Looking at our front 4, I think this year, despite not having McCalister, we should have enough versatility to take on any type of offense even if we have a minor injury. For example, we used Bullard at DE along with Cox and had Ivie and Brantley at DT. Ivie was injured at the worst possible time, the LSU game. We moved Bullard to DT and put McCalister at DE. Up until that point, McCalister was only a situational pass rusher (and was damn good at it, see Kentucky game) and was not used to going up against a power running team for 60 minutes at a thin 240 lbs. The coaches rotated in Taven Bryan as the 3rd DT but Khairi Clark was still a step behind and Cece was a true frosh.
This year, we will probably start 6-4, 251 lb Sherit at DE and he flashed some pass rushing skills at times last year. He is a little more stout against the run than McCalister but he's not Cox. If we need to be bigger against a run team, Cece can play the Bullard role and play DE against run teams on run downs and then flip inside as a pass rushing DT on 3rd and long. The question is, if Ivie or Brantley go down, do we have enough big bodies at DT to rotate in and not lose much stopping the run. If Ivie went down again, Taven Bryan will be better this year as a RS soph and full SEC year under his belt. Clark shoud also be better as he wasn't particularly effective last year. If Ivie went down, is a 3 DT rotation of Brantley-Bryan-Clark enough if you sprinkle in Cece at DT on passing downs? Are Ancrum and Andrew Ivie big enough and ready enough to add in quality depth at DT? If you use Cece at DT more because of an injury at DT, do we have some other bigger bodies at DE so that Sherit doesn't end up like McCalister and getting pushed around over 60 minutes at DE because of his size? Can Holley provide some DE depth in stopping the run since he is 260+? Where is Zuniga this fall and can he provide DE depth against running teams?
I think with Keivonnis Davis and Clayton, we'll have some pass rushing depth and these guys can be used situationally. My hope is that with Bryan and Clark and one more DT (Ancrum?), if we had an injury at DT, we could have enough depth there to keep Cece at DE against power running teams and not have our smaller, faster DE's getting pushed around on run downs very often but be able to unleash them on 3rd and 7.
Thoughts since we are creeping up on fall practice?
This year, we will probably start 6-4, 251 lb Sherit at DE and he flashed some pass rushing skills at times last year. He is a little more stout against the run than McCalister but he's not Cox. If we need to be bigger against a run team, Cece can play the Bullard role and play DE against run teams on run downs and then flip inside as a pass rushing DT on 3rd and long. The question is, if Ivie or Brantley go down, do we have enough big bodies at DT to rotate in and not lose much stopping the run. If Ivie went down again, Taven Bryan will be better this year as a RS soph and full SEC year under his belt. Clark shoud also be better as he wasn't particularly effective last year. If Ivie went down, is a 3 DT rotation of Brantley-Bryan-Clark enough if you sprinkle in Cece at DT on passing downs? Are Ancrum and Andrew Ivie big enough and ready enough to add in quality depth at DT? If you use Cece at DT more because of an injury at DT, do we have some other bigger bodies at DE so that Sherit doesn't end up like McCalister and getting pushed around over 60 minutes at DE because of his size? Can Holley provide some DE depth in stopping the run since he is 260+? Where is Zuniga this fall and can he provide DE depth against running teams?
I think with Keivonnis Davis and Clayton, we'll have some pass rushing depth and these guys can be used situationally. My hope is that with Bryan and Clark and one more DT (Ancrum?), if we had an injury at DT, we could have enough depth there to keep Cece at DE against power running teams and not have our smaller, faster DE's getting pushed around on run downs very often but be able to unleash them on 3rd and 7.
Thoughts since we are creeping up on fall practice?
