Color me impressed with the defensive line this spring.
After losing five key members of the rotation from last season, including two starters, it would be natural to assume that the D-Line might not be as good as last years group… at least not right away. Well, that inclination may just be wrong.
Is it possible that the line can be even better this year?Apparently people “in the know’ think that is a very real possibility.
Here are some reasons why it might happen.
Solomon Thomas, Melvin Fellows and Keith Wells are ready to contribute.
At least it looks that way.
Thomas made noise last spring by recording a ridiculous number of sacks in a jersey scrimmage (7 or something) and after the departure of so many players ahead of him, he will finally have the chance to get on the field.
Thomas appears to be a speed rusher extraordinaire, so we will most likely see him in passing situations, and based on the past two springs he should be a terror off of the edge.
Wells appears to have a nice mix of size and speed and he was in the backfield frequently during the spring game.
Both players have been in the program for several years now, and up to this point they have been victims of the depth chart. Now that things have cleared out a bit, their emergence as contributors could be exciting to watch.
Melvin Fellows is a promising youngster who took a redshirt last year to nurse an injury. Now that he is back, he is living up to his tremendous potential out of high school and is pushing Keith Wells to be a primary backup.
If these three players are able to contribute on the field as well as they have looked this spring, that is a huge step towards an improved defensive line in 2010.
John Simon is the most disruptive DT we have had in years.
You read that right. When people are throwing around “All-American” before the start of a player’s sophomore season, you know you have a good one.
The depth at DT is a concern (Heyward’s ability to move inside helps out a little bit), but Simon can be a terror in the middle, and Larimore is a rock if he stays healthy.
The key here is to stay healthy, and if that happens, look out.
Cameron Heyward
His goal this off season was to become more consistent, and if he is able to consistently dominate like he did against Penn State in ’09 then he might make the ’10 defensive line better than last year’s all by himself.
Nathan Williams
Williams is a force off of the edge and with Gibson’s early departure it is his time to shine.
Conclusion
Simon is a terror, there will be little to no drop off with Williams, Larimore is a grizzled veteran, Heyward is Heyward, and if the young guys on the edge step up, this years line will be better than ’09.
Fun to think about, right?
Outside of some depth concerns in the middle, the defensive line will be a major strength for the Bucks once again in 2010.
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