Let's do a little review and I won't just talk about the "D-Line" as the discussion should include the front 7. The 4 position groups I will talk about will be OLB's (Jack & Sam), ILB's (Mike & Will), 3&4 Techs (DE & DT) and Nose.
Going into 2015 our depth chart consisted of:
2015
Jack
Sr Jabari Johnson, Jr Jason Hatcher RSFr Ware, (TFr Ke Daniel) [Juco Alvonte Bell sitting out]
Sam
Jr Jason Hatcher, (TFr Allen), [Tr De’Niro Laster & RSFR Kobie Walker sitting out]
Mike
Sr Josh Forrest, RSFr Firios, [Tr Courtney Love sitting out]
Will
Sr Ryan Flannigan, Sr Khalid Henderson, (TFr Jones, Brown)
DE
Sr Huguenin, Juco C Miggins, RSFr Middleton
DT
Sr Cory CJ Johnson, So Middleton, So Dubose
NG
Sr Melvin Lewis, Jr Elam, Jr Hyde
OLB
Jason Hatcher was a great talent but couldn't stay away from the left-handed cigarettes and as a result he had to miss the first two games. We basically played most snaps that year in the nickel as all we had besides Hatcher was limited agility Johnson, RSFr Ware & TFr Allen (neither of which knew which end was up). Jabari was decent on run downs but his limitations forced us to play nickel most of the time which did not help much in stopping the run. TFr Ke Daniel wasted a year in an ill-fated attempt to help on the edge as a sub for Jabari so we could run the preferred base defense enabling them to keep Hatcher at Sam but that did little to stem the tide and was futile in hindsight.
ILB
Much like Hatcher was our only real OLB, Josh Forrest was our only real ILB. Flannigan and Henderson tried but basically the coaches would run one of them out there until they absolutely couldn't take it any longer and then they'd run the other one out there until they couldn't stand that any longer - rinse and repeat. Jones got his feet wet on special teams (wouldn't it be nice if he was now going into his RSSo year in 2017?) and didn't know enough to help from scrimmage as he was way too raw and undisciplined.
3/4 Tech
Only 3 guys played the two spots - for the year. CJ Johnson, Huguenin and Miggins rotated in these two positions and gave it all they had but far too many times they just ran out of gas by the 4th quarter. Middleton and Dubose just weren't ready to see the field.
Nose
Elam had his moments (especially in the SC game) but they came few and far between due to lack of technique and conditioning. Senior Melvin Lewis put in yeoman's work but big guys like him just can't play every snap, especially when the opposition is controlling the ball and our offense is doing very little.
To sum up 2015, these front 7 positions were basically manned by 9-10 guys for the entire season. This is the biggest reason the team began 4-2 and then limped to the finish line 1-5 in the second half of the season. There's probably little reason this team should have won 5 games given the personnel.
2016
Jack
So Ware, Jr Laster, (TFr Bannerman)
Sam
So Allen, So Kobie Walker, Juco Bonner (TFr Watson)
Mike
Jr Love, So Firios (TFr Ka Daniel)
Will
So Jones, RSFr Brown, (TFr Walder)
DE
Sr Miggins, Jr Bell, So Ke Daniel (TFr Carter)
DT
So Middleton, So Dubose, RSFr Taylor (TFr Looney)
NG
Jr Elam, Jr Pringle, Jr Hyde, (TFr Cross)
OLB
Jr Laster capably filled the role of Jabari the year before and was a bit more athletic in doing so but the majority of the snaps eventually fell to RS Soph Ware as the season wore on and he showed flashes of things to come but his inexperience showed at times as well. Hatcher was dismissed before the season began so it fell to Kobie Walker starting (who had sat out the previous season) and True Soph Allen who, like Ware, showed up on plays here and there. Like Jones the year before, Bonner played on special teams but had few snaps from scrimmage.
ILB
Much like the year before when Josh Forrest was our only real ILB, we had Courtney Love but without the speed. Kash Daniel saw time on special teams but saw few snaps from scrimmage. Jones had on the job training (and it showed many times) but his talent was undeniable so the coaches tolerated the mistakes and lack of discipline. Brown played some as well and looked good at times but the lion's share of snaps went to Love and Jones.
3/4 Tech
Nearly like the year prior, basically 4 guys played the two spots - for the year. Middleton showed promise and Miggins was steady. Carter showed as a Frosh he could play and Bell came on as the season progressed. Dubose was injured quite a bit.
Nose
Elam was nothing to write home about and Juco Pringle took a while to get his sea legs but came on the last half of the season.
To sum up 2016, these front 7 positions were basically manned by only 10-11 guys but the kicker was 4 of the 7 starters were just Sophomores and 2 more were Juniors. This youth (along with an inconsistent offense early on) was a big reason the team was ineffective in stopping the run, especially the first half of the year but improved as the season wore on and the running game became more established. The fact they had a bit more depth and the offense came around, controlling the ball with the running game, allowed them to probably overachieve and finish with 7 wins but stopping the run was always a concern.
2017
Jack
Jr Ware, RSFr Watson, RSFr Bannerman, (TFR Paschal, Wright, King)
Sam
Jr Allen, RSFR Watson, Jr Bonner, (TFR King)
Mike
Sr Love, So Ka Daniel
Will
Jr Jones, So Brown, (TFR Davis)
DE
So Carter, Jr Ke Daniel, So Taylor, (TFr Abadi-Fitzgerald, Whittaker, Paschal)
DT
Jr Middleton, RSFr Looney, Juco Hoskins, RSFr Cross
NG
Sr Pringle, Sr, Elam, Jr Dubose, Sr Hyde, (TFr Bohanna)
OLB
Juniors Ware and Allen return as arguably the top pair of OLB's and sack leaders in the conference. Both improved mightily during 2016 and all those snaps and experience should bode well for the defense going into 2017. Bonner returns and Boogie Watson showed well in the spring. No one knows if any of the Frosh can contribute but there's a lot of incoming talent.
ILB
Unlike the previous two years we actually have two legit guys at each of the two inside spots. Jones is the leading returning tackler in the SEC and Love is steady. Kash and Brown are more than capable backups and True Frosh Davis flashed his stuff in the spring but hopefully he can red shirt.
3/4 Tech
Many bemoan the ability of the 2017 D-line as there are only two guys returning at these two spots having seen a decent amount of snaps. The fact remains that there are more talented guys available than in previous years and Looney looked to be a player that could blossom in the spring. Ke Daniel also showed he could be a force as a pass rusher in the nickel package. If nothing else, the staff will have many more options and can have a larger rotation than previously seen with maybe as many as 6 or 7 players in the mix.
Nose
Pringle and Elam return and this is not a bad thing. Both are Seniors with size and a ton of experience. Dubose is an unknown and Hyde showed he could help in the short yardage package. The wildcard here is Bohanna.
Going into 2017 there should be at least 15-16 kids that see time for these 7 positions and that is excellent progress. Many talented players return with some that could garner All-SEC mention. More talent, more experience and more depth should lead to higher expectations than has been shown this group by the fan base.
Going into 2015 our depth chart consisted of:
2015
Jack
Sr Jabari Johnson, Jr Jason Hatcher RSFr Ware, (TFr Ke Daniel) [Juco Alvonte Bell sitting out]
Sam
Jr Jason Hatcher, (TFr Allen), [Tr De’Niro Laster & RSFR Kobie Walker sitting out]
Mike
Sr Josh Forrest, RSFr Firios, [Tr Courtney Love sitting out]
Will
Sr Ryan Flannigan, Sr Khalid Henderson, (TFr Jones, Brown)
DE
Sr Huguenin, Juco C Miggins, RSFr Middleton
DT
Sr Cory CJ Johnson, So Middleton, So Dubose
NG
Sr Melvin Lewis, Jr Elam, Jr Hyde
OLB
Jason Hatcher was a great talent but couldn't stay away from the left-handed cigarettes and as a result he had to miss the first two games. We basically played most snaps that year in the nickel as all we had besides Hatcher was limited agility Johnson, RSFr Ware & TFr Allen (neither of which knew which end was up). Jabari was decent on run downs but his limitations forced us to play nickel most of the time which did not help much in stopping the run. TFr Ke Daniel wasted a year in an ill-fated attempt to help on the edge as a sub for Jabari so we could run the preferred base defense enabling them to keep Hatcher at Sam but that did little to stem the tide and was futile in hindsight.
ILB
Much like Hatcher was our only real OLB, Josh Forrest was our only real ILB. Flannigan and Henderson tried but basically the coaches would run one of them out there until they absolutely couldn't take it any longer and then they'd run the other one out there until they couldn't stand that any longer - rinse and repeat. Jones got his feet wet on special teams (wouldn't it be nice if he was now going into his RSSo year in 2017?) and didn't know enough to help from scrimmage as he was way too raw and undisciplined.
3/4 Tech
Only 3 guys played the two spots - for the year. CJ Johnson, Huguenin and Miggins rotated in these two positions and gave it all they had but far too many times they just ran out of gas by the 4th quarter. Middleton and Dubose just weren't ready to see the field.
Nose
Elam had his moments (especially in the SC game) but they came few and far between due to lack of technique and conditioning. Senior Melvin Lewis put in yeoman's work but big guys like him just can't play every snap, especially when the opposition is controlling the ball and our offense is doing very little.
To sum up 2015, these front 7 positions were basically manned by 9-10 guys for the entire season. This is the biggest reason the team began 4-2 and then limped to the finish line 1-5 in the second half of the season. There's probably little reason this team should have won 5 games given the personnel.
2016
Jack
So Ware, Jr Laster, (TFr Bannerman)
Sam
So Allen, So Kobie Walker, Juco Bonner (TFr Watson)
Mike
Jr Love, So Firios (TFr Ka Daniel)
Will
So Jones, RSFr Brown, (TFr Walder)
DE
Sr Miggins, Jr Bell, So Ke Daniel (TFr Carter)
DT
So Middleton, So Dubose, RSFr Taylor (TFr Looney)
NG
Jr Elam, Jr Pringle, Jr Hyde, (TFr Cross)
OLB
Jr Laster capably filled the role of Jabari the year before and was a bit more athletic in doing so but the majority of the snaps eventually fell to RS Soph Ware as the season wore on and he showed flashes of things to come but his inexperience showed at times as well. Hatcher was dismissed before the season began so it fell to Kobie Walker starting (who had sat out the previous season) and True Soph Allen who, like Ware, showed up on plays here and there. Like Jones the year before, Bonner played on special teams but had few snaps from scrimmage.
ILB
Much like the year before when Josh Forrest was our only real ILB, we had Courtney Love but without the speed. Kash Daniel saw time on special teams but saw few snaps from scrimmage. Jones had on the job training (and it showed many times) but his talent was undeniable so the coaches tolerated the mistakes and lack of discipline. Brown played some as well and looked good at times but the lion's share of snaps went to Love and Jones.
3/4 Tech
Nearly like the year prior, basically 4 guys played the two spots - for the year. Middleton showed promise and Miggins was steady. Carter showed as a Frosh he could play and Bell came on as the season progressed. Dubose was injured quite a bit.
Nose
Elam was nothing to write home about and Juco Pringle took a while to get his sea legs but came on the last half of the season.
To sum up 2016, these front 7 positions were basically manned by only 10-11 guys but the kicker was 4 of the 7 starters were just Sophomores and 2 more were Juniors. This youth (along with an inconsistent offense early on) was a big reason the team was ineffective in stopping the run, especially the first half of the year but improved as the season wore on and the running game became more established. The fact they had a bit more depth and the offense came around, controlling the ball with the running game, allowed them to probably overachieve and finish with 7 wins but stopping the run was always a concern.
2017
Jack
Jr Ware, RSFr Watson, RSFr Bannerman, (TFR Paschal, Wright, King)
Sam
Jr Allen, RSFR Watson, Jr Bonner, (TFR King)
Mike
Sr Love, So Ka Daniel
Will
Jr Jones, So Brown, (TFR Davis)
DE
So Carter, Jr Ke Daniel, So Taylor, (TFr Abadi-Fitzgerald, Whittaker, Paschal)
DT
Jr Middleton, RSFr Looney, Juco Hoskins, RSFr Cross
NG
Sr Pringle, Sr, Elam, Jr Dubose, Sr Hyde, (TFr Bohanna)
OLB
Juniors Ware and Allen return as arguably the top pair of OLB's and sack leaders in the conference. Both improved mightily during 2016 and all those snaps and experience should bode well for the defense going into 2017. Bonner returns and Boogie Watson showed well in the spring. No one knows if any of the Frosh can contribute but there's a lot of incoming talent.
ILB
Unlike the previous two years we actually have two legit guys at each of the two inside spots. Jones is the leading returning tackler in the SEC and Love is steady. Kash and Brown are more than capable backups and True Frosh Davis flashed his stuff in the spring but hopefully he can red shirt.
3/4 Tech
Many bemoan the ability of the 2017 D-line as there are only two guys returning at these two spots having seen a decent amount of snaps. The fact remains that there are more talented guys available than in previous years and Looney looked to be a player that could blossom in the spring. Ke Daniel also showed he could be a force as a pass rusher in the nickel package. If nothing else, the staff will have many more options and can have a larger rotation than previously seen with maybe as many as 6 or 7 players in the mix.
Nose
Pringle and Elam return and this is not a bad thing. Both are Seniors with size and a ton of experience. Dubose is an unknown and Hyde showed he could help in the short yardage package. The wildcard here is Bohanna.
Going into 2017 there should be at least 15-16 kids that see time for these 7 positions and that is excellent progress. Many talented players return with some that could garner All-SEC mention. More talent, more experience and more depth should lead to higher expectations than has been shown this group by the fan base.
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