In my unbiased opinion, I think we do

When I look at our roster, it's insane how much depth we have this year at DL.

DT Jalen Williams Sr 6'3 310 (Arkansas)
DT Quentin Bivens Sr. 6'3 305 (Ole Miss)
DT Armondous Cooley R-So. 6'3 305 (Mississippi State)
DT Brodarius Lewis Jr. 6'2 295
DT Josh Ratcliff Sr. 6'0 302
DT DeMeco Roland R-Jr. 6'3 340
DT Kyle Carter R-So. 6'3 270
DT Trace White R-Jr. 6'3 280
DE Eric Thomas Jr. 6'2 275 (Arkansas)
DE Kristin Booth Jr. 6'3 260
DE/OLB Jalil Clemons R-Jr. 6'3 240 (Memphis)
DE/OLB Josh Carr Jr. R-Sr. 6'4 240
DE/OLB Averie Habas Sr. 6'3 242

And we've still got about 5 or 6 more Freshmen behind them. I don't know how they're going to play all these guys. Any one of these guys can play on any given play. I'd put this DL up against any DL in the G5. I cannot WAIT until Sept 2nd! These guys are going to wreak havoc this year.

Should be very good, but gotta give the nod to Troy

BAN Richard Jibunor
NT Buddha Jones
DT TJ Jackson
DE Javon Solomon

These four guys are all monsters. if you double one, you will get creamed by another. We just added JUCO All American DE Raymond Cutts to the line. Was a 4 star out of high school and will be a beast on the line. Depth is good behind those guys as well.

Won't matter if that offense doesn't work.

Southern Miss may have the biggest and deepest, but Troy's pass rushers in Jubinor, Jackson and Soloman are legit. S. Ala has there front back minus Rias. USM was 8th in the conference vs the run last season. That will have to improve.
Brodarius Lewis has outgrown the DE spot, and is now up to 305. He's adds beef and athleticism on the interior. After a red shirt year Demeco Roland 6'3" 330 has his weight under control and a bum knee healed. He could be that 2 gap NT USM didn't really have last year.

No.

I think this group will be very good, but I think it is a stretch to currently say they are the best of the G5 DL. It is very nice to be 3 deep at each DL position and have some others with legit talent that will be coming up behind them that will just need to add some strength and experience in a D1 program.

(07-25-2023 11:21 AM)TroyFootball05 Wrote:  Should be very good, but gotta give the nod to Troy

BAN Richard Jibunor
NT Buddha Jones
DT TJ Jackson
DE Javon Solomon

These four guys are all monsters. if you double one, you will get creamed by another. We just added JUCO All American DE Raymond Cutts to the line. Was a 4 star out of high school and will be a beast on the line. Depth is good behind those guys as well.

Jibunor, Jackson, and Solomon were voted All-SBC players... and Jones is a 6' 3", 305 lb. behemoth.

Southern Miss only had one DL on the All-SBC teams.

Hard to give USM the nod when Troy already has those guys. Not saying USM's D-Line won't be a monster...

(07-25-2023 01:02 PM)CardinalBlackTrojan Wrote:  

(07-25-2023 11:21 AM)TroyFootball05 Wrote:  Should be very good, but gotta give the nod to Troy

BAN Richard Jibunor
NT Buddha Jones
DT TJ Jackson
DE Javon Solomon

These four guys are all monsters. if you double one, you will get creamed by another. We just added JUCO All American DE Raymond Cutts to the line. Was a 4 star out of high school and will be a beast on the line. Depth is good behind those guys as well.

Jibunor, Jackson, and Solomon were voted All-SBC players... and Jones is a 6' 3", 305 lb. behemoth.

Southern Miss only had one DL on the All-SBC teams.

Hard to give USM the nod when Troy already has those guys. Not saying USM's D-Line won't be a monster...

based on the 'analysis' to date, I'm looking at U4x.5 as a 'must play' for the season ender ... toss in injuries, and it's already sounding like 20-14 either way...

If you believe the reports from App's Spring Practice, I'd expect App's defensive line to be back to what we were used to seeing. Quite a few 6'4 to 6'6 260+ lb defensive ends transferred in and provided the pass rush App was missing in 2022 from the line. Mind you App's offensive line has historically been on of the best, if not the best, in the Sun Belt in pass blocking.

We will see what happens :)

I'll believe the hype about Southern Miss when I see it. I understand the optimism but with the same dysfunction on offense, if it persists, it's going to be another wtf year.

(07-25-2023 11:21 AM)TroyFootball05 Wrote:  Should be very good, but gotta give the nod to Troy

BAN Richard Jibunor
NT Buddha Jones
DT TJ Jackson
DE Javon Solomon

These four guys are all monsters. if you double one, you will get creamed by another. We just added JUCO All American DE Raymond Cutts to the line. Was a 4 star out of high school and will be a beast on the line. Depth is good behind those guys as well.

Not too shabby TF5, but South's DL is noubt the best in the west.

You know, USM fans when they are winning remind me a lot of what Georgia Southern fans are like when they are winning. Solid twitter game, general strong bravado, mixed into the occasional "Don't you all agree that we are the best in the G5" type posts.

(07-25-2023 08:43 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  You know, USM fans when they are winning remind me a lot of what Georgia Southern fans are like when they are winning. Solid twitter game, general strong bravado, mixed into the occasional "Don't you all agree that we are the best in the G5" type posts.

Nailed it. We even do it when we are average lol. Don't get mad at me, my fellow USM folks, you know its true.

(07-26-2023 08:07 AM)USM3000 Wrote:  

(07-25-2023 08:43 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  You know, USM fans when they are winning remind me a lot of what Georgia Southern fans are like when they are winning. Solid twitter game, general strong bravado, mixed into the occasional "Don't you all agree that we are the best in the G5" type posts.

Nailed it. We even do it when we are average lol. Don't get mad at me, my fellow USM folks, you know its true.

Yep.. And if we lose a game we turn into Auburn fans and want to fire everybody and they mama.

Actually I feel the Sunbelt will end up having 6 of the top 10 DLs among all G5 when you look at PFF at the end of the year. That’s major since we are also likely to be the best G5 RB conference also.

No easy conference games this year, need to make your statements OOC.

(07-25-2023 10:35 AM)TTT Wrote:  In my unbiased opinion, I think we do

When I look at our roster, it's insane how much depth we have this year at DL.

DT Jalen Williams Sr 6'3 310 (Arkansas)
DT Quentin Bivens Sr. 6'3 305 (Ole Miss)
DT Armondous Cooley R-So. 6'3 305 (Mississippi State)
DT Brodarius Lewis Jr. 6'2 295
DT Josh Ratcliff Sr. 6'0 302
DT DeMeco Roland R-Jr. 6'3 340
DT Kyle Carter R-So. 6'3 270
DT Trace White R-Jr. 6'3 280
DE Eric Thomas Jr. 6'2 275 (Arkansas)
DE Kristin Booth Jr. 6'3 260
DE/OLB Jalil Clemons R-Jr. 6'3 240 (Memphis)
DE/OLB Josh Carr Jr. R-Sr. 6'4 240
DE/OLB Averie Habas Sr. 6'3 242

And we've still got about 5 or 6 more Freshmen behind them. I don't know how they're going to play all these guys. Any one of these guys can play on any given play. I'd put this DL up against any DL in the G5. I cannot WAIT until Sept 2nd! These guys are going to wreak havoc this year.

Hmmm…what SBC DL had the best result in stopping the run? I believe that unit was second only to Georgia if my memory is correct.

Once again the Dukes defensive front is being overlooked.

(07-27-2023 06:21 AM)BleedingPurple Wrote:  Once again the Dukes defensive front is being overlooked.

I suppose it’s still preseason so facts don’t matter.

JMU lost one defensive player to the portal, otherwise return all its starters on D, and something like 13 of its top 16 players.

Marshall and Troy will have excellent Ds too. Overall, the SBC will boast some top defenses this year. Well, except maybe for CC.

We will have the deepest and most talented lineup on both fronts since 2015. That's not saying much considering how the talent level faltered under Hopson. Hall has worked hard to build quality depth. But there's no need to be hyperbolic about where we are. Let's see it on the field first.

You just never know how players will mesh until you see live snaps. A lot of teams have the potential to be good given the off season adds.

One thing I do know, is that DL is my biggest concern at A-State. I think we will be better than last year at every single position on the field except for DL, and possibly QB. (Because we will have a competition and it is unknown at the moment)