Another DT N. Pitt transfer
- Thread starter HBK4life_rivals100467
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True but we don't make it to Indy that year without him playing DT.
He made the crucial stop to beat Wisconsin in the comeback.
He was also a 5-Star....There are going to be exceptions. Glenn Dorsey played most if his college ball around 280lbs.
But exceptions aside, a 270lb RSfr probably isnt the answer for next season.
How is it better? Optimistically, Nwaneri(who has had his own challenges with the rigors major level ball) makes a huge jump. RVP comes back, but was very underwhelming. Who replaces McCullough? Juedy sucked, but who is gonna replace him? A redshirt freshman from Pitt? A JUCO?
And its not just replacing these guys, we needed to improve these positions. I just dont see it yet. I think we've added some depth and quality bodies, but I dont think we've improved anywhere.....at least not more than some subjective margin of error.
Won’t disagree with that. That said, he might be the answer for 2027 even if Rhule was gone. IMO you can’t entirely give up on recruiting kids for the future depth chart.
McCullough's position is going to be a situational position. What I see there is putting in or moving someone to that spot on obvious passing downs. So you don't have to necessarily replace him completely, Chambliss, Jones, Rogers, McGahee could all fill that void in specific packages. Ideally, you can generate a pass rush from the DE with Nwaneri, Pietrzak, Leonhardt and whoever else they put on the out at DE. I think Aurich will put players in positions to make plays and play to their strengths.
Hopefully Nebraska signs a true NT in the portal, that would be optimal. But I believe there are players at the DT position and the DE positions on this roster that can make the line better. Especially with a system that is designed to be less complicated than the previous DC's system.
Not to compare the 2, but when you watch the Texans play, that defense lines up the same way play after play. They know how teams are going to attack them, what plays the opponent will run against them and they practice against those plays all week. They play fast and and don't overthink their assignments. They rarely blitz, that has as much to do with Anderson and Hunter being awesome pass rushers no doubt, but the defense is simple design and just lets players play.
If he's only 6ft tall
That's the equivalent to being about 6-4 290 pounds.
Lmao..the line sucked..Anyone would be better.
It's was the worst dline in the history of the school.
Not to mention the Dline coach And dcoordinator sucked cause they never taught these kids to play with their hands. This never getting off blocks and gaping holes.
There were games they were only using their shoulders and chest on the Dline. It's crazy to watch
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This past season I did not expect the DL to be the 2024 DL. The 2025 group was pretty young. But I did expect more than they produced. Were the way to players were played different enough to explain that? I think a guy like Cam L is capable of better play, I saw it in 2023 and 2024. The Pietrzak kid was playing as a true freshman and I cannot believe Nwaneri has reached his potential unless he has a bum work ethic. Same with RVP.
If the way Butler was playing them required too much thinking, a change to a system that let's them play fast is needed. That seemed to be the approach White took.
You kinda said the quiet part out loud....your solution by and large relied on guys we already had on the team last year.
That is my point. We have added some quality bodies to the room as a whole, but have we really signed anyone that makes us significantly better ceiling wise? From the 97th ranked run defense or whatever we ended.
Yeah let me check the math on that...I think thats how it works. 5'5" 230lbs is the equivalent of 6'6" 400lbs....but i don't see many 5'5" DL....
You dont read so good.....My point is, who did we bring in that is going to be better than last years DL? At least half of them are going to be the same guys.
So I can like the new guys as long term additions to the room, but is a redshirt freshman or a JUCO, better than Juedy? If so how much, and does that equate to a solid BIG10 DL?
As I stated before our latest commitments, I didn’t expect us to land any difference maker DTs in the portal. Maybe the O linemen we have picked up as a whole will help. I would have rather gotten Seagren back to play RT.
Yes. I think a JUCO or redshirt freshman COULD be better than Jeudy. In any case we’re going to find out. Rhule stated last year that his preference was to sign portal guys who had at least 2 years to play so….
Jeudy was used more in the rotation last year because RVP took a redshirt. RVP might one day be ready to handle a starter's workload. Jeudy could not.
Well other schools wanted both those DTs we signed.
Like Clemson and Alabama
We are still in it for a 4 star DT that decommitted from Texas. Who is over 320 lbs.
I am not sure the players were the total problem, with the exception of playing a player at the NT position that shouldn't be. But again I am not sure that isn't a coaching issue and not a player issue. There were also lot of stunting on the DLine, mostly involving players that didn't have the necessary quickness to finish the stunt. They were then stuck in a gap where the LB or S was supposed to fill. At that point you have 2 and sometimes 3 players in the same run fit, leaving huge holes for RBs and QBs to run through.
In my opinion Butler and probably Bradden had too much NFL in them where they expected the player to be able to what they wanted, rather than adjust to the players strengths. This is what I meant when I used the Texans as an example of simple concepts allowing the defenders to just play fast. It isn't unheard of for teams to improve significantly year over year with the same or almost the same players, by simply running a better scheme or a scheme that fits the ability of the players. We have an example of that in our somewhat recent history when Pelini improved the defense in 2003 from Bohl in 2002.
Lots of people want them because they are good prospects....Not because they expect them to come in and start day.
IMO we stunted and twisted so much because our players weren't good enough to win at the point of attack straight up. We weren't going to win enough matchups 1v1, so we used a lot of movement to create confusion. It was a high risk, high reward strategy that was necessary because of how void of talent that unit was.
When Bo came back as HC, the D trended up substantially the next year and was super salty in 2009.
Agree, I was just trying to find a situation that was as close to the same as possible. In an effort to keep the apples and oranges police away. Same HC with a new DC
And for the we gotta get a big name (insert coaching psn here) crowd, Pelini's resume was quite thin for a DC gig at that time. And he came in and killed it.