Will the 2012 DE's be better than the 2008 DE's?

[huskypantz]

In 2008, we had a phenomenal set of DE's - IMO our best group ever. Cody Brown was a 2nd round pick, Julius Williams made an NFL roster and Lindsey Whitten had a solid 4-year career. Here are the 2008 stats:

2008
|--------Tackles--------| |-Sacks-| |---Pass Def---| |-Fumbles-| Blkd
GP Solo Ast Total TFL/Yds No-Yds Int-Yds BrUp QBH Rcv-Yds FF Kick Saf
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
50 Brown, Cody
13 32 23 55 15.5-57 10.0-47 . 8 . 1-0 4 1 .
45 WILLIAMS, Ju.
13 21 20 41 12.0-69 7.0-53 . . . . 1 . .
9 Witten, Lindsey
11 9 10 19 6.0-37 5.0-36 . 3 2 1-0 . . .

The 2012 group returns 2nd team all-BE Williams, whose stats speak for themselves. I expect Joseph to have a bounceback year - it took him a while to get up to full speed last year following the injury and you can see the difference in his 2010 to 2011 stat comparison. Jennings had a nice start to the season but seemed to get a little banged up/worn down. Not sure if McBryde doesn't end up at DT with one of the smaller DT's moving to the edge - or maybe split time. Williams and Joseph are playmakers - I expect Williams to be a terror in the backfield and stronger against the run. A healthy Joseph makes it tough on offensive blocking schemes - one on one with a tackle will be a field day, inside help frees up Stephen, Wirth etc. Either way, I think we are going to have a deeper group of DE's and I think they can top the on-field accomplishments of the 2008 squad. Should be fun to watch.

2011
GP Solo Ast Total TFL-Yds No-Yds Int-Yds BU PD Qbh Rcv-Yds FF Kick Saf
48 WILLIAMS, Trev.
12 26 17 43 15.0-97 12.5-83 . 2 2 1 . 2 . .
91 Joseph, Jesse
9 11 18 29 2.5-13 1.0-8 . 1 1 6 2-0 . . .
98 JENNINGS, Teddy
10 11 14 25 8.0-33 3.5-21 . 1 1 1 . . . .
97 McBryde, B.J.
3 1 . 1 . . . . . . . .

2010
|--------Tackles--------| |-Sacks-| |---Pass Def---| |-Fumbles-| Blkd
DEFENSIVE LEADERS GP Solo Ast Total TFL/Yds No-Yds Int-Yds BrUp QBH Rcv-Yds FF Kick Saf
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
91 JOSEPH, Jessee 12 25 14 39 12.0-67 8.5-61 . . 1 . 1 . .

 

[mattp]

i think our line is going to be great this year. even replacing both DTs, who were great DTs obviously, i think our defense is going to be dominant this year and it'll start up front. i don't know if our DEs will be better players than those 3, but i think our more aggressive defense will lead to more numbers in general. Whitten and Brown had to get theirs rushing 4 on most downs. Trevardo's numbers last season were ridiculous when you consider how many downs he actually played, and i expect our dline to have better over all numbers

 

[huskypantz]

I agree on the DLine overall- I was bullish on Stephen last year, this year I think he's going to be a force at DT and NT. It will be interesting to see whether we go more 4-3 or 3-4. Maybe they're keeping McBryde at DE despite his size because they want him and Joseph to be the strong side DE's in the 3-4. I hope to see Trev become a star in the mold of Bruce Irvin.

 

[Uconnalliance]

Think Teddy's gonna have another big yr boy has a killer motor. Trevardo is Trevardo he should be a decent pick in next yrs draft.