• The KillerFrogs

How Good Can we Be on the DL?

F

FrogLifeYo

Active Member
Let’s talk some football...

On paper, this years defensive line group might be the best we’ve ever had across each position....

Who do you think wins the the starting job opposite Banogu?

Collier, Epley, or Bowen?

If Collier wins we are likely a monster against the run as he’s thick and powerful. Is he ready to be the starter? He’s been contributing for a long time..Can he break out and be dominant? I think he has it in him.

Epley is a solid guy but probably not that explosive. Will provide another year of needed depth. He gave us some solid snaps last year. He could surprise us.

Would love to see Bowen shake off the injury bug and become the beast we all hoped for. Imagine 3 straight years of Bowen, Blacklock, and Bethley ...All Sophs!!!

I really intrigued to see if George Ellis III or Terrell Cooper an break into the DT rotation..They both appears to have good the size for a RS FR..

Any young sleepers on the roster?
 
TCURiggs

TCURiggs

Active Member
FrogLifeYo said:
Let’s talk some football...

On paper, this years defensive line group might be the best we’ve ever had across each position....

Who do you think wins the the starting job opposite Banogu?

Collier, Epley, or Bowen?

If Collier wins we are likely a monster against the run as he’s thick and powerful. Is he ready to be the starter? He’s been contributing for a long time..Can he break out and be dominant? I think he has it in him.

Epley is a solid guy but probably not that explosive. Will provide another year of needed depth. He gave us some solid snaps last year. He could surprise us.

Would love to see Bowen shake off the injury bug and become the beast we all hoped for. Imagine 3 straight years of Bowen, Blacklock, and Bethley ...All Sophs!!!

I really intrigued to see if George Ellis III or Terrell Cooper an break into the DT rotation..They both appears to have good the size for a RS FR..

Any young sleepers on the roster?
Click to expand...

I think they are going to be the best DL we've ever seen, and I think Collier is going to be a big reason for that. He seemed to really turn it up towards the end of the year, capped off in the bowl game, and I think he's going to have a huge year. Really excited about this defensive front. This defense could be scary-good.
 
F

FrogLifeYo

Active Member
We have depth for sure. If we can find a 4th DT then we should be 2 deep and salty at all 4 spots.

Anyone expecting a RS Frogs to break through?
 
Eight

Eight

Member
froglifeyo,

go back and watch the bowl game as an answer to your question if lj collier can be dominant at the de position.

lj played well, especially in the second half against a good offensive tackle and i expect the same from him opposite ben as they both push for draft position

i agree with those that believe we are not getting 3 more years out of blacklock and that actually might be a very good thing in regards to recruiting at the position. i can't think of a tcu d-tackle that has gone very high if at all in the draft in quite some time let alone make an impact in nfl.i think big ross changes that as he has the natural size and raw ability that gives him the chance to be a truly dominant interior d-lineman. kids notice those things, look at the comments from o-line prospects and big ross taking the next step and becoming more consistent i think means he is gone in 2 years, but also catches the eyes of some quality recruits. i will trade an extra year of ross for a couple of d-tackles in the 2020 class.

bethley is right there as moose points out and corey and ross could be the best pair of d-tackles in a patterson defense. they just need to bring it at the same level some of the guys before them have played in the frog defensive fronts.

depth at d-tackle could be very good as you have joe b as a senior to rotate in, george ellis 3, cooper is listed at 285+, and tu' ua is back. think fitch will get solid production out of at least 2 of those 4.

if bowen can stay healthy and makes the next step he can be a great back-up behind ben to rotate at de. brandon is a great athlete, but a bunch of people can be described that way at this level. i also wouldn't overlook dennis collins to provide some depth at de.
 
jake102

jake102

Active Member
DL should be the best in the Patterson era. Will be interesting to see how they stack up to Clemson (four 1st rounders), Alabama (the usual) and Ohio State's DL.

Incredibly excited about Blacklock and Bethley. And heard that Ellis looks really good also. And that's not to mention that Broadnax is solid as a rock also.

DE is a bit sketchier, Banogu is obviously a potential 1st round guy and hearing Collier is looking more like a 1st round guy also. Bowen looked good in the spring game and Epley should provide depth.
 
Eight

Eight

Member
jake102 said:
Will need LB opposite Summers to step up big time. Evans should be able to adequately fill the role, but would love Wilson or Wallow to step up big time.
Click to expand...

it will be interesting to see if juwuan johnson fills the spot opposite summers.

wilson has struggled to stay healthy, evans has been plagued at times with what looks like mental lapses, and wallow is making a big jump from high school safety to linebacker. some might knock johnson's success at niu, but he seemed to have a knack for being in the right spot and that is not a bad thing for a linebacker to have in a gary patterson defense
 
W

Wexahu

Full Member
jake102 said:
DL should be the best in the Patterson era. Will be interesting to see how they stack up to Clemson (four 1st rounders), Alabama (the usual) and Ohio State's DL.

Incredibly excited about Blacklock and Bethley. And heard that Ellis looks really good also. And that's not to mention that Broadnax is solid as a rock also.

DE is a bit sketchier, Banogu is obviously a potential 1st round guy and hearing Collier is looking more like a 1st round guy also. Bowen looked good in the spring game and Epley should provide depth.
Click to expand...

I like Collier's game but this is getting a bit carried away. There are only 32 1st rounders in the entire country. If he's drafted at all he'll have had a very solid season for us.
 
M

MTfrog5

Active Member
Eight said:
it will be interesting to see if juwuan johnson fills the spot opposite summers.

wilson has struggled to stay healthy, evans has been plagued at times with what looks like mental lapses, and wallow is making a big jump from high school safety to linebacker. some might knock johnson's success at niu, but he seemed to have a knack for being in the right spot and that is not a bad thing for a linebacker to have in a gary patterson defense
Click to expand...
I agree about Johnson. I think he will be fun to watch. Reminds me of Dawson the way he’s always around the ball
 
W

Wexahu

Full Member
Eight said:
it will be interesting to see if juwuan johnson fills the spot opposite summers.

wilson has struggled to stay healthy, evans has been plagued at times with what looks like mental lapses, and wallow is making a big jump from high school safety to linebacker. some might knock johnson's success at niu, but he seemed to have a knack for being in the right spot and that is not a bad thing for a linebacker to have in a gary patterson defense
Click to expand...

Evans to me looks like a guy who bulked up so much that it's affected his athleticism. Maybe that's just the injuries, I don't know, but he's looked kind of stiff out there.
 
jake102

jake102

Active Member
Eight said:
it will be interesting to see if juwuan johnson fills the spot opposite summers.

wilson has struggled to stay healthy, evans has been plagued at times with what looks like mental lapses, and wallow is making a big jump from high school safety to linebacker. some might knock johnson's success at niu, but he seemed to have a knack for being in the right spot and that is not a bad thing for a linebacker to have in a gary patterson defense
Click to expand...

Totally forgot about Johnson. That would be another great option.
 
jake102

jake102

Active Member
Wexahu said:
I like Collier's game but this is getting a bit carried away. There are only 32 1st rounders in the entire country. If he's drafted at all he'll have had a very solid season for us.
Click to expand...

6'4", 276. Doesn't seem impossible (although I agree, unlikely).
 
Eight

Eight

Member
Wexahu said:
Evans to me looks like a guy who bulked up so much that it's affected his athleticism. Maybe that's just the injuries, I don't know, but he's looked kind of stiff out there.
Click to expand...

very possible as some guys just don't make the transition and it is always possible there is/was an injury we did not know about that impacted play.

denzel johnson is a guy who was all over the place as a junior and then as a senior really struggled it seemed to have the same impact his senior season. he did switch safety positions trying to replace kindred so that could have been a factor, but it always looked to me like something just wasn't right his senior year.

evans at times last year seemed to lose track of receivers coming across the formation or out of the backfield. i could be completely wrong and i can't imagine having to process everything going just before and after the snap.
 
Eight

Eight

Member
jake102 said:
Totally forgot about Johnson. That would be another great option.
Click to expand...

he has yet to play so at this time he does go into the unknown category along with evans, wilson, and wallow.

one thing he does have is game reps, but in a different system while each of the other three have at least 1 year in the patterson defense.
 

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