appreciate the info. hopefully dwumfour remains healthy and retains upward trajectory…they need him…and not just as a body to rotate in but a dude they can rely on to consistently do his job and make a few plays when possible.
not surprising you list solomon as “down”…hes a talented kid but still a true frosh who just arrived. he was highly rated and a huge signing for this staff but its not like he was on garys level (or lawrence at clemson, etc) so most should prob temper expectations…while he could and should eventually contribute this year, itll most likely be out of necessity due to depth chart so i wouldnt expect a ton. and even then it may be more of situational role.
heres to solomon and hudson and jeter and the rest taking to tolbert and crew and busting it this summer while soaking up as much as possible from hurst and the older cats…bc they need a ton of technique work in addition to adding functional strength and quickness…and this team needs a few of those dudes to grow up quick and be comfortable enough to rotate in without losing their heads
(this is where i wont mention losing guys like roseboro to nc st or not getting much of anything from marshall, johnson, jones, etc…good news is the less than stellar 2014 class and weak 2015 transition class likely wont be felt much beyond this year as large, talented 16 and 17 classes get up and running…they have the talent to make a nice bowl again this year but another handful of contributors from 14 and 15 certainly wouldnt hurt and would increase the margin error).
up or down, they obviously also need mone to contribute and remain healthy. any details re the “down” for mone? i realize theyre only doing offseason conditioning and whatnot so its easy enough to fluctuate at this point. and while mone has shown flashes in the past and been hyped for several seasons now, we havent seen him remain healthy or consistently impact long stretches of key games. i doubt mone will ever be the rock steady player glasgow proved to be, he just hasnt shown the consistent technique even when healthy…but if he can consistently play low and smart and do his job often enough (with a few splash plays here or there), thatd be huge. hell take incorrect steps, get trapped or play the wrong shoulder and the like more often than glasgow and other departing senior DL but mones still a massive, talented kid theyre likely really counting on.
turn on tape from last year and youll see multiple DL winning matchups and getting off blocks to impact plays on majority of snaps, and usually within the scheme. winovich or hurst, etc occasionally got a little lax with their responsibilities while trying to get after it but for the most part that D was rock solid. sure, they had a lot of future pros and a really sound secondary but they consistently made it happen up front, playing their keys and shutting down the run on the way to the passer.
i expect hurst, gary and winovich to do the same this year…can dwumfour, kemp, mone and a few others eventually get close to that point? i think kemp could be really good, especially in a reserve role at anchor, and all indications point to a dwumfour being a steady presence if hes healthy. they really did have close to 2 starting DLs last year with those 7-9 guys and while i wouldnt expect to see that again any time soon, theyre still talented and should be ok up front. hopefully they remain healthy as a group and mattison and brown can coach up a few guys to be serviceable bc that unit could be pretty darn good…and if so, it only helps a talented but inexperienced secondary.
cant wait to see how it all plays out though! competition will be fierce
