Our DT recruiting really hasn't been too bad. Our numbers and over all effectiveness this year were really hampered by the incredible run of injuries in the spring. But we have generally taken two HS DTs per class and that isn't too bad. I think there has been some confusion as to what type of DTs we need and what is the best strength and nutrition program to have to develope these players, but I am hopeful that will get strengthened out this summer. What we really need is one guy to seperate from the pack and take over the position. One of the guys already mentioned steps up and becomes a big time player, all of a sudden, the depth looks pretty good. But when you have a bunch of guys that have earned playing time but no one seems to step forward beyond that, it can look pretty bleak even though you have a number of useful players. That is why one JUCO DT might have made such a huge difference.
Meanwhile our DE recruiting has been absolutely dreadful. We missed big time with 3 DEs in our 2010 class. That was an absolute major fail. And then came the classic "well we took a bunch of guys last year so we can take this year off" position which is really dangerous for a staff to take. We failed to land a single HS DE in the 2011 class. Now keep in mind the reason we took 3 guys in 2010 is because we were WAY off in our numbers at DE going into that class. So you have a major need where you whiff completely in 2010 and follow that with a no show in 2011. That is a formula for disaster. Only Jason Ankrah from 2009 remains along with a promising pair of players in our 2012 class. Compounding all this is the fact that we have some confusion as to what type of player to recruit at DE. Again, I think the staff is trying to make an adjustment in this class by going after more explosive playmakers rather than bigger "containment" type guys. Think about this, how many of our DE recruits (including decommits) have verballed to us and the question is asked "is he going to get too big for DE and end up moving inside to DT?" I can think of several DEs we have recruited where that has been a question. This always leads to the question of rather or not we are recruiting "tweeners"--guys too big for DE but too small for DT? The same question could be asked about our safety recruiting as we seem to have a number of guys that fit the "Peso" position but maybe are not true safeties or CBs. But that is for another thread.
I am thrilled that we have landed JUCO DE Randy Gregory to this class. I wish we had landed a JUCO DT but it is not impossible to believe that the answer to DT is already on our roster somewhere. Perhaps Valentine is the guy who steps up and is the big clogger in the middle and other DT position sort of takes care of itself. Meanwhile, we really needed a playmaker at the DE position and if Gregory is THAT guy, then perhpas Ankrah can settle into his role on the other side of the line along with McMullen and Moss. The over all numbers are still low at DE (we have one HS DE in this class and we need to add one more) and they really aren't that bad at DT (we need to add a couple of HS DTs to keep the numbers steady) but we need for someone to take that step up and elevate their game at that position. Should be an interesting spring in that regard.
