Any word on Lalota in practice?
After hearing the buzz that Fitzgerald Touissant and JT Turner were beasts in practice last fall, I'm curious if there were any early returns on Anthony Lalota at strongside DE? He had pretty good recruiting hype and a year to redshirt. I'm hoping he can step up with the depth chart (Heininger and Adam Patterson) so thin, and no recruits at strongside to speak of in this class. Any word?
January 17th, 2010 at 4:36 PM ^
I was wondering the same thing today, I really hope he can contribute this year.
January 17th, 2010 at 4:37 PM ^
But have heard that his workouts are producing some nice results.
January 17th, 2010 at 4:55 PM ^
I have no idea why, but I've always been interested in his development. IIRC, he has a big upside because he has been playing football only since his Junior year.
January 17th, 2010 at 5:04 PM ^
Yeah, Lalota is very raw, so I dunno if he would contribute in 2010. Then again, with BG's departure, someone is going to be pressed into service for his position.
January 17th, 2010 at 6:04 PM ^
The person taking over for Graham will probably be Van Bergen.
January 17th, 2010 at 7:42 PM ^
I'd love to see them try Martin at Graham's spot and slide big Will into Martin's spot. Mike's the strongest man alive and worthy of his own religion, but he doesn't have the ideal mass to clog the middle...
January 17th, 2010 at 10:09 PM ^
What year is Martin now? Will he be a senior next year or only a junior?
January 17th, 2010 at 10:17 PM ^
Junior.
January 17th, 2010 at 6:06 PM ^
Lalota is not only raw, but he was undersized coming out of high school. The recruiting services had him listed at 260, but it turned out that he was only about 240. So he's had to put on some weight and, as somebody said above, he's only been playing football since his junior year of high school.
I do think he'll get some PT in 2010, but only because there's little depth at the position. He's a prototypical strongside defensive end, though. I do think he'll be good, but not for another couple years.
January 17th, 2010 at 7:50 PM ^
Defensive end is the more natural position for Van Bergen so he will take BG's spot, then Martin will shift over to the defensive tackle spot and have Will Campbell at Nose Guard and Craig Roh at deathbacker. So depending on Lalota's developement he can fight for some playing time as Van Bergen's backup in 2010.
January 17th, 2010 at 8:03 PM ^
You also have to throw Banks into the mix. Isn't he coming back as a 5th yr senior? Roh is listed as 238(perfect size for LB). If they plan on moving him to the line he'll need to stuff his face and pack on some beef.