Auburn Football 2011: How Do the Interior Defensive Lines Measure Up?

After reviewing the available talent for each team at the defensive tackle position, there are some fairly good assumptions that can be made.

The SEC champion is usually decided by dominant line play. No other conference comes close to sending as many successful linemen to the NFL as the SEC year in, year out. The reason for this is size and agility. It was largely superb line play that led both Alabama and Auburn to the last two BCS Championships.

Let us take a look at some of these successful linemen from the past.

Defensive Tackles

Team	Player Name	Height and Weight
Auburn	Nick Fairley	6’5” 295 pounds
Auburn	Zach Clayton	6’3” 296 pounds
Auburn	Mike Blanc	6’4” 297 pounds
Alabama	Marcell Dareus	6’4” 310 pounds
Alabama	Terrance Cody	6’5” 365 pounds

The common denominator for all of these linemen is that all are 6’3” or taller and are in excess of 290 pounds. Height is a great indicator of reach and a long reach is essential for any defensive lineman in the SEC. If a defensive lineman does not have enough reach to break off the offensive lineman’s clinch, he will not be successful in a conference where every team has NFL quality offensive linemen.

Zach Clayton of Auburn possesses astonishing speed for a man his size and has been timed in the 4.5 range in the forty. He was one of the hardest workers and most intense players on the 2010 Auburn team according to team mates, but his lack of reach decreased his effectiveness when compared to his team mates Blanc and Fairley. He contributed 22 tackles and one sack along with eight quarterback hurries in 2010.

Nick Fairley produced 48 tackles, 11.5 sacks and 10 quarterback hurries. Mike Blanc produced 20 tackles, 2.5 sacks and five quarterback hurries as a backup for Clayton and Fairley.

Marcell Dareus produced 26.5 tackles, 4.5 sacks and 10 quarterback hurries for Alabama in 2010. Josh Chapman, a teammate of Dareus and one of the strongest players in college football, is 6’1” and 310 pounds. He played more downs than Dareus but only produced 24.5 tackles and one sack with no quarterback hurries in 2010.

Any NFL scout will tell you that a lack of reach is very difficult to overcome for an interior defensive lineman. One simply can’t train past the lack of a physical attribute.

The general rule for a successful interior defensive lineman in the SEC is a player preferably taller than 6’3” and more than 290 pounds. These are certainly not the only requirements, but they do make the other requirements easier to achieve.

Using these criteria the following is a potential power ranking for the SEC West interior defensive lines for 2011.

SEC West

1. Auburn

This pick is going to cause howls across the college football spectrum after what has been reported for Auburn so far. In truth, it is the defensive ends that will be the best on the 2011 Auburn team. This does not keep their defensive tackles from having the most physical tools of any team in the SEC West.

Defensive Tackle	Jeffrey Whitaker	6’3” 310 pounds
Defensive Tackle	Kenneth Carter	6’5” 290 pounds
Defensive Tackle	Angelo Blackson	6’5” 295 pounds
Defensive Tackle	Gabe Wright	6’4” 310 pounds
Defensive Tackle	Devaunte Sigler	6’4” 255 pounds
Defensive Tackle	Jabrian Niles	6’3” 260 pounds
Defensive Tackle	Jamar Travis	6’0” 295 pounds

2. Alabama

Everyone is predicting this for the Tide this season. The problem is that they need seven large linemen to cover their 3-4 scheme as opposed to the five needed in a 4-3 set. They do not have seven men that meet the top criteria specifications, but they do have enough to be ranked second in the SEC West.

Nose Tackle	Josh Chapman	6’1” 310 pounds
Nose Tackle	Jesse Williams	6’4” 330 pounds
Nose Tackle	Nick Gentry	6’1” 280 pounds
Nose Tackle	Brandon Ivory	6’4” 336 pounds
Defensive End	Damien Square	6’3” 285 pounds
Defensive End	Quinton Dial	6’6” 310 pounds
Defensive End	Undra Billingsley	6’2” 270 pounds
Defensive End	Ed Stinson	6’4” 253 pounds
Defensive End	Brandon Lewis	6’3” 270 pounds

3. Arkansas

This is no surprise as everyone in Arkansas expects a stronger defensive line in 2011.

Defensive Tackle	DeQuinta Jones	6’5” 310 pounds
Defensive Tackle	Robert Thomas	6’3” 325 pounds
Defensive Tackle	Lavunce Askew	6’3” 290 pounds
Defensive Tackle	Jeremiah Jackson	6’3” 281 pounds

4. LSU

LSU is known for a strong interior line, and 2011 will be no exception. They are placed fourth in the SEC West due to the abundance of talent on other teams in their division. They have solid talent to field a very effective five man rotation for their interior line.  

Defensive Tackle	Michael Brockers	6’6” 300 pounds
Defensive Tackle	Josh Downs	6’1” 278 pounds
Defensive Tackle	Ego Ferguson	6’3” 286 pounds
Defensive Tackle	Anthony Johnson	6’3” 296 pounds
Defensive Tackle	Bennie Logan	6’3” 285 pounds
Defensive Tackle	Chris Davenport	6’4” 318 pounds
Nose Tackle	Mickey Johnson	6’0” 310 pounds

5. Mississippi State

Has a very ferocious defensive line, but only have three players on the roister that meet the criteria of this article. This lands them in the fifth slot in a very competitive SEC West.

Defensive Tackle	Josh Boyd	6’3” 295 pounds
Defensive Tackle	Curtis Virges	6’3” 300 pounds
Defensive Tackle	Fletcher Cox	6’4” 295 pounds

6. Mississippi

After searching the roster several times, there appears to be only one interior defensive lineman at Mississippi that meets the criteria for this article. This places them in a solid sixth position in the SEC West this season.

Defensive Tackle

Justin Smith

6’3” 298 pounds

As was mentioned earlier, the criteria for this article was physical attributes. There is no way of measuring the effort and desire of each individual player. This is simply an indicator of what might be.