Starting NT Romney Fuga was blocked dangerously and illegally (and dirtily, unless you are one of 20,000 UNR fans, 25,000 on a good day) against Nevada last weekend. His knee requires surgery and he is out for the year. He was the only DL in the rotation above 300 pounds. There are two other freshmen, 300-pound DL.
How do you change the rotation? My thought is to move Eathyn Manumaleuna back to the middle. We have enough freshmen playing right now. Manumaleuna is playing in the 280's right now. He's played the position before. He is best "big" linemen BYU has on defense right now.
The D-Line is the thinnest spot on the defense. One more injury and BYU will have to go to more and more freshmen. For now, play Santa Claus in the middle. He is the best chance of holding down that middle. Besides, whoever you plug in at DE for Manumaleuna has Jordan Pendleton behind him to help ease him into the additional playing time.
And, after writing last week, I am happy to report that I still like Corby Eason better than Brian Logan or Brandon Bradley, and we have a much larger sample size this week. Logan, again, made a lot of nice tackles AFTER the catch, but Eason actually covered guys. If Logan could do the same, it'd help the D-Line get pressure and help the entire defense. It's tough to hit the QB when he has an open option right from the get-go.
I think your idea is the only option unless there is some freshman we haven't heart about.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I know that is the plan, but there haven't been any definitive statements about it. I suppose the real question would be how the rotation will work at D-End.
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