Defensive End 2012

Haven't seen it posted yet but Nigel Nicholas and Tyler Johnson are moving to DE. Our lineup at DE now looks like this:

Nigel Nicholas
Cooper Bassett
Ryan Robinson
Tyler Johnson
Jimmy Bean
The four incoming freshmen

DT:
Calvin Barnett
Christian Littlehead
Anthony Rodgers
James Castleman
Maurice Hayes
Davidell Collins

#depth

Link?

I have been curious about this as it seemed were were going to be very thin at this spot. I had not thought of T. Johnson at DE but he would be a great athlete at the spot.

but... but... wasn't moving Lavey to DE the thing to do? I keed, I keed...

I never understood the reasoning why some wanted Lavey to move to DE... moving T Johnson makes way more sense to me. Seems like DE is a place where speed and athleticism can overcome experience to a degree...

As far as moving Nicholas - holy smokes this gets my blood pumping on two fronts. Nigel is a potential beast there (loved his play at DT but relies on speed more than bulk and power) and this must mean that the coaching staff is happy with our depth at DT. Nice!

Sounds like a win-win to me. Is it football season yet?

Go Pokes!

Now isn't something? I had wondered why there wasn't more talk about TJ as a potential fit but trolls took that discussion over. Hafta admit though, the Tyler move surprises me somewhat.

I bet Nicholas will rotate downward in the right situation.

Sorta like Cooper Basset did last year? yeah I can see that as well...

Go Pokes!

Can definitely see that.

Also wonder if that means that Simmons and/or Tshimanga are thought to be good enough to provide quality depth at MLB? I'm really excited to see both of these guys at some point in the future...

Go Pokes!

Don't forget about Demarcus Sherod

That **HAS** to be part of the equation. I mean, doesn't it? (esp Simmons)

today robert allen said the dlinemen were looking really good. he went to commercial right after mentioning it and i didnt pick up on the rest. ryan robinson was supposedly freakishly athletic during his offseason times and lift max. if i remember right, his vertical was close to the best on the team. i expect big things.

Thanks for reminding me! Defensive depth - woot woot!

Joe Okafor at DT as well.

Tyler Johnson is 6-1, 240, isn't he too short for DE?

IMO, quality by far exceeds quantity. However, with quantity you do have more of a mathematical chance of developing a quality DE.

IMO, I think it's going to be extremely tough for us to ever recruit dominant defensive lineman to OSU until we start winning consistently (talking a decade and more) or until we start sending defensive linemen to the NFL.

Hopefully we'll have a couple of solid DE's for this upcoming year.

Tis the year to up the D...because most our betting the O production will be down? As for me I see were they are coming from but do think our run game could be improved??

He had Rob Glass on today and Rob was really saying good things about Ryan Robinson.

Excellent news. Missed that part of the interview.

I kind of thought that as well. A serviceable back up though, no doubt.

Eh, I think we'll start to see it more frequently now than ever before. And even if that means only one really good DT, then a lot of times that's all you need to make a difference.

Also, don't forget Calvin Barnett was a very highly heralded kid coming out of high school. He just had to go the Juco route first.

About the same size of one of my all time favorite OSU DE's

http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=8702&draftyear=2008&genpos=OLB