The Blue Board

We're going back to the 3-3-5 because it was so effective. Therefore, we don't have a front SEVEN.

Assuming psu2013 is off slacking again, I'll add my opinion.

Without looking up the numbers, I believe our run defense was solid last year. We do lose quite a bit along our DL in terms of starters, but the only loss that will be felt significantly, IMO, is Devon Still. Jack Crawford and Eric Latimore just weren't quality DE's. Crawford's athleticism never turned into production and Latimore was just a liability most of the time.

One of the starters this year should be Pete Massaro, who would have started last year except he tore his ACL in the spring. The other will probably be Sean Stanley, who is a decent pass rusher, and people will look for him to take the next step. He's a very athletic DE, as evidenced by a play last year where he covered a RB coming out of the backfield on a wheel route. The QB chucked the ball 30-40 yards downfield and what did we see but Sean Stanley running like a DB right along with the RB. Stanley ended up breaking up the pass and nearly intercepted it. People were quite impressed with that play. Another guy to watch at DE is Deion Barnes, who has shown the staff quite a bit this spring. He's mainly a pass rusher, but has bulked up to where he can defend the run as well.

The starting DT's will almost certainly be Jordan Hill, a returning starter and a senior, and DaQuan Jones. Jones has seen playing time the last two years and has the makings of the next great 3-technique following in Devon Still and Jared Odrick's footsteps. Jones is a similar build as a 6'5", lengthy player who can stand his ground against the run but also rush the passer. Jordan Hill is a penetrating DT who was somewhat in Still's shadow, but still played extremely well last year. He's a strong, short guy who will do very well this year, and has taken leadership of the DL upon himself. A young guy to watch would be Anthony Zettel, who could play both DT positions in addition to DE.

At LB, the only player we have lost to graduation is Nate Stupar, who did well filling in for Michael Mauti. Mauti tore his ACL and is not participating in spring activities, but should be fine for the fall. Glenn Carson is solid as the first team MLB - he's a bigger guy who is consistent in filling his gap assignment. The athletic LB's are Hodges and Fortt, who were both running with the first team until Fortt's injury. Now Hodges and former walk-on Jamie Van Fleet are the starting OLB's. Hodges has moved to the strong side in Roof's defense, where he'll work in space and get to make a lot of tackles. Hodges is also a fine blitzer. Don't know much about Van Fleet, but his appearance on the first team indicates that Mike Hull is not quite ready to fill in at LB. It has been supposed that he hasn't added the necessary weight and is currently around 215 lbs. Khairi Fortt, who is currently injured, is also very athletic and has bulked up to about 240 pounds this spring. He's good, but some missed assignments and reads are holding him back.

Overall, our experience is quite extensive in the front 7. We'll need it to make up for a very new and very weak secondary.

Let's try to be serious for second here

The Spartans finished 9th nationally (1st in the Big 10) in rush defense at 100.5 YPG allowed and 2.8 YPC allowed. The biggest loss is obviously Jerel Worthy, a penetrating DT who's expected to be drafted in the last first/early 2nd round of this year's NFL draft. Also lost are 2 SR DT's who provided depth.

On the flip side, every single other member of the front 7 is back, including at least 5 starters (more below: DE's Gholston and Rush, and all 3 LBs, Norman (WILL), Bullough (MIKE), Allen (SAM).

Anthony Rashad White, who's played both NT and DT, also returns. He started 5 games last year (the first 4 and the Bowl) and was sidelined with a hip/upper thigh bruise that forced him to be a 20-25 snap/game player for the middle of the season, as opposed to a 50-60 snap/game guy. He was healthy for the bowl game and recorded 7 tackles and 3 TFL playing NT. I don't know if you count him as a returning starter or not, but he is definitely an experienced player and one who will start at 1 DT position.

The biggest loss is obviously Worthy, but having a pair of JR and a pair of SR DTs last year definitely made the center of MSU's defense fairly formidable. This season, MSU is expected to start White at one position, and RS SR Tyler Hoover (6'7 297) at the other DT spot. As of right now, it's White at Worthy's old position and Hoover at NT. Hoover is a converted DE who only played 1 half of football in '11 before fracturing his ribs in the first game. There's equal part enthusiasm and apprehension with Hoover's move inside, as his frame provides both unique challenges and possibilities. As of right now, Hoover has been looking solid, but not spectacular, this spring.

In order for MSU to improve on it's run D from a year ago, the 5 returning starters + White have to take another step forward. Given that of those 6, only 1 (Norman) had starting experience prior to '11, the chances are fair that MSU can see an improvement. The real question is that 7th spot: in short, can either Hoover give MSU most of what Worthy did . . . or can White provide most of what Worthy did, and Hoover be as effective as White. That I'm not so sure of.

In terms of specific improvements, MIKE LB Max Bullough (2nd team All-B1G) has to get better at shedding blocks; Wisconsin's centers largely had their way with him last year. He also had a tendency to get to the line of scrimmage too fast and take himself out of plays as a result. WILL LB Chris Norman has missed a game or two with injuries each of the last 2 years, and though the depth is pretty good, MSU needs it's most experienced LB on the field as much as possible. Denicos Allen was a great "splash" playmaker (11 sacks, 18.5 TFL), but could do better stopping the RB should the guy get past the LOS.

DE Gholston needs to continue his progression; a physical freak at 6'7 277-ish he was last seen recording 7 tackles, 5 TFL and 2 sacks in the Outback Bowl. With Worthy gone, he undoubtably becomes the focal point on the DL for opposing OL/TEs. Can he handle it?

WDE Rush has a great first step (and a better last name), but at 6'2 250 can be swallowed up by larger OTs. Still, the FR-All American made great plays last year (50 tackles, 4 sacks, 12 TFL, 9 QB hurries). If he can be slightly more physical at the point of attack, it would really help him against the Iowa/Nebraska/Wisconsins of the world.

In sum, it's unlikely that MSU rolls out another top 10 rush D next year, but it wouldn't be a surprise to see it rank among the top 3 in the conference and among the top 25 nationally.

I will break it down further tonight, but the short version is Michigan returns 1 starter on the Dline, Craig Roh, and he is switching from WDE to SDE position. William Campbell is the projected NT and Jibreel Black is the projected 3-tech DT. At WDE Brennen Beyer has the slight lead on Frank Clark coming out of spring.

The LBer core returns, SLB Jake Ryan, MLB Kenny Demens, and WLB Desmon Morgan. Cam Gordon was pushing Ryan at SLB this spring. Michigan has reinforcements coming in with 4, 4* LBers from the 2012 expected to be on campus this fall. Two of them were EE's, Joe Bolden and Kaleb Ringer. Both already have the size to play, with Joe Bolden positioning himself into the 2 deep at MLB already.

I'll pass that info to Matt Canada stat!

FWIW, PSU's run D last year was 42nd nationally at 133.31 YPG given up and 3.6 YPC. That was 4th in the conference.

How's your DT depth? Replacing Still would be as hard as replacing Worthy, just off the top of my head.

I remember Zettel being a guy that MSU and UM really wanted a few years ago.

Penn State

DEs
-Right now, the starting DEs will probbably be RS SR Pete Massaro and SR Sean Stanley. Pushing for some 1st Team work is RS FR Deion Barnes. Overall, I like where the DEs are at. Massaro has good size at 6'4 260, but really has a relentless motor. Incredible character player who is tough and won't give up. He's torn his ACL twice (Spring of 2011 being the last one) so he's had some tough luck. Hopeful he stays healthy this year. I feel like Stanley just got, but he's already about to graduate. Anyway, he came into PSU about 6'1 225, but did play his FR year a bit. Now, he's up to about 250, but still is very quick and agile. Like PSUBills said above, he's just a high volume athlete that could definitely have a 10+ sack season. Finally, you have Deion Barnes. Young kid who was probably 6'5 220 when we were recruiting him, and just two years later, looks like a man. He's had to have added 30+ pounds, and I only see him getting bigger with our new S&C Program. He's still going to be a little raw this year, but he has the size/athleticim to add to LJ's group of 1st DLs...but that's down the road. This year, I do see him getting a good amount of playing time, but it may be just too early for him to become a full-time starter.

Other DEs are RS SO Kyle Baublitz and RS FR Anthony Zettel. Both are pretty similar to one another. Both about 6'5 265, and both could transition to DT. Seems as though Zettel is more likely to be a DT, while Baublitz will be a Strongside DE. RS SO CJ Olaniyan (MSU fans will remember him) is also an athletic freak at 6'3 250. He's right there with Barnes, although hasn't seemed to have grasped quite as quickly.

One last note, we actually lost a 6'8 265 manchild (Shawn Oakman). He probably wasn't going to play too much this year (extremely raw), but his potential was off the charts. Got kicked off the team for stealing a sandwich and a soda (and threatening the worker).

DTs
-A massive loss in Still, but we are still sitting pretty good here. SR Jordan Hill is a fantastic 1-Tech, and next to him will be JR DaQuan Jones. Hill is about 6'1 300, and is really the mold of what we want our 1-Tech to be. Very quick off the ball, good first step, and can pentrate quickly. No doubt he's at least a 2nd-Team All-Big Ten performer. He's really taken a leadership role, and is really turning into a monster in the weight room. As for DaQuan Jones...next in line steps up. From Odrick to Still to Jones. Since the day he stepped on campus, he's been expected to continue the DT (for a lack of a better word) tradition we had here for the past 5 years or so. Big kid at about 6'4 305, he's waited his turn and now we get to see if he'll be the next one. Lofty expectations.

Zettel will probbaly play here a bit (although undersized). James Terry is a RS SR...solid backup 1-Tech. True FR Jamil Pollard I think will play, as long as his grades are up to snuff. He's already a big kid at 6'3 305, and could provide some depth. Also, we have a walk-on named Bryan Davie that is like 6'3 350. We know very little about him, but very intriguing. He was a 2010 recruit (From the same high school that produced Derrick Williams) that was going to go to Princeton to play football, but decided to quit football and go to Penn State as just a student. Tried out earlier in the year, and is practicing with the team.

Will be back later for the LB stuff.

/shakes fist at clouds

ha you are right. I did exactly that.

It all starts with the line play, that is where I will start.

SDE, Craig Roh, 6'5" 270lb, Senior. Fourth position in 4 years for Roh. Mattison suggested the move this off-spring and Roh embraced it. Roh had a rough start to the year in 2011, but once it finally clicked with the coaching, he turned it on. He needs to add another 10lbs or more for the 2012 season, and I expect him to turn in a Ryan Van Bergen type of senior year. Backup this spring were Keith Heitzman, 6'3" 250lb, RS Freshman, a 3* out of Ohio. This fall a couple more Ohio 4* kids will be joining the ranks, 6'6" 240lb Tom Strobel, and 6'5" 250lbs Chris Wormley. I expect one of these to 2 to RS and the other one to see some playing time at SDE, WDE, or at the DT 3-tech.

WDE, Brennen Beyer, 6'3" 225 lbs Soph, or Frank Clark, 6'2" 255lb Soph. Beyer is the starter for now, he plays with better technique than Clark, but Clark is the superior athlete. This will be a battle into and during the fall that many Michigan fans are looking forward to. Depth, one of those mentioned before or Mario Ojemudia, a 6'2" 225lbs 3* out of Michigan. He should RS due to being undersized right now. From scouting reports, very quick first step, just needs size.

3-Tech DT, Jibreel Black, 6'2" 270lbs, Junior. Moving to the DT spot from the WDE this spring under Mattison's suggestion also. he has a nice burst that can cause trouble for the oline, but lacks the size to take up more than one blocker. Needs to continue working on his technique due to his size limitations, but I believe will be a distruptive force at times with the speed he brings to the position. Backups will include the SDE already mentioned, and Quinten Washington, 6'4", 300lb RS Junior, supposed to be the strongest guy on the team, didn't do much in the spring game, also he was on the Oline originally under RichRod. Nate Brink, 6'5" 265lb RS Soph. Broke his leg in bowl practices, hasn't seen the field much this spring and if he is getting solid minutes this fall, Michigan is in trouble. Kenny Wilkins, 6'3" 280lb, RS Soph, that I haven't heard much about this spring or last fall and may end up being a spot player for his career. Chris Rock, 6'5" 270lb RS Fresh, 3* out of Ohio who has had good things said about him this spring but I don't expect to see much of this fall. Freshmen that could see time, but I expect to RS include, Matt Godin, 6'6" 265lbs, 4* out of Michigan, and Chris Henry, 6'3" 270lb 3* out of Ohio.

NT, William Campbell, 6'5" 320lbs, Senior. Much hyped 5* that hasn't panned out to this point. This is it for him, and reports out of spring are that it is finally clicking. He has taken on that senior leadership role and is playing with better technique. Being consistent is still an issue with him though. I don't see Campbell dominating like us Michigan fans had hoped when he commited, but I think with the work him and the coaches have put in, he will be a solid playing demanding double teams most of the time. Backups will included some of the DT's already mentioned plus Richard Ash, 6'3" 300lb, RS Soph. and Ondre Pipkens, 6'2" 320lbs 4*/5* recruit out of Missouri. I haven't heard much about Ash, but rewatching the spring game he was getting solid penetration, but that was against Michigan's #2 line. I wish Pipkens would RS, but with the question marks at DT and his potential ability, I see him playing some minutes each game.

I will get to the LBers later.

Seems like UM is a little light up front at the moment; 270, 270, 320, 225.