Lack of Size a Big Problem?
I’m apparently not the only one to envision opposing offenses training their big guns on Wake Forest’s less-than-imposing defensive front.
“I would,’’ Coach Jim Grobe of the Deacons said yesterday. “I would with those guys in there.’‘
Boo Robinson’s career didn’t exactly peak during his senior season, but he and the 6-0, 285-pound Michael Lockett did provide bulk and muscle as well as experience. Of the freshmen and sophomores looking to fill the breach left by Robinson, Lockett and John Russell, only sophomore Ramon Booi, at 6-6, 300 pounds, and redshirt freshman Frank Souza, at 6-4, 285 pounds, have the size we’ve come to expect to see in a defensive tackle.
Souza appears a good bet to start at nose guard. He’s had a good camp, and I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t start again at the scrimmage scheduled for 3 p.m. this afternoon at BB&T Field.
Other defensive linemen vying for time are Kris Redding, John Gallagher, Nikita Whitlock and Daniel Vogelsang. Redding is a 6-4, 255-pound redshirt freshman who started the first scrimmage last Saturday. Gallagher is a 6-4, 255-pound redshirt freshman who has missed some valuable practice time with first a hyper-extended elbow and, more recently, a sore ankle. Whitlock 5-11, 235-pound redshirt freshman. converted from linebacker. Vogelsang is a 6-3, 235-pound freshman who enrolled in January and had the benefit of practices in the spring.
All can move. All will have to in order to survive playing in the trenches in the ACC.
“Those guys, the biggest problem they’ve got is they’ve got to get their cleats in the ground a little better because they’re getting knocked off the football—which is nice if the O-line is doing that, but not good when we line up and play the people we’re going to play against,’’ Grobe said. “I like a lot of those young kids, but they’ve got to be a little bit more physical. We’ve got two more weeks to get them there, but that’s my biggest concern with those guys like Kris Redding. We’re capable and we’re wanting to, but we’re giving too much ground at times.
“If you spend too much time at linebacker level, if you’re a defensive-front guy, then that’s not a good thing.’‘
Grobe is concerned, but has never been one to panic.
“At the same time, when you look at Souza and Booi, you put those guys down there and they’re bigger than some of our offensive linemen,’’ Grobe said. “So it depends on who you’ve got in. I think we’ve got a pretty good mix of big guys and then guys who have great feet and can move their feet and get to the football.
“It wouldn’t surprise me a bit if we ended up in a situation where we’re (rotating) six nose guards and tackles in there, where we’re three-deep at both positions and keeping them fresh and rolling them series after series.’‘