentially the same core group of defensive lineman from last year of Crossley, Leininger, Thaler, Parks and Newble. Sure Leininger may miss the OU game, but other than that this should be a very solid d-line. And if any of the young sophomores or freshman can chip in, we will be even better off than last year on the d-line. So stay positive falconboy and get ready for a great Falcon Football season.

[ironmikecw]

one thing to keep in mind about the d-line...Leininger,Cooley,Brad W., & Hollingsworth are all from the same recruiting class along with Piepkow, Newson, Mayberry, Arnold, Curran, White, Myles,& Smith. Even though some are Sophs and some are Jrs they are all third year players.

[Falconboy]

Never said we need d-line guys that are 6'8 and 340 and can run a 42.8 40. Thats obviously out of the question. All I am saying is for our d-line to truly become dominate and not get wasted by a good o-lines, we need to roughly average at least 6'3 or 6'4 and 280. Cuz no matter how fast a lineman is , if he can't get penetration its all over. Trust me, I wasn't born yesterday.


falconboy

[77 91 92 94]

I'm not too worried about our guys, the loss of Matt will hurt but the heart of our d-line is Mike Thaler and Cooley and Williams both are solid d-lineman. Matt will be back for Northern but until then the corps will be a little less deep. Who is traveling in Leininger's spot? Anyone know? I doubt they would only travel 3 d-tackles.