Defensive Pass rush

[abw0004 10,110]

19 hours ago, AUld fAUx@ said:

News re: a returner,

 

‘…Davidson has more sacks and tackles for loss to his name than any other lineman on Auburn’s 2017 roster. He’s expected to be a leader up front after breaking out as a potential star with his high-energy style in 2016.

“With Carl Lawson gone this fall, Davidson will need to quickly transition from D-line prodigy into an All-SEC caliber force,” [SI’s] Becht wrote. “

[insertion mine]

https://www.seccountry.com/auburn/auburn-football-marlon-davidson-top-100-players-sports-illustrated

 

Although I hope this is true, it may also be an issue.  It is like in 2015 with Mon Adams after Carl Lawson went down.  He was double teamed every play and was ruled almost ineffective.  Davidson will most likely be facing a lot of double teams, which should hopefully open the door for Holland on the other side.  So I would not be surprised if his "stats" go down and the other three DL's stats go up due to this.  Does not mean Davidson is regressing, but that teams are too worried about his abilities so an extra OL or RB is pulled to cover him.

[Sani-Freeze 552]

On 6/19/2017 at 10:18 PM, bigbird said:

Senderrick Marks played at around 280-290

Marks was freakishly athletic. I get the weight similarity, but otherwise haven't seen enough explosiveness from Cowart to draw that comparison yet.

[bigbird 60,457]

36 minutes ago, Sani-Freeze said:

Marks was freakishly athletic. I get the weight similarity, but otherwise haven't seen enough explosiveness from Cowart to draw that comparison yet.

Agreed, he is quick, but not for a DE. I believe he will be able to use his quickness at DT much better

[McLoofus 35,182]

1 hour ago, bigbird said:

Agreed, he is quick, but not for a DE. I believe he will be able to use his quickness at DT much better

Very comfortable with this concept. We see safeties become very good linebackers all the time. No reason we can't see DEs become very good DTs for the same reason. Probably also happens frequently, just hasn't much at Auburn. 

[Tiger 8,818]

I'm concerned about our ability to get to the QB with just rushing 4. It seems last year we improved on this slightly from past years but we had 2 seniors that have departed the program. I expect big things from Davidson and Brown but not this year. It's unfair to them to hope the sophomore versions of themselves will be able to step in and continue the production of 2 senior NFL draftees. I think both Brown and Davidson will be good for us this year but I don't think they are ready to truly anchor the line. JMO based on how roster turnover has treated us in the past.

[auol72 188]

Not to be a fly in the negative vibe here but Holland, Williams and James, two Jr's and a Sr, can get after the quarterback pretty good. those three plus Davidson and Brown and D. Russell are six guys who are interchangeable for the starting spots. We do really need two or three more guys to step up. I agree with the other posters that Cowart has the ability to be one of those three. I also think that freshman TDM will be another, he will play at 240 or so by first game. Hopefully Nick Coe will be another and it would be a great story if Tashawn Manning was the other and he looked really good early in spring before getting nicked up. Rodney likes to play 10 and that is 10, Big Cat giving us anything would just be icing on the cake and i am not counting on that at this time.

[McLoofus 35,182]

19 minutes ago, Tiger said:

I'm concerned about our ability to get to the QB with just rushing 4. It seems last year we improved on this slightly from past years but we had 2 seniors that have departed the program. I expect big things from Davidson and Brown but not this year. It's unfair to them to hope the sophomore versions of themselves will be able to step in and continue the production of 2 senior NFL draftees. I think both Brown and Davidson will be good for us this year but I don't think they are ready to truly anchor the line. JMO based on how roster turnover has treated us in the past.

Hard to imagine Brown quite filling Adams's shoes, but honestly... honestly truly... I think Davidson can fill Lawson's. *ducks* *runs*

Dialing it back ever so slightly, if we can get teams behind the sticks, I think that we might have the most athletic front 4 we've had since Tubs was here. If we go with Davidson, Brown, Cowart and Holland* on 3rd and long, good luck trying to block all those guys. 

*I think he's going to... you know what? Nevermind. Shut up Loof. 

[Tiger 8,818]

33 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Hard to imagine Brown quite filling Adams's shoes, but honestly... honestly truly... I think Davidson can fill Lawson's. *ducks* *runs*

Dialing it back ever so slightly, if we can get teams behind the sticks, I think that we might have the most athletic front 4 we've had since Tubs was here. If we go with Davidson, Brown, Cowart and Holland* on 3rd and long, good luck trying to block all those guys. 

*I think he's going to... you know what? Nevermind. Shut up Loof. 

I get what you're saying about CL. His rep around here seems to surpass his production. And that's with him having a very good senior year for us. But yes, that'll be the key if we can force teams into passing situations we can cause some problems. Don't forget about James Paul III coming off the edge too. I just feel like our DL consistently seems to struggle to get off of blocks. If Davidson can realize his potential sooner rather than later it'll be a big help.

[lionheartkc 6,150]

3 hours ago, Tiger said:

I expect big things from Davidson and Brown but not this year. It's unfair to them to hope the sophomore versions of themselves will be able to step in and continue the production of 2 senior NFL draftees.

The think about Brown and Davidson is that they were playing like sophomores, even juniors, as freshmen.  Add to that the fact that the most improvement a player sees is usually between year 1&2, and this could easily be their year.

2 hours ago, Tiger said:

I get what you're saying about CL. His rep around here seems to surpass his production. And that's with him having a very good senior year for us.

The thing people seem to forget about Lawson is, even without the numbers, the team always played better when he was on the field. He provided a combination of leadership and distraction for the other team. Its yet to be seen if others will fill those shoes.

[AUpreacherman22 3,884]

I'm hoping JP3 becomes that guy at buck. We pretty much know what we have with Holland, and if JP3 is better, I like that position a lot. 

I am most interested in seeing what we get from Coe and Cowart. I think these 2 have the potential to breakout and be stars this year, but it's just potential at this point.  We've been waiting on Cowart for a while now. This position change should be a big difference for him. And it's probably a little too soon to expect Coe to be a star  

IMHO, our DL will be pretty good (worst case) to elite (best case).  And as usual, we should expect somewhere in between.  

[McLoofus 35,182]

29 minutes ago, AUpreacherman22 said:

I'm hoping JP3 becomes that guy at buck. We pretty much know what we have with Holland, and if JP3 is better, I like that position a lot. 

I am most interested in seeing what we get from Coe and Cowart. I think these 2 have the potential to breakout and be stars this year, but it's just potential at this point.  We've been waiting on Cowart for a while now. This position change should be a big difference for him. And it's probably a little too soon to expect Coe to be a star  

IMHO, our DL will be pretty good (worst case) to elite (best case).  And as usual, we should expect somewhere in between.  

I dunno. I think there's a chance that this is the season where the light goes on and he starts playing on instinct and muscle memory. Take some of the real-time decision making out of the equation and I think a sleeping giant might wake up this year. Still possible that JP3 is better, and I too would be fine with that. But I don't think we've seen nearly the best of Holland. 

Agree very much about Coe and Cowart. 

[boisnumber1 2,818]

Think PJ3 is being overlooked a little. He looked like the real deal last year before his injury. If he comes back 100% I think he has a better year than Holland. Would be nice for both to be for real though.