Looking ahead: 2010 Defensive Line

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I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m ready to talk football. The basketball hype has gotten to be a little much and there isn’t a lot more to say about Debbie Yow, at least not yet.

During the next few weeks leading up to Sept. 4 we’ll be taking a closer look at the 2010 football team, going position by position to try and give everyone an idea of what to expect from the Wolfpack.

Let’s get things started by looking at one of the two most important groups on the team, the defensive front. The success or failure of this group will be huge if the defense — and team — hopes to be any better than it was in 2009. Speaking of last year’s group, who can forget the lackluster performance of the NC State defense week after week last season? Many of the problems were blamed on the back seven of the defense and especially the secondary, but the defensive line did not end up being as dominant as many thought it would be.

Opponents rushed for nearly four yards per attempt and almost 140 yards per game on the ground while collecting 32 sacks. Those numbers were all better than in 2008, but it’s tough to find a ton of positives when you look at last season’s numbers. Let’s move on to the 2010 edition.

If nothing else, NC State fans will have plenty of new faces to learn along the defensive line in 2010. All four starters from last year are gone. The four most talented players, at least in my view, are Michael Lemon, Markus Kuhn, J.R. Sweezy/Brian Slay and Jeff Rieskamp. That lineup may never see the field after the poor decision making made by both Kuhn and Sweezy during the spring, but if I had to pick four to start I think I’d go in that direction.

Lemon and Rieskamp both bring versatility to the end spots and Rieskamp has the potential to be All-ACC if he can stay healthy. Tom O’Brien raved about him two years ago so State fans can hope he returns to that form. Lemon should once again be a solid, steady performer who can anchor one end spot. Audi Augustin, who has been at NC State since at least 2000, will get snaps like he always does I won’t say he’ll make a huge impact because I haven’t seen him do it yet and have no reason to believe he’s improved that much from last season to this one. Kuhn, who looked massive the last time I saw him, should be much improved. The year off likely helped his football knowledge and his….umm…brush with stupidity earlier in the year hopefully narrowed his focus. The same goes for Sweezy. If he can put the dumb stuff behind him and focus on football he can most certainly start. He showed numerous glimpses last season and if he can become more consistent he can be an every down player.

O’Brien hasn’t made any comments on Sweezy, Kuhn George Bryan and Jake Vermiglio’s mistake but I would expect something more from him by the first week of August. It will probably be a fairly standard “we’re not going to put up with this” song and dance and hopefully, at least for the defensive line’s sake, the issue will fade away.

One area where the 2010 defensive line may be better is with regard to depth. Most of the guys who could see significant snaps have all seen snaps before. Brian Slay and Natanu Mageo should be ready to contribute and senior transfer David Akinniyi should be able to help along younger players Darryl Cato-Bishop and Ricky Dowdy.

If the entire group stays healthy the defensive line could end up being a positive group on the 2010 defense. Assuming Sweezy and Kuhn are allowed back by August (I’d be shocked if they weren’t) I expect this front four to be better against the run than last season. I’m not sure yet if the pass rush will be as good, but the potential is there.

I’m not huge on numbers when looking at defensive players. I’m much more of an eye test kind guy. If a player passes the eye test and shows up each and every Saturday then more often than not your team will be alright. Several guys along this year’s defensive line pass that eye test. That may mean nothing come October but it’s a heck of a lot better than having the opposite feelings.

Another exciting thing to consider is that the defensive line will be tested twice before it faces Georgia Tech’s option attack in week four. UCF returns a 1,000-yard rusher and four starters along its offensive line and Cincinnati’s Zach Collaros comes back to lead a high-powered offense coming off a dominant season. Collaros, much like NC State’s Russell Wilson, is a dual threat QB and should be the perfect tune up for Josh Nesbitt.

Most consistent contributors: Michael Lemon, Jeff Rieskamp, Audi Augustin

Most improved: Markus Kuhn, Darryl Cato-Bishop

Player to keep your eye on: Darryl Cato-Bishop

I don’t expect any of the incoming freshmen to make an instant impact on the lineup or see significant snaps, but I’m sure at some point they will. Whether it’s injuries, stupid decisions by the guys I’ve already mentioned or one of the new guys stepping up, a name I haven’t named yet will see some snaps. Check out the list of incoming guys here.

For a refresher on spring football, go here or here.

Later this week I’ll take a look at the linebackers and give some thoughts on what they need to do in 2010. Pick your starting defensive line in the comments section. Stay tuned for more.

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35 Responses to Looking ahead: 2010 Defensive Line

  1. tjfoose1 07/06/2010 at 11:15 PM #

    Yep, “scared money is dead money”.

  2. StateFans 07/07/2010 at 7:54 AM #

    New poll related to this entry on the right side of the blog.

  3. Tiew 07/07/2010 at 8:13 AM #

    Given how incredibly effective Wilson was I just don’t buy that anything would have been gained by him running more. Part of why you train QBs to throw first is because in general, throwing will get you more yards. I remember him doing a few designed runs to keep the defense honest. And I remember a couple nice touchdown runs. I think defenses had to account for him being a threat to run even though he didn’t do it that often.

  4. tvp1 07/07/2010 at 11:37 AM #

    We’ve actually developed pretty solid depth and experience on the DL. Consider that you could see a starting front of

    Lemon Sr
    Kuhn R-Jr
    Sweezy R-Jr
    Reiskamp R-Jr

    Backed up by

    Augustin R-Sr
    Slay So
    Mageo Sr
    Akinniyi R-Sr

    With some younger players like Cato-Bishop and Dowdy maybe ready to make an impact.

    The flip side is that none of these guys are likely challengers for all-ACC honors. I don’t see any individual player as good as Alan-Michael Cash or Willie Young, even considering that Willie did not quite live up to the hype last year. Sweezy and Lemon both have a chance to have really strong years I think, though. And I liked what I saw from Slay last year.

    We should be able to effectively rotate two lines throughout the game even if/when a couple of injuries occur. Do that, and those guys stay fresh enough to keep blockers off Nate/Manning and make a few plays on their own.

  5. VaWolf82 07/07/2010 at 1:54 PM #

    We’ve actually developed pretty solid depth and experience on the DL…The flip side is that none of these guys are likely challengers for all-ACC honors.

    In my book, these two sentences contradict each other.

  6. tjfoose1 07/07/2010 at 4:03 PM #

    “I don’t see any individual player as good as Alan-Michael Cash or Willie Young”

    Willie Young was very athletic, and was good in spurts, but he often disappeared. As far as actual results are concerned, it will not be too difficult to replace Young. Reiskamp, Lemon, and Ferguson all have to potential to exceed Young’s production.

    Cash was solid. Probably came closer to maximizing than anyone on the roster. Kuhn has the potential to at least match, if not exceed, Cash’s production. Sweezy, because of his athletic ability and dynamic play making, does also. But he’s a wildcard at the point.

  7. tvp1 07/07/2010 at 4:09 PM #

    “VaWolf82 Says:
    July 7th, 2010 at 1:54 pm We’ve actually developed pretty solid depth and experience on the DL…The flip side is that none of these guys are likely challengers for all-ACC honors.

    In my book, these two sentences contradict each other.”

    Care to explain? It’s not contradictory at all.

  8. tjfoose1 07/07/2010 at 4:18 PM #

    “Given how incredibly effective Wilson was I just don’t buy that anything would have been gained by him running more.”

    If you look at it from purely the perspective of aggregate offensive production, that is a valid argument with which I would have a difficult time disagreeing.

    However, I look at it from a broader perspective… ball control, especially late in the game, time of possession, and thus ultimately, assisting our defense by minimizing their vulnerability.

    We were something of a ‘knock out punch’ offense last year. We could score points, but the way we went about rarely wore down the opponent’s defense. Thus, we had many quick (time of possession wise) drives. That did not minimize the exposure of our defense.

    A more active Wilson, or just the valid threat of a more active Wilson, would physically tax the defense every play. Eventually, that wears down a defense, mentally, and physically. That maximizes the potential for greater run success in later game situations, greater chance for defensive breakdowns, greater time of possession, greater ball control… and thus, aiding our chances of putting away games with our defense on the sidelines. Something akin to a ‘body blow’ boxer who tries to defend his glass jaw by wearing down his opponent for later round success.

    Anyway, just my take on it. You look at your tools, your weapons, your strengths, and your weaknesses… From that, you try to develop a strategy that employs tactics to maximize the effects of your strong points, while minimizing the exposure of your weakness. All to maximize you overall chance of success.

    I don’t think we always did that last year. I understand why, and can’t really argue with the reasons. However, 2010 is not 2009. The circumstances are different. One of which is a talented and capable backup going into his 3rd year with the program.

  9. tjfoose1 07/07/2010 at 4:20 PM #

    “We’ve actually developed pretty solid depth and experience on the DL…The flip side is that none of these guys are likely challengers for all-ACC honors.”

    I understand his point. He’s saying it looks like we’ll have solid players, 2 deep, across the line. We just don’t have any potentially great players.

    I don’t know if I agree with that, but I understand his point and the reasoning behind it.

  10. VaWolf82 07/07/2010 at 7:01 PM #

    “We’ve actually developed pretty solid depth and experience on the DL…The flip side is that none of these guys are likely challengers for all-ACC honors.”

    I called this contradictory because you don’t really have “solid depth” if you don’t have anyone that is likely to be all-ACC. You just have a bunch of interchangeable parts…none of which are likely to help State’s defense take a big step forward.

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