A Look at Next Year: Defensive Line

Continuing with a look at next year series, today I focus on the defensive line.  This unit has me a little worried, but before I talk about the concerns, let me focus on the strengths.

As we can see from the list below, the strength of the defensive line, for years to come, will be the defensive ends.  The Spartans are not graduating any defensive ends.  In fact, they are rather young at the position. 

44 Marcus Rush              DE       6-2          250         RS FR     

52 Denzel Drone             DE       6-2          262         SO          

93 Damon Knox             DE       6-4          274         FR           

55 Corey Freeman         DE       6-2          250         JR           

94 Taylor Calero            DE       6-3          245         RS FR     

91 Tyler Hoover             DE       6-7          290         JR           

92 Joel Heath                 DE       6-5          270         FR           

89 Shilique Calhoun       DE        6-4          220         FR           

2   William Gholston       DE         6-7          280         SO          

The Spartans will be bringing back their two emerging stars, Marcus Rush and William Gholston.  Barring injury, both of these guys should be even better next year.   The Spartans will also be bringing back some solid backups, including: Denzel Drone, Damon Knox, Corey Freeman, Taylor Calero, Tyler Hoover, Joel Heath, and Shilique Calhoun.  Joel Heath was the highest rated recruit (Scout gave him 4 stars), but all of these guys were well-regarded as recruits.  The Spartans also have a couple of other guys who could play defensive end: guys like 5-star recruit, Lawrence Thomas, and 2012 recruit Jamal Lyles.  It’s probably better to keep these guys at linebacker, but they could excel at defensive end if needed.

Now to defensive tackle.  This position actually has the potential to be the strongest position on the team next year . . . if Jerel Worthy comes back.  To me, Anthony Rashad White is a clone of Worthy, and I would love to see those two playing next to each other as seniors next year.  But if Worthy leaves, the Spartans will see a considerable decline at the interior of the defensive line and they will face some serious depth issues.    

81  James Kittredge               DL       6-4          270         SO          

69  Blake Pacheco                DL        6-1          264         SR           

87  Brandon Clemons            DL        6-3          262         FR           

99  Jerel Worthy                   DT        6-3          310         JR           

57  Johnathan Strayhorn        DT        6-0          272         SR           

56  Matt Ramondo                DT        6-5          328         FR           

65  Doug Curtis                     DT       6-2          250         JR           

97  Mark Scarpinato             DT       6-3          270         FR           

96  Kevin Pickelman             NT       6-4          288         SR           

58  Jordan Sanders               NT        6-1          288         RS FR     

98  Anthony Rashad White   NT        6-2          316         JR           

As we can see in the list above, the Spartans are already losing starter Kevin Pickelman and major contributor, Johnathan Strayhorn.  So if Worthy leaves, they will be losing their top 3 players at the interior of the defensive line.  As I mentioned, I think that White will step up and play well next year.  But apart from White, there isn’t anyone with much experience.  There is a lot of youth, which may help explain why so many of these guys are significantly underweight. 

The Spartans did recruit 3 defensive tackles in 2011 (Ramondo, Scarpinato, and Clemons) – perhaps that’s why they don’t appear to be going after any DTs in the 2012 recruiting class.  I get the sense that if the Spartans are going to have depth at DT, these are the guys they are going to have to rely on.  All of these guys were 3-star recruits and it’s not unheard of for redshirt freshmen to make big contributions (see Marcus Rush); but I hate to have to rely on chance here.  We don’t know if these guys will be able to add the proper weight and strength, and whether they’ll be able to handle the pressure. 

So the upshot is that the defensive line is all set at defensive end but uncertain at defensive tackle.  If Worthy comes back, the D-line will be strongest it’s been in a long, long time (since perhaps the days of Bubba Smith).  If not, then the Spartans will have to hope that several young guys emerge quickly.  I’d rather not have to rely on hope, so please, Jerel, come back for your senior year.