I Feel Like The Front 7 Is The Key Part Of This Class

[rudebuddha]

Last frosh DT we had come in and make an impact was Vince Wilfork

Even Vince didn't start. He flashed when he was in.
It's tough for any freshman to make a huge impact on a premier college team. Always has been. You see it a lot more in the past decade because of the year round training high schoolers do now. They are just more college ready then they were in the past but freshmen making a big impact is more the exception then the rule.

A very wise coach once said that the number of freshmen you start are the number of losses you should expect. The game from high school to college is just so much different. Ask Brandon Harris and Tracy Howard if College ball is different.

 

[Madbugger]

IIRC, Big Vince didn't qualify coming out of high school. I think he sat out a year.

EDIT: He was almost 20 years old when he played, and 21 years old when he started.

 

[rudebuddha]

The front seven is important in every class, but I'm thinking that the important thing is developing our guys now.
We all want a **** kicker to develop and I believe we should all be realistic versus overly optimistic that a freshman or a JC player can
come in and be our next Cortez Kennedy.
Remember that the Tez was a fat backup and never really thought of until Jimmie Jones, who was a preseason All American, had to work in the Spring and Summer to support his family and lost his starting position.
I'm really excited about next year's front 7 because near the end of the year we had guys flashing that they finally got it.
The important thing is finding studs from what we currently have. We need Perryman and Kirby to pack on 10-15lbs. We need EJ to pull his head out of his ***. We need Jelani and McCord to make that jump to the next level after a year of trying to adjust to College O-linemen. We desperately need our 8 defensive tackles to flip a switch and become nasty.
Mostly we need our coaches to start teaching these guys some pass rush moves more then a bull rush.

 

[gacericardo]

OP is a wizard

 

[bigpurk45]

It's rare that any DT makes a presence from Day 1. Look at our star-studded past, most of the guys did not make an impact their first year. Look around the country now and in the recent past and show me how many guys made an impact. Statistically, it isn't common.

Clowney at S. Carolina was beasting his FR year....

 

[DeadPoets]

Last frosh DT we had come in and make an impact was Vince Wilfork

And he was next to 3 quality vets (not to diminish how good Vince was, just saying)

**** how good were we when Vince Wilfork, Gore, Winslow, Rolle, and ST were backups lulz @ our special teams in 2000-2002

 

[cowboycane]

It's rare that any DT makes a presence from Day 1. Look at our star-studded past, most of the guys did not make an impact their first year. Look around the country now and in the recent past and show me how many guys made an impact. Statistically, it isn't common.

Clowney at S. Carolina was beasting his FR year....

Clowney's best historical comparison is also Reggie White (aside from being a DE, not a DT). Not exactly the norm. Name 3 guys in the history of our program who were stud defensive linemen on par with Clowney as true freshmen.

 

[rudebuddha]

It's rare that any DT makes a presence from Day 1. Look at our star-studded past, most of the guys did not make an impact their first year. Look around the country now and in the recent past and show me how many guys made an impact. Statistically, it isn't common.

Clowney at S. Carolina was beasting his FR year....

Clowney's best historical comparison is also Reggie White (aside from being a DE, not a DT). Not exactly the norm. Name 3 guys in the history of our program who were stud defensive linemen on par with Clowney as true freshmen.

Name 3 DT's in any program who were studs meaning played at an all american level.
I've been watching college football since the 70's(yes I'm that old) and I can't think of any.