Defensive Line – 2008 and Beyond
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May 25, 2007 by
The good news is that in 2008 Nebraska will have several experienced and seemingly very talented lineman available for the 2008 season. The bad news is that many of them will be eligible for the NFL draft after the 2007 season, and if they shine brightly enough in this fall, we may not see them back in 2008.
Hard to believe that Ndamukong Suh and Barry Turner will have been in Lincoln for three years after this season, but it’s true. Either one could emerge as a dominant force in 2007 which means either might have a ticket to the first round of the NFL draft.
Beyond those two, there are a plethora of options for 2008 (and I don’t use the word “plethora” lightly). Among the players already on campus Ty Steinkuhler, Clayton Sievers, Zach Potter, and Shukree Barfield will be seniors, Craig Roark and David Harvey will be juniors, and Ben Martin, Pierre Allen, and Seth Jensen will be sophomores.
In 2008, the new arrivals this fall should be ready to contribute. Joseph Townsend will have either two or three years of eligibility remaining and Kevin Dixon will have one. Then there’s an entire unit’s worth of freshman joining this fall including Jared Crick, Terrence Moore, Demetrious Davis, and William Yancy that will have had the benefit of a year with the team.
You could probably assemble a nice starting unit with the sophomores and upperclassman already on campus for 2008. Add up the “star power” of the players arriving this fall and you have a unit that can be pretty special in the years to come. Not to mention anyone that they recruit between now and February. And all of the recent bounty of offensive lineman could trickle over to help the defense. It’s easy to imagine Jaivorio Burkes as a force on defense after seeing him on film.
As is true just about anywhere on the roster, the future’s so bright, you gotta wear UV-protected eyewear (“shades” is so 1980’s).
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James Moore May 29 07
I tell me friends (I live in the Washington, D.C. area) who ask me all the time about Nebraska football. There's not a whole lot of people in Husker Nation out here but people do remember Husker fans when they meet them. I told them that after the spring game that when we played USC last year we had 30-35 players who could play with USC's man-for-man. After the spring game it was obvious that this was beginning to get to around 50-55 (note Thenarse, Young, Witt, Cuthbert, and others whom I can't recall at this exact moment). This article ties into this. Depth is beginning to accrue across both lines. Once we get the secondary and LB's there were set. Important year for us. We must win the Big 12 North, win 10 games and at the very least be in the Cotton Bowl again. Don't think that this is too much to ask, is it?
'sa blang thang Jun 01 07
JM,
I 'down' with it!