Request: DLine status/opinions

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I am normally much more in the loop on this

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Unless Herron slims down he'll be at DT. I wouldn't bet on Teuhema starting over Neal at LE. Neal is crazy athletic and strong as frick.

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Herron is at DE now if I heard right

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Did you hear that recently? Only one I remember moving to DE was Bain

Bower and Neal have experience in the rotation and Teuhema and Clark both played a bit last year at DE, but I'm concerned at this spot.

Starters at DT more than solid and if Q Thomas is fully healthy, he will contribute well. One or two others will have to step up among Gilmore, Herron, Bain?, Valentine?, and I'd be surprised if Trey L ever plays for LSU.

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Unless Herron slims down he'll be at DT.

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I never heard anything concrete here, so it wouldn't surprise me. Just hoping he contributes at one position.

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I wouldn't bet on Teuhema starting over Neal at LE. Neal is crazy athletic and strong as frick.

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He's also a shrimp. Not too many 6'1" (if he's lucky) DE's out there. Would love to see him make the move to LB with CG's departure.

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Middle will be well represented with 3 very experienced players: Lacouture, Godchaux, and Q Thomas. Valentine and Gilmore add depth. Herron is at DE now if I heard right but that entire group is going to be a crapshoot. Sione and Bower will be your starters I'm thinking.

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Spot on about DTs. Bower is our best DE, and he's a good one. I think that Neal, not Sione, will be our other starter. And I expect him to be very good. Clark will be ahead of Sione, as well, except for obvious pass rush downs. I think our DEs will be better than last year.

Starters:
DE - Bower
DT - Godchaux
DT - LaCouture
DE - Neal

2nd Rotation:
DE - Teuhema
DT - Herron
DT - Q Thomas
DE - Clark

Others:
Bain, Gilmore, Valentine, Key

The 1st team DTs are pretty set in stone. Godchaux has the potential to be All-SEC, and LaCouture is good enough to hold his own in the SEC. They should clog the middle enough to let Beckwith make plays, but don't expect much of a push out of them. After those 2 guys though, its a pretty big drop off. Quentin Thomas has proved to be a decent 3rd guy, but thats pretty much it. I have no confidence in any other DT on our roster to provide quality depth. Valentine might be able to, but nobody has any clue what his situation is and until he actually plays in a game for us he will be nothing more than a huge question mark for this team. We really need him though.

The DEs are going to be much different than the guys we saw last year, but not necessarily worse. Bower is a lock to start because as of now he is really the only DE that has contributed to our team much, plus he has shown the ability to both pass rush and hold his own against the run. After him I think it will be really situational. On obvious passing downs expect to see Teuhema and maybe Key because of their quickness and pass-rushing abilities. On obvious running downs I would expect to see Clark in there. I think the DE group is talented, but unproven. I think they will be better than most others think though because the talent behind them will give them the ability to just pin their ears back and get to the QB. Should be much better rushing the passer.

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Bain needs to drop weight and add quickness if he's going to stay at DE. There's a lot of different types of players in the d-line room and I like that Coach O is going to use all of them.

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That's probably what they had planned for him. Though he already was one of the most athletic players on the D line.

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Not too many 6'1" (if he's lucky) DE's out there.

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This has been debated plenty of times. Even the NFL has more than a few badass DE's that are shorter than 6'1. Freeney and Elvis Dumervil to name a couple. Dumervil is only 5'11.

It's not really height that matters as much as arm length reach. Neal has some long arms.