In Tosh We Trust: Cal Defensive Linemen in 2011
by norcalnick on Aug 25, 2011 10:30 AM PDT
in California Golden Bears Football
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PrintTwistNHook: Tosh's Boys are back at it again! This could be the strength of the team and the depth here is exciting. We lose 1st round pick Cameron Jordan, but I still have high hopes for these beasts up front.
LeonPowe: I am super excited reading all the Tiny Moala news out of camp. He may not even start, but he is going to be a load in the middle for a long time to come - and if he is occupying 2 blockers, that means more pressure and more sacks from a base defense and we won't need to blitz. PUMP PUMP PUMP.
TwistNHook: For all the great things we hear about V, it is unlikely that he will provide a great presence in his first year. A young gun who might start contributing would be redshirt freshman Gabe King. At 6'5" and 275 pounds, he is a beast up front. Hopefully, he can come in and provide key depth to the DLine.
Ohio Bear: The past two years, we have had a senior who was an eventual first round NFL draft pick anchor our defensive line -- Cameron Jordan last year, Tyson Alualu in 2009. I don't think we can say the same of our defensive line this year. (Please don't hurt me, Ernest Owusu or Trevor Guyton -- but by all means feel free to prove me wrong.) Yet, I still feel good about our D-line heading into this season.
Aaron Tipoti has battled concussion issues in training camp. Hopefully he can get it going once the season starts, as his presence will give us an experienced guy to add to our depth.
On paper this unit looks all right. We'll just have to see if they show it on the field.
HydroTech: I have limited thoughts on the Defensive Line, but the one thing that I keep thinking is this: "Tiny" Moala is going to be crazy dominant like Oregon's Haloti Ngata. At least, I hope so. Tedford already said that Moala is pretty impossible to move. He's a perfect NT for our 3-4 defense. I think the question is if he'll actually play this year. I believe that Tedford has said that he's #3 on the depth chart which would mean that he is going to play this year and not blue-shirt. I'm excited to see him on the field. Hopefully he'll be around for a full four years and won't go pro early.
Norcalnick: Moala is just one of many reasons that the D Line is the unit I am most excited to see perform this year. In my mind, this should be a truly dominant unit. It's not unusual for a team to have a few above-average lineman at one time, but I feel like the talent that Cal has on their line is such that some of our 3rd stringers would challenge for starting time at other Pac-12 schools.
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I think I’m most excited for De Coleman. 6’6 310 pound beast of a four-star recruit from one of our rival’s back yard? And he’s already had a year to redshirt and a year of steady snaps to get seasoned? Dude who logs tackles by throwing offensive guards into running backs? Deandre gonna bring the wood.
"Let me tell you a story. I was a political prisoner for two years. The instant I was released I ran to McDonald's. I had a Big Mac and a Coke.
It was fantastic."
-Toyama Koichi, US Presidential candidate from Japan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGZqOkeYbB0
I selected “Not very confident”. Honestly, I believe the line won’t be that strong this year. I think the NT rotation isn’t that talented, I think Guyton is a solid starter at best, and Owusu isn’t that good. It’s going to be the weakest line Cal’s seen since…..I dunno. A while. Maybe 2007 when Rulon was still a junior and Alualu a sophomore? Maybe multiple years before that (since 2006 had Mebane)? The issue is really that the upperclassmen aren’t that talented, and the talented guys aren’t very experienced. I’m actually very excited to see the line, especially how they progress throughout the season, and they’re gonna be a dominant force of destruction in the future….I just don’t think they’re ready yet. I think Coleman might be the best lineman this year, but even with him I expect a young Cam kinda performance – flashes of his potential, but a lot of inconsistency. I see him overtaking Owusu on the depth chart at some point this season, though.
Spoken like a true Cal fan. I salute you, sir.
"Thanks. Go Bears!" - Ernest Owusu: the next great Cal DE
by SoCal Oski on Aug 25, 2011 11:44 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
I’m hopeful that Gabe King and V can make an instant impact. I like the depth on the line. Even if we dont have a Cam Jordan, if we have solid depth thats gonna help a lot, also.
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I think depth is less important than the caliber of your starters, since they take a majority of the snaps. I also think the freshman are good enough to contribute right away, but that should be taken with a grain of salt. Someone like Cam was good enough to contribute right away, and it certainly made a positive difference, but it’s not like he was that good early on. I don’t think that kind of performance moves the needle much one way or the other in the present, even if it says very nice things about the player they’ll be in the future, you know?
by Missing Barry on Aug 25, 2011 11:52 AM PDT up reply actions
with Tiny…it just feels like you say to him…“run over the center and then hit the ball carrier” and that’s it. If they run some kind of crazy screen or sweep play, so what. Just “KILL BALL CARRIER” and that’s it.
The ends seem different. Combined with 1st year OLB’s, it could lead to some big off tackle running plays. I could see Kendricks and Holt having to do a lot of cleanup duty. The Oregon game could be treacherous. Of course, if Tiny blows up the backfield before it can really get going…
King and Colemen are both huge, freakishly talented players…I don’t get how they can even keep quiet behind the likes of an Owusu. A good sign that “order is restored” in the locker room, imo. In all likeliness, Cal will rotate in 9 Dlinemen all game long.
"We lose to Stanford in many sports, but if you want to make a Cal team quit, bring a weapon."
--Coach Clark
I dunno, dline play seems to be a lot of technique to me, in addition to physical talent. Tiny might be enormous and beastly, but will he read the plays quick enough? Get his pad level down? Use his hands to shed blockers? Same with the ends and OLB’s, both in run support and pass rushing situations. The “try to run around the offensive tackle” move usually doesn’t catch the guy off guard more than once, you know…?
by Missing Barry on Aug 25, 2011 8:32 PM PDT up reply actions
I think with DLine play, quality depth up and down is MORE important than having stars. Even huge dline stars like that dude at UCLA who ate us up or Brandon Mebane took 2-4 plays every series on the sideline.
Brian Price. I loved the statline comparison from the 2009 game from when Price was in the game to when he was out. With Price in the game we weren’t moving the needle at all but with him off the field we were averaging something ridiculous like 10 yards per play.
"Let me tell you a story. I was a political prisoner for two years. The instant I was released I ran to McDonald's. I had a Big Mac and a Coke.
It was fantastic."
-Toyama Koichi, US Presidential candidate from Japan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGZqOkeYbB0
I think depth is less important than the caliber of your starters, since they take a majority of the snaps.
Or at least they do if there’s a large dropoff in talent. If you’re working with a group of 6-8 similarly talented players, why wouldn’t you rotate them aggressively?
"Let me tell you a story. I was a political prisoner for two years. The instant I was released I ran to McDonald's. I had a Big Mac and a Coke.
It was fantastic."
-Toyama Koichi, US Presidential candidate from Japan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGZqOkeYbB0
True, the bigger the gap, the more you’ll play your starters.
by Missing Barry on Aug 25, 2011 10:46 PM PDT up reply actions
Exactly. In our case, I think there might not be as big a gap, so we should be able to spread the snaps around pretty well.
California Golden Bears: 2nd place is nothing to sneeze at!
by atomsareenough on Aug 26, 2011 10:08 AM PDT up reply actions
Stopping the run
My only concern is while sacking the QB is the highlight reel stuff on defense, keeping the offenses in 3rd and long wins games, and makes sacks more likely. Just look at Cal’s anemic offense last year as we could not sustain drives. I hope Tosh’s scheme is predicated on run stops.
