Does Craig Roh move to SDE? Who replaces Heininger?
Who replaces Will Heininger on the DLine? While RVB and Martin are two huge losses, there is a third big loss on the Dline Will Heininger, with no heir apparent in the wings.
I think it is fairly safe to say Q Washington, BWC, and Richard Ash are the odds on favorites to replace RVB and Mike Martin to start the 2012 season, answers are a murkier in regards to replacing the third graduating starter on the DLine.
Can Roh move to SDE? is he big enough? If so he seems the most likely choice to replace Heininger. Nathan Brink is next in line but I don't think he will win the spot. In terms of getting the best 11 on the field, wouldn't it make more sense to move Roh and let Black and Frank Clark be the WDE's? I think Wilkins may be the most capable physically of playing the position but having never seen him play, I don't know how to judge him.
| Returning Defensive Lineman | |||
| Jibreel Black | 6'2'' | 260 | SO |
| Frank Clark | 6'2'' | 228 | FR |
| Craig Roh | 6'5'' | 269 | JR |
| Keith Heitzman | 6'3'' | 251 | FR |
| Chris Eddins | 6'5'' | 265 | RS FR |
| Chris Rock | 6'5'' | 267 | FR |
| Kenny Wilkins | 6'3'' | 280 | RS FR |
| Richard Ash | 6'3'' | 301 | RS FR |
| Alex Schwab | 6'0'' | 241 | RS JR |
| Nathan Brink | 6'5'' | 263 | RS SO |
| William Campbell | 6'5'' | 322 | JR |
| Quinton Washington | 6'4'' | 302 | RS SO |
| Graduating Defensive Lineman | |||
| Mike Martin | 6'2'' | 304 | SR |
| Will Heininger | 6'6'' | 295 | RS SR |
| Ryan Van Bergen | 6'6'' | 288 | RS SR |
| Incoming Freshman | |||
| Matt Godin | 6'6'' | 270 | HS |
| Mario Ojemudia | 6'3'' | 215 | HS |
| Ondre Pipkins | 6'3'' | 325 | HS |
| Tom Strobel | 6'6'' | 245 | HS |
| Chris Wormley | 6'4'' | 255 | HS |
I don't think any of the incoming freshman will be ready to start the opener next season over what is returning on the DLine
December 6th, 2011 at 12:55 PM ^
If you move Jake Ryan to DE, you still have Hawthorne, Beyer, Cam Gordon, and probably Joe Bolden who can cover that WLB spot. Ryan should probably gain 20 pounds and go to the line.
December 6th, 2011 at 1:14 PM ^
December 6th, 2011 at 1:17 PM ^
Not sure why everyone is in a rush to move Ryan from a spot where he looked like an impact player.
The 'other' candidates at DE sound better to me than at SLB.
December 6th, 2011 at 1:29 PM ^
prospect coming out of high school. I don't think he has the quickness to stay at WDE. I think the coaching staff wants him to put on weight and move inside to DT or at least SDE.
Regardless, I think Black and Roh are in the top 4 DL players we have, so you figure out how to make it work so that both are out there.
December 6th, 2011 at 3:46 PM ^
That's the first time I've ever heard Black being considered a DT prospect coming out of hs. I only remember hearing comparisons to Brandon Graham.
December 6th, 2011 at 1:48 PM ^
Hawthorne is a WILL, Beyer is a SAM, Gordon is a SAM, and Bolden is being recruited as a MIKE.
December 6th, 2011 at 1:30 PM ^
Many of the big plays that Ryan had this past year he was lined up as a DE. He is part DE/part OLB already.
December 6th, 2011 at 12:48 PM ^
He actually had a very good year, he just didn't play all that much with Martin and RVB ahead of him (which is totally normal). A couple of sacks, a PBU, and a fumble recovery is a pretty nice season from a backup DT.
The other guys were both underclassmen this year and didn't play nearly as much as Big Will. They aren't behind schedule by any stretch of the imagination and at least one of them should be expected to be a solid starter next year.
December 6th, 2011 at 1:18 PM ^
I was thinking the same thing, I think the way that Mattison rotated guys in, got a lot of exp to some of the back ups. I think Will Campbell did a good job as the season worn on, I think another year of Hoke and Mattison and he is the starter and does a good job. If he keeps up the hard effort, I could see a monster year for him next season.
December 6th, 2011 at 12:54 PM ^
I played with Will in high school and he was maybe 215. Modern day strength training/nutrition is insane. That is all.
December 6th, 2011 at 1:05 PM ^
The D-line will change too many times to count through out the year, next year.
Here's my mindset going into next year...
The secondary should be one of the best in the big ten (crazy I know). 2012 could be a break out one for JT Floyd, Blake as a soph. starter, kovacs is kovacs along with T.Gordon.Those are proven players, returning with chemisty.
Then keep in J.Ryan at LB because he shown he can perform at a high level there. We keep some depth, Cam, Demens, Hathorne, Morgan, and a hopefuly a freshman contributor.
Finally IMO, we bulk up the biggest run stopping D-line we can .Play BWC and Pipkins right next to eachother (hopefully they come in ten pounds lighter) and let the SDE be up for grabs, Wilkins, Brink or Jibreel if he can add the weight. Keep Roh at WDE, he is fast and his size at the position adds to the size of the entire line
Let Greg Mattison create pressure that we would be sacrificing with a slower D-line, be sending J. Ryan from the LB, or Kovacs like he already did this year
December 6th, 2011 at 1:40 PM ^
DE: Roh
NG: Campbell
DT: Washington
DE: Black/Brink
Hoke spoke highly of Washington late in the year...said he wishes he could've gotten more playing time but with the opponent and Martin/Heininger playing so well, he couldn't find time for him.
I'd also like to think it said a lot that we were willing to "settle" on just one pure DT in Pipkins for next year. The coaches had to have seen something in Q not to take 2 guys in the middle. I know Wormley and Godin have strong shots of ending up inside, but I'm talking guys that are CLEAR DTs.
Personally I think you'll see a 3 man rotation at DE with Roh, Black and Brink...Ryan, Beyer and Clark on passing downs. Then a 3 man rotation of Campbell, Washington and Pipkins in the middle...Black moving inside in passing situations.
December 6th, 2011 at 1:19 PM ^
December 6th, 2011 at 1:30 PM ^
I went with what Rivals posted on their commitment page. Scout lists Wormley as 5 pounds lighter than Rivals and Strobel as 20 pounds heavier.
FYI you can drop the N in your version of Heitzman
December 6th, 2011 at 1:43 PM ^
December 6th, 2011 at 1:20 PM ^
Anyone else pissed seeing Jonathon Hankins start for Ohio? I don't like our dline depth and to think that Hankins wanted to go to UM but wasn't offered by RR really ticks me off. We could certainly use him next year.
December 6th, 2011 at 3:28 PM ^
along with burning Gardner's redshirt, offering Dorsey and firing Shafer. Hankins was exactly what we needed at DT and we slow played him because they thought he was a little out of shape?!? All we did is let a home grown kid and UM fan go to our biggest rival and watch him play as a freshman and start as a sophmore at our greatest position of need. Stupid, stupid stupid.
December 6th, 2011 at 1:21 PM ^
All this post did was terrify me for the Alabama game to start next season. Our DL vs their OL and RBs is going to be a giant mismatch. Lacy might rush for 200 yds.
December 6th, 2011 at 1:26 PM ^
Roh, Campbell, Black, and Brink look like the leading candidates for playing time, but one would have to move to DT to play all 4 at the same time. Black could be that guy, and I think that's what the coaching staff wants from him. However, it may be more realistic to think Washington, Ash, and Pipkins rotating through till someone establishes themselves. Washington hasn't impressed so far though...
Since people tend to improve most between FR and SO year, you'd look to Clark, Rock, and Heitzman as potential impact additions to the rotation. But with this coaching staff being so good with DL we can't rule out a leap from Paskorz or Wilkins either.
Freshman contributors - who knows. I expect Wormley and Ojemudia to red-shirt for sure. Pipkins to play. Dunno about Strobel and Godin. If I had to pick a second guy who is closest to being physically ready to play I'd guess it's going to be Godin.
December 6th, 2011 at 1:44 PM ^
I think what you will see next year is Mattison use scheme to protect the Dline. This year the strength was the Dline and Mattison used scheme to protect the weakness which was the linebackers and to a lesser extent the secondary. The D numbers look nice on paper, but every time UM went up against a team with a superior receiver and a QB who was not incompetent, we got utterly destroyed. Still does not take away from what Mattison did.
Next year I think you will see Mattison turn everything around to protect the Dline, especially the tackles. However you slice it the max upside for the Dline will not even approach what we got this year. At best we are talking taking several notches of performance down. However, we can compensate with run blitzes and forcing teams to beat us with the pass. UM's secondary should be above average projecting out continued improvement.
Regarding help from freshmen, it is rare that you see any frosh come out and contribute. Last time I saw someone who could do that on day one was Gabe Watson. So it is possible. It is just not very probable.
Going forward to 2013, at that point you may be able to see Mattison have enough talent to dictate what he wants to do on defense instead of scrambling to protect deficiencies.
In summary it was nice to see us go 10-2 and build up a lot of good will. Next year is going to be a bit bumpy. As Mr Cook informs us, TO's usually regress back to the mean. There were a lot of unforced errors might WMU, ND, SDSU, and NW that turned losses to wins or tight gams into blowouts.
December 6th, 2011 at 1:51 PM ^
I've read a few insiders' comments who say that Black is looking more and more like a DT. I don't think he'll move all the way inside to DT, but I think he's more likely a SDE than Roh.
Based on what I saw this year, I think Frank Clark has higher upside at WDE than Black.
December 6th, 2011 at 1:56 PM ^
In fact I thought he was going to move last year...I wouldn't be surprised to see him take over that RVB role. Outside the majority of the time, inside on passing downs.
December 6th, 2011 at 2:11 PM ^
I don't know if it was just the nature of playing Nebraska in hurry-up offense in a game that was already out of hand, but it seemed like Clark had Martinez running for his life on nearly every play. The coaches definitely seem to like him based on their comments and the burning of his redshirt, too. Really excited to see what he can do in another year or two with some regular PT.
December 6th, 2011 at 7:09 PM ^
At least for the position he plays. Very encouraging that he, Morgan, Beyer, and Countess all get their first offseason of lifting and conditioning going into next year. They should all benefit tremendously
December 6th, 2011 at 2:30 PM ^
I would expect:
Running downs:
SLB: Ryan/Beyer
SDE: Black
NT: BWC
DT: Washington/Ash
WDE: Roh/Clark
Passing downs:
SLB: Ryan/Beyer
SDE: Black
NT: BWC
WDE: Roh/Clark
December 6th, 2011 at 4:12 PM ^
he is a DE. Big Ondre will get a chance along with Chris and Matt,all of these guys weigh more then 260 pounds.
December 6th, 2011 at 5:11 PM ^
both Ojemudia and Pipkins get a lot of playing time next year, and I think Pipkins starts on the interior from game 1
December 6th, 2011 at 5:53 PM ^
Nobody's leaving at either of Ojemudia's potential positions, SAM (Ryan/Gordon/Beyer) or WDE (Roh/Black/Clark). I doubt he sees much time.