Our D-Line is playing so well that I thought they deserved their own thread. A few thoughts....

The starters: In my opinion, this is the best starting four I've seen since I started following JMU football 25 years ago. I honestly think we've got 4 first team All-CAA quality players on the line. Nobody has been able to run effectively on us, and the QB pressures and sacks have been increasing each game. Teams just don't know how to deal with these guys. I won't be surprised if all four of these guys end up in NFL camps with a couple of them making it onto the 53 man roster.

The backups: Groulx and Thurston are playing well enough when they give Mike Green and Adeeb Atariwa a breather. Jalen Green looks to be a stud in the making, and I expect him to be an all-CAA player down the line. His game reminds me very much of Rondell Carter's game. Beyond those three we've only seen two games each from Maginley and Colclough with minimal impact. Depth is a concern, which isn't unusual in the FCS.

The Stats: All 4 starters have similar stats....all between 21-25 tackles. All have between 1-3 sacks. Carter leads the way with 6 QB hurries, but they all seem to get to the QB regularly in passing situations. Carter is probably the best statistically, but it's not by much.

The MVP of the D-Line?: If I had to rank the starting 4, I'd go 1) Green, 2) Atariwa, 3) Carter, 4) Daka. I'm sure if I asked 10 guys I'd get 10 different answers. The reason I think Green and Atariwa are the top 2 is because at the FCS level, most teams just don't have 1, let alone 2, high quality interior D-linemen.

Can anyone remember a better starting four D-Line for the Dukes? 2016 was really great too with Ankrah, Stone, Robinson, and Carter, but I don't think they played at quite this level.

I'd agree that our top 4 are insane and are the only reason we aren't getting torched by everyone. Our d-line is keeping the QB on the move and limits the time they have to sit back and pass while also stuffing everyone. We def would have lost on Saturday and probably at Chatty without their outstanding play.

I think Carter has been the most consistent standout for me this season. He's just so disruptive. Looking at the stats though, Daka seems to be the better of the DEs: 7.5 TFL for 35 yards and 3.5 sacks for 28 yards and a FF (even though he had an uneventful WVU game). Carter does have more hurries and isn't far behind on TFL and sacks, but is lagging way behind in yards for those.

Also, not on the DL, but while looking at stats, Holloway has 50 TOT...next closest is Smith with 26 and Greene/Amos with 25.

So, with our offensive power, you have to figure our opponents are going to be behind a lot, so they're going to be throwing a lot. Which SB sure did, to great effect.

So how do you leverage the line's talents better? Should we just rush 3 once it's definitely a pass, and drop into a 3-deep or tampa-2 zone? Rushing 3 gives the QB more time, but they usually had enough time last week anyway. Do we blitz more? Do we try some kind of zone-blitz where a DL covers the flat and a safety blitzes, to confuse the other team's offense?

Whatever we do, that just wasn't enough defense against a merely "good" team. If we're gonna be a top-2 FCS team, we're going to have to figure out a way to keep that kind of offense bottled up.

We need to start getting some of the backups more PT before garbage time. Just asking for trouble playing the starting front four all game. More plays, more fatigue, more chance for injury to occur. I think Groulx "may" have had a series he subbed in for during a first half, but if so, it has been only once.

Hope two of Groulx, Green, Thurston, Carlo Jones, Colclough can start shining in practice to give the coaches confidence to give them meaningful playing time. One of the hallmarks of NDSU defenses is their deep D-line depth. They keep them fresh and are unafraid to play freshmen to facilitate this.

(10-07-2019 01:06 PM)chicagoduke Wrote:  Our D-Line is playing so well that I thought they deserved their own thread. A few thoughts....

The starters: In my opinion, this is the best starting four I've seen since I started following JMU football 25 years ago. I honestly think we've got 4 first team All-CAA quality players on the line. Nobody has been able to run effectively on us, and the QB pressures and sacks have been increasing each game. Teams just don't know how to deal with these guys. I won't be surprised if all four of these guys end up in NFL camps with a couple of them making it onto the 53 man roster.

The backups: Groulx and Thurston are playing well enough when they give Mike Green and Adeeb Atariwa a breather. Jalen Green looks to be a stud in the making, and I expect him to be an all-CAA player down the line. His game reminds me very much of Rondell Carter's game. Beyond those three we've only seen two games each from Maginley and Colclough with minimal impact. Depth is a concern, which isn't unusual in the FCS.

The Stats: All 4 starters have similar stats....all between 21-25 tackles. All have between 1-3 sacks. Carter leads the way with 6 QB hurries, but they all seem to get to the QB regularly in passing situations. Carter is probably the best statistically, but it's not by much.

The MVP of the D-Line?: If I had to rank the starting 4, I'd go 1) Green, 2) Atariwa, 3) Carter, 4) Daka. I'm sure if I asked 10 guys I'd get 10 different answers. The reason I think Green and Atariwa are the top 2 is because at the FCS level, most teams just don't have 1, let alone 2, high quality interior D-linemen.

Can anyone remember a better starting four D-Line for the Dukes? 2016 was really great too with Ankrah, Stone, Robinson, and Carter, but I don't think they played at quite this level.

Man I love this team and especially this D-Line. I often find myself hoping the Offense will just score quickly so we can get back to watching them FEAST on QBs and RBs.

I'm going to update my MVP of the O-Line ranking: 1) Green 2) Carter 3) Daka 4) Atariwa. I think Green and Carter are having all-american type seasons. Green has just been so dominant, shutting down the middle of the line and providing tons of push into the backfield. This allows Carter and Green reap the benefits. I rank Carter a little bit above Daka because he seems more involved in stopping the run. He pretty much never misses a tackle. He might be a step slower than Daka, but he's several notches stronger. Atariwa is still playing at a very high level, but i think the other guys have all elevated their games above his. He's still all-CAA first team (although I bet they put him on 2nd or 3rd team).

Jalen Green and Groulx are providing a little depth, but we definitely need them to get more snaps. We need our front 4 to be FRESH come playoff time.

No doubt, the unit is elite. I also favor Mike Greene over the others. He is fun to watch while often getting double teamed on the interior and still winning the LOS. He has NFL Skills and can probably get there if he can increase his size next year by another 10lbs. There aren’t many guys with tree trunk legs like his that still have excellent quickness off the ball.

I feel like someone said he was leading the team in offseason squats and dead lifts. I Could be wrong there

I also truly enjoy watching this unit work. Some teams have a standout here or there on their defense but to have the whole unit do what they do is extremely impressive. Teams can’t run on them one bit and if you try to pass they’re going to have you running for your life.

(10-29-2019 03:44 PM)chicagoduke Wrote:  

(10-07-2019 01:06 PM)chicagoduke Wrote:  Our D-Line is playing so well that I thought they deserved their own thread. A few thoughts....

The starters: In my opinion, this is the best starting four I've seen since I started following JMU football 25 years ago. I honestly think we've got 4 first team All-CAA quality players on the line. Nobody has been able to run effectively on us, and the QB pressures and sacks have been increasing each game. Teams just don't know how to deal with these guys. I won't be surprised if all four of these guys end up in NFL camps with a couple of them making it onto the 53 man roster.

The backups: Groulx and Thurston are playing well enough when they give Mike Green and Adeeb Atariwa a breather. Jalen Green looks to be a stud in the making, and I expect him to be an all-CAA player down the line. His game reminds me very much of Rondell Carter's game. Beyond those three we've only seen two games each from Maginley and Colclough with minimal impact. Depth is a concern, which isn't unusual in the FCS.

The Stats: All 4 starters have similar stats....all between 21-25 tackles. All have between 1-3 sacks. Carter leads the way with 6 QB hurries, but they all seem to get to the QB regularly in passing situations. Carter is probably the best statistically, but it's not by much.

The MVP of the D-Line?: If I had to rank the starting 4, I'd go 1) Green, 2) Atariwa, 3) Carter, 4) Daka. I'm sure if I asked 10 guys I'd get 10 different answers. The reason I think Green and Atariwa are the top 2 is because at the FCS level, most teams just don't have 1, let alone 2, high quality interior D-linemen.

Can anyone remember a better starting four D-Line for the Dukes? 2016 was really great too with Ankrah, Stone, Robinson, and Carter, but I don't think they played at quite this level.

Man I love this team and especially this D-Line. I often find myself hoping the Offense will just score quickly so we can get back to watching them FEAST on QBs and RBs.

I'm going to update my MVP of the O-Line ranking: 1) Green 2) Carter 3) Daka 4) Atariwa. I think Green and Carter are having all-american type seasons. Green has just been so dominant, shutting down the middle of the line and providing tons of push into the backfield. This allows Carter and Green reap the benefits. I rank Carter a little bit above Daka because he seems more involved in stopping the run. He pretty much never misses a tackle. He might be a step slower than Daka, but he's several notches stronger. Atariwa is still playing at a very high level, but i think the other guys have all elevated their games above his. He's still all-CAA first team (although I bet they put him on 2nd or 3rd team).

Jalen Green and Groulx are providing a little depth, but we definitely need them to get more snaps. We need our front 4 to be FRESH come playoff time.

The 2017 DL, which has been touted as the best DL in school history, had Ankrah & Robinson & 1st team, D Carter 3rd team, and Urquhart, who probably should have gotten 3rd team. R Carter was the 1st off the bench, player both DT & DE.

The only other time had 2 1st teamers might have been 2009, with Moats at DE & Sam Daniels at DT. Not sure if there was another year that had 2 make 1st team.

There’s 4 DL named on All CAA 1st team, at least there was last year. 3 of them returned- the RU kid, Maurice Jackson, the CAA pre season defensive POTY, Whitaker from Maine, and Carter. Kamara from SBU was the 4th pre season All CAA DL. He’s missed at least 2 CAA games- JMU and UNH, which I watched. Don’t know if he was back for VU. Jackson along with Daka are the only 2 in the top 4 in sacks and TFL. Jackson will definitely be 1st team.

My prediction is Carter & Daka will be 1st team, Greene will be 2nd team, and Atariwa maybe 3rd team. Greene probably should be 1st team. Just don’t know think they’ll give 3 of 4 to JMU. Plus, there a bias towards DE and 3-4 rush OLB over DT. All 4 pre season All CAA are DE/none DT. (The below CAA stat totals, the JMU players have had 9 games, the others 8)

SACKS Team Cl G Pos Solo Ast Yds Total Avg/G
----------------------------------------------------------------
1. John Daka........... JMU SR 9 DL 8 2 67 9.0 1.00
2. Eli Mencer.......... UALB SR 8 LB 8 1 46 8.5 1.06
3. Maurice Jackson..... UR SR 8 DL 7 0 60 7.0 0.88
4. Mike Greene......... JMU JR 9 DL 6 1 45 6.5 0.72
5. Malik Fisher........ VU JR 8 5 2 39 6.0 0.75
6. Forrest Rhyne....... VU JR 8 LB 5 1 38 5.5 0.69
Kobie Turner........ UR SO 8 DL 5 1 37 5.5 0.69
8. Ron'Dell Carter..... JMU SR 9 DL 4 2 34 5.0 0.56
9. Drew Wiley.......... VU SR 8 LB 3 3 31 4.5 0.56
10.Oleh Manzyk......... UNH FR 7 LB 4 0 21 4.0 0.57


TACKLES FOR LOSS Team Cl G Pos Solo Ast Yds Total Avg/G
----------------------------------------------------------------
1. Ron'Dell Carter..... JMU SR 9 DL 13 7 70 16.5 1.83
2. John Daka........... JMU SR 9 DL 13 6 83 16.0 1.78
3. Eli Mencer.......... UALB SR 8 LB 13 3 67 14.5 1.81
4. Maurice Jackson..... UR SR 8 DL 11 1 70 11.5 1.44
Kobie Turner........ UR SO 8 DL 9 5 49 11.5 1.44
6. Drew Wiley.......... VU SR 8 LB 9 4 43 11.0 1.38
7. Forrest Rhyne....... VU JR 8 LB 8 4 53 10.0 1.25
8. Mike Greene......... JMU JR 9 DL 8 4 50 10.0 1.11
9. Whitaker, Kayon..... MAIN SR 8 DL 6 7 44 9.5 1.19
10.Mazon Walker........ UALB SO 8 DL 7 4 31 9.0 1.12
https://static.caasports.com/custompages...m#conf.wix

Pretty impressive. And imagine how sick our depth would have been if Matt Terrell and Paris Black hadn't left the team. (though it looked like Greene wore Terrell's old jersey for part of the Towson game).

Thinking back to 2015 and the ability, or lack thereof to stop the run, hard to believe we have this thread at all. Teams can change their personalities quickly.

(10-29-2019 10:21 PM)olddawg Wrote:  Pretty impressive. And imagine how sick our depth would have been if Matt Terrell and Paris Black hadn't left the team. (though it looked like Greene wore Terrell's old jersey for part of the Towson game).

And Ukwu hadn’t suffered a season ending injury.

Crazy how concerned folks were over our DL at the start of the season, and while depth is still an issue, they sure have gotten the job done and then some!

(10-30-2019 06:33 AM)JMU_Newbill Wrote:  Crazy how concerned folks were over our DL at the start of the season, and while depth is still an issue, they sure have gotten the job done and then some!

Can't speak for others, but I know my concern was strictly a twofold depth issue and had nothing to do w/ the talent of the starters. After Terrell and Black left, we had no one w/ any playing time to back them up. And for most of this season, we haven't rotated in the 2nd teamers during the meaningful portions of the game.

Very pleased ,and a bit surprised, that fatigue has not been an issue. Groulx and Green getting some reps lately is a good sign too. The second concern (which shall not be mentioned) is always lurking to rear its head though.

(10-29-2019 10:21 PM)olddawg Wrote:  Pretty impressive. And imagine how sick our depth would have been if Matt Terrell and Paris Black hadn't left the team. (though it looked like Greene wore Terrell's old jersey for part of the Towson game).

He should continue to dress like a last-minute walk on, with an off color helmet and generic jersey. Makes it funny as sh!t to watch him look like a freshman scrub tearing up the opposition.