Okay, guys, it is July and the players are on campus. Got their head shots, etc. etc.

DL last year was pretty easy. Two excellent DEs and good talent at DT and good depth.
This year: Two All-MAC DEs, Crosby and Harris and some question marks???

As E'Tough and others remind us, it takes more DLs than OLs because there is much more rotating in the DL because of the nature of DL play.

Have at it:

(07-02-2018 06:46 AM)emu steve Wrote:  Okay, guys, it is July and the players are on campus. Got their head shots, etc. etc.

DL last year was pretty easy. Two excellent DEs and good talent at DT and good depth.
This year: Two All-MAC DEs, Crosby and Harris and some question marks???

As E'Tough and others remind us, it takes more DLs than OLs because there is much more rotating in the DL because of the nature of DL play.

Have at it:

Is Harris on Track to Play August 31?

BTW, my thoughts are that we had a very good defense up front last year because we were solid, across the entire front line.

If we have problems at DT (or depth problems) this year, then who knows...

First let's discuss last year....we had an All MAC DE in Crosby but the DL suffered when Harris got hurt. The interior DL played well but....BUT there were several times we needed to stop the run and could not. Overall our defense was very good and our DL was very good too but there's always room for improvement.


I believe I have made my feelings known about our DEs. Maxx Crosby has the chance to be the best defensive player in the entire MAC as a junior and Harris all MAC as a senior. If the interior DTs step up (Kelly, Eddington (sp?), Labarbra, Hendrickson, Hulford, etc) then we may have our best DL since I've been watching EMU football the past 30 years. I'm excited to see how Hunter Andrews does flipping back to DL. If you recall, he had to play TE last year due to injury and unforeseen circumstances (Kilby).

The DL may provide 1/2 of the winning formula: to win you have to run the ball and STOP the run. I believe this DL will be the top DL in the MAC!

We have other newcomers like Rush whom I have big hopes for.

Better depth at DE will help. Valasti, Rush, Simeon...