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Monday, August 6, 2007
Rating the SEC’s defensive linemen
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Pat Dye told me a long time ago that the thing that separates the SEC from other leagues is its defensive linemen. Not only are they big, they are very fast and they know how to hit.
Just ask Ohio State.
In the final NCAA statistics for 2006, the SEC placed three defenses in the top 8 (No. 3 LSU, No. 6 Florida, No. 8 Georgia) and three more in the top 26 (No. 19 Auburn, No. 23 Alabama, No. 26 Arkansas).
They all had great defensive linemen.
So here are my top five defensive linemen in the SEC as we head into the 2007 season. If you disagree, I’d be interested to see your top five.
1. Glenn Dorsey, DT, Sr., LSU: This one’s easy. Dorsey should be an NFL millionaire right now but he wanted to come back and see if he could lead LSU to a national championship. He’s the best defensive lineman in college football.
2. Derrick Harvey, DE, Jr., Florida: Ohio State’s Troy Smith is still having nightmares about this guy. He was the defensive MVP in the BCS championship game with three sacks. Speed, Speed, Speed.
3. Quentin Groves, DE, Sr., Auburn: Groves has 23 career sacks and needs just four more to become the all-time leader at Auburn. He has posted seven multiple sack games in his career and is on the watch list for every major defensive award for which he is eligible.
4. Tyson Jackson, DE, Jr., LSU: Will combine with Glenn Dorsey to give LSU the best defensive end/tackle combination in the country. Had 10 tackles for loss as a sophomore. He’ll be a first-team All-SEC player.
5. Antwain Robinson, Jr., DE, Arkansas: The Hogs lost Jamaal Anderson to the Atlanta Falcons but the Hogs return Robinson, who had 14.5 tackles for loss as a sophomore.
HONORABLE MENTION
Titus Brown, Sr., DT, Miss. State: Was a second team All-SEC pick last season. Over his career he has 23.5 tackles for loss.
Wallace Gilberry, DE, Sr., Alabama: After a solid junior season where he posted 10 tackles for loss and three quarterback sacks, Gilberry is ready to have a monster senior year.
Marcus Harrison, Sr., DT Arkansas: Harrison is still trying to recover from ACL surgery on April 10. But if this guy gets on the field in September at full speed, he just might be an All-SEC player.
Sen’Derrick Marks, DE, Soph., Auburn: Played 13 games at defensive tackle last season as a freshman. Last spring the coaches moved him to DE where he will get a lot of opportunities to make plays against offenses worried about Quentin Groves.
Xavier Mitchell, DE, Sr., Tennessee: The Vols were ranked No. 8 in every major defensive category that matters last season. That won’t change until the guys up front start making some plays. Mitchell had 13 quarterback hurries last season.