I was listening to a podcast in which they were talking about our defensive line and found myself trying to list all the guys I see as starting quality and/or potential breakout candidates at DL. It made my head spin a little, so I looked at the roster and my takeaway is this: Holy shit.
Guys who could start and/or potential breakout players for 2022 (in the order they appear on the roster):
45 Deontae Craig
49 Ethan Hurkett
85 Logan Lee
91 Lukas Van Ness
92 John Waggoner
94 Yahya Black
95 Aaron Graves
99 Noah Shannon
13 Joe Evans
Other than Aaron Graves, every single one of those guys has at least flashed as a potential star player in at least one aspect of their game. And I am including him on the list of guys I think are starter quality and potential breakout players *as a true freshman.* And he might be the best of them, really soon.
And there are a few more guys that I could see as starting quality and potential star players down the road, but who I don't think are ready yet:
90 Brian Allen
97 Caden Crawford
98 Chris Reames
48 Max Llewellyn
86 Jeff Bowie
Here's the thing about that list. Caden Crawford looked great at the open practice in Spring. He looked starter-ish, but he's young and it was one practice, so I'm discounting what I saw. Jeff Bowie is also super young and talented. And I think I've already heard Reames and Llewellyn are potential rotation guys this year, so I'm probably under rating them (I just haven't seen it yet for myself).
Anyway, the TL/DR version is that our DL is stacked and they're gonna wreck shop this year.
Guys who could start and/or potential breakout players for 2022 (in the order they appear on the roster):
45 Deontae Craig
49 Ethan Hurkett
85 Logan Lee
91 Lukas Van Ness
92 John Waggoner
94 Yahya Black
95 Aaron Graves
99 Noah Shannon
13 Joe Evans
Other than Aaron Graves, every single one of those guys has at least flashed as a potential star player in at least one aspect of their game. And I am including him on the list of guys I think are starter quality and potential breakout players *as a true freshman.* And he might be the best of them, really soon.
And there are a few more guys that I could see as starting quality and potential star players down the road, but who I don't think are ready yet:
90 Brian Allen
97 Caden Crawford
98 Chris Reames
48 Max Llewellyn
86 Jeff Bowie
Here's the thing about that list. Caden Crawford looked great at the open practice in Spring. He looked starter-ish, but he's young and it was one practice, so I'm discounting what I saw. Jeff Bowie is also super young and talented. And I think I've already heard Reames and Llewellyn are potential rotation guys this year, so I'm probably under rating them (I just haven't seen it yet for myself).
Anyway, the TL/DR version is that our DL is stacked and they're gonna wreck shop this year.