SB Nation - Brandon Sesay

Taking a Breath :: Looking Ahead to the Texas Tech Defense of 2010

Seth C — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:00:29 -0000

by Dave Weaver - AP

Nebraska's Chris Brooks (1), is brought down by Texas Tech's Cody Davis, in the second half of their NCAA college football game in Lincoln, Neb., Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009. Texas Tech beat Nebraska 31-10.(AP Photo/Dave Weaver)

View full size photo »

THE DEFENSE

With the football bye week, DTN is taking this opportunity to look at Texas Tech's offense and defense in 2010. Up today is a look at the 2-deep, the talented players who are on the roster, but have not contributed much this year, the 2010 defensive recruiting class and a look back at the past 5 years recruits and the washout rate of players who were recruited by Texas Tech.

Who Returns (2010 Projected 2-Deep)

POSITION	PLAYER	STATS	YEAR
DE	Ryan Haliburton	6-4/245	SO
	Aundrey Barr	6-3/238	RS FR
	Christopher Knighton	6-3/240	RS FR
	Kerry Hyder	6-3/255	RS FR
DT	Colby Whitlock	6-2/287	SR
	Chris Perry	6-4/300	JR
	Pearlie Graves	6-1/278	RS FR
	Myles Wade	6-2/340	JR
LB	Bront Bird	6-3/240	SR
	Brian Duncan	6-1/240
	Tyrone Sonier	6-2/225	JR
	Sam Fehoko	5-11/220	JR
	Brandon Mahoney	6-2/203	RS FR
	Dion Chidozie	6-1/194	RS FR
CB	LaRon Moore	5-9/200	SR
	Taylor Charbonnet	5-10/175	JR
	D.J. Johnson	6-0/170	SO
	Yashua Williams	6-3/181	RS FR
S	Franklin Mitchem	6-2/198	SR
	Cody Davis	6-2/200	SO
	Brett Dewhurst	6-0/193	JR
	Will Ford	6-1/186	SO

If it's not incredibly clear, the weakness of this team will be at defensive end. I've mentioned this a couple of times and for 2 years straight, Texas Tech is losing quite a bit of production from the defensive end position. The key to all of this is that no one has seen any of these guys play on the collegiate level, other than Haliburton, who has done reasonably well in some spot duty early in the season and filling in for Howard, Sharpe and Henley during the early part of the season when there were so many injuries.

The strength of the defense will be up front with the return of Whitlock and Perry, who should form a formidable front and I think there's plenty of talent behind them in Graves and Wade. Much like Jacob Karam, Graves travels with the team and that's an indication that his personality in infectious and reading the tea leaves, he is going to be a player next year. I'd also mention that I do not see any of these tackles moving to defensive end. Perhaps that changes during the spring, but for the time being, I think this is your 2-deep.

Linebacker also returns 2 of the 3 starters from this year. Marlon Williams has been servicable, but he's been virtually non-existent for the better part of conference play, this past weekend's game excluded. You can expect Sonier to fill Williams spot at WLB. I'm also intrigued by Mahoney and Chidozie, who perhaps represent a change in the type of linebacker that Ruffin McNeill wants, which are projectable athletes who can run. If you see a change in philosophy, I think it starts at linebacker and continues to the secondary.

Jamar Wall will be the only player that needs replacement in the secondary next year and Johnson will have to step up his game during the offseason. I think the staff is enamored with his athletic ability, but you saw against TAMU how athletic ability can only carry you so far, he's got to be better from a technique standpoint as well. Ford should also take a step in the right direction this offseason and I may be in the minority, but I'd like to see more Charbonnet and expect Y. Williams to get some time next year as well. All in all, a pretty experienced group returning next year.

Lots more after the jump.

Don't Sleep On

DT: Britton Barbee (6-2/296; SR) and David Neill (6-5/280; JR)
DE: Jonathan Brydon (6-3/220; SR)
LB: None
CB: Jarvis Phillips (6-0/189; RS FR)
S: Jared Flannel (5-11/167; JR); Aaron Charbonnet (5-11/201; RS FR); Andre McCorkle (6-2/204; JR); Daniel Cobb (6-1/211; RS FR) and Terrance Bullitt (6-3/182; RS FR)

I think the only guys that I'm comfortable stating could make an impact from this group is Cobb and Bullitt, although I like Barbee and Neill from a depth perspective

Recruiting

POSITION	PLAYER	STATS	RR	STARS
DE	Kedrick Dial	6-5/215	5.6	3
DE	Jackson Richards	6-4/245	5.8	4
DT	Coby Coleman	6-3/290	5.7	3
DT	Lawrence Rumph	6-4/270	5.7	3
LB	Zac Winbush	6-2/200	5.5	3
DB	Urell Johnson	6-1/185	5.6	3
DB	Desmond Martin	6-0/173	5.6	3
DB	Russell Polk	5-11/200	5.6	3
DB	Tre'Vante Porter	6-0/185	5.7	3
DB	Brandon Smith	6-1/175	5.6	3
AVERAGE			5.63	3.09

If additional recruits are added, I think it's on the defensive side of the ball, namely at defensive end or linebacker. The one guy that I think could get some burn next year is Rumph, especially with the lack of defensive end. Keep in mind that Rumph was luke-warm when he committed to Texas Tech, so I would not count on his commitment until he's actually signed. I think you could also see Richards make an impact next year and Dial is another player who might make a difference next year. Richards is one of the more higher rated players of the class, he's a mature player and already has the size to play defensive end on the collegiate level. At this point, I'd imagine that it's about technique more than anything else. The sleeper of this group might be Martin, who was highly impressive in his film and possibly Porter.

Recruit Trending

YEAR	AVG. RR	AVG. STARS	WASHOUT RATE
2010	5.63	3.09	-
2009	5.57	3.00	2/15 = 13.33%
2008	5.63	3.13	5/8 = 62.50%
2007	5.47	2.70	2/10 = 20.00%
2006	5.53	2.89	7/19 = 36.84%

Disclaimer: I'm using the Rivals recruiting rankings and each player is assigned an RR number and a star.

To explain again, the Washout Rate are players who either never made it on campus or played only 1 year. As you'll note, the 2008 class was small, only 16 recruits total (keep in mind that there will be some classes that are smaller than others and a staff is typically limited to a certain number of scholarships in relation to the number of players on scholarship) but you had guys like Joey Fowler, McKinner Dixon, Broderick Marshall, Brandon Sesay and Brandon Reid (who could return to Texas Tech after a stint at JUCO) that all never made it at Texas Tech. This was Ruffin's first class officially, but this was also the same year that he replaced Setencich. If you wanted to take a look at the year that McNeill was in place early as the defensive coordinator then it's really the 2009 class that's his first class from start of the recruiting season to signing day. In that 2009 class you only had Romario Cathey who never made it on campus and James Scott, another guy who has gone the JUCO route but has a good chance of returning to Lubbock.

SB Nation Big 12 Roundtable - Week 5 Recap

RPT — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:30:14 -0000

This week's SB Nation Big 12 Roundtable Recap takes a look at some of the different thoughts expressed around the Big 12 blogosphere. This week's participants included Corn Nation, Bring On The Cats, Rock M Nation, I Am The 12th Man, Rock Chalk Talk, Double T Nation, Clone Chronicles, and Crimson and Cream Machine.

1. Is it time for the Big 12 to collectively pour one out for the departure of Baylor quarterback Robert "Hot Tub" Griffin? Even if your team benefits from his injury, are you sad to see one of the conference's premier playmakers done for the season?

Beergut of I Am The 12th Man sends his condolences for Baylor losing both an outstanding athlete and a role model:

I think most Big 12 bloggers have already mentioned Griffin's injury, and sent along their condolences in their own way. As I have already pointed out, Griffin's season-ending injury means my pick for first team All-Big 12 QB is done, and my pick for the upset of the year, Baylor over texas in Waco, lost its foundation. Griffin is a thrill to watch on the field when he is playing, and I think all Big 12 bloggers are college football fans at heart, regardless of our team affilitation, so we are all sad to see him out for the year. I think it is also important to note that despite Griffin's freakish athletic ability, he wasn't a brash or cocky person who talked trash or made you hate him; he let his play on the field do the talking for him, in an example of class I wish more athletes would follow. This makes Griffin's injury doubly sad, because he is a positive role model of how exceptional star athletes should act.

2. Play the role of Mythbusters for us. If you could dispel one national perception of your team, what would it be?

TB of Bring On The Cats echoes the sentiments of his colleagues in getting annoyed by the Snyder return talk:

It gets tiring to see various iterations of this theme: "Boy, K-State is bad, I bet Snyder wishes he had stayed retired!" Not because they say we are bad, because we are, but because it completely misses the boat. As bad as we are this year, it doesn't even compare to Snyder's first-first year, 1989. We hadn't won a game in three years and were thrilled when we beat a terrible North Texas team. Clearly, we are a terrible team this year, but we've won two games at this point and have at least hung around in the other two. Granted, we may have seen our last victory of the season, but rest assured that Bill Snyder has seen worse. Much, much worse.

Crimson and Cream Machine takes issue with a few perceptions, both in the long and short terms:

Well, the national perception of Oklahoma is that they are a great team that plays very well in the regular season, wins lots of conference championships but just can't seem to win a bowl game. How am I supposed to dispel that?

I guess that I could point out that Bob Stoops and his team did win the 2000 BCS Championship 13-2 over Florida State in the Orange Bowl, or the 2002 Cotton Bowl, or the 2003 Rose Bowl or even the 2005 Holiday Bowl. I just don't think those answers would suffice. Oh...wait...you mean the actual team on the field?

Well there is the perception that the offensive line if horrible and un-cohesive. I can dispel that very quickly by telling you to look at the last two games. Sure I realize that the competition was Idaho State and Tulsa but the issues with this line weren't physical they were mental. The last eight quarters of Sooner football have shown this unit to be mentally focused to reach their physical potential.

3. Give us the name of one player on each side of the ball on your team that everyone else in the conference may not know about or fully appreciate.

Husker Mike of Corn Nation sends some love the way of an emerging deep threat (and Name of the Year candidate) in the Nebraska receiving corps:

On offense, it's Curenski Gilleylen. He's the deep threat who's averaging nearly 32 yards a catch. Last year, he had the dropsies. This year, he's made some great catches on some huge gainers. Worry too much about the short stuff, and Gilleylen will beat you deep.

Alright, I redact that statement about Gilleylen winning Name of the Year. That honor could very well go to Rock Chalk Talk's defensive nominee in this category:

DE Maxwell Onyegbule. A lot of different directions I could go with this one, but I'll go with Max O. He's been dominant so far this season, finally showing the talent and ability he's only shown flashes of before this season.

Clone Chronicles talks up its under-the-radar tailback:

Alexander Robinson. I would hope everyone else has heard of him, but I don't read much about him at all. For a guy that's 10th in the nation in rushing yards so far, that's really too bad. We've heard all the hype about Helu in Nebraska, but Robinsion is a mere 9 yards behind him in total thus far.

Seth of Double T Nation finds a hidden gem and a silver lining from Tech's exodus of ends:

On the defense, how about DE Daniel Howard. I've had an obvious man-crush on Howard for the better part of the summer and part of that is because you can tell the guy is a hard worker, and although he's not as gifted as the more well-known defensive ends who left early for a various of reasons (Brandon Williams, McKinner Dixon and Brandon Sesay) he is by far one of the hardest workers you'll see at defensive end. And that's not one of those back-handed compliments (i.e., he's scrappy therefore he's a good player), but Howard is a legitimate threat and an offensive tackle cannot afford to take a play off against Howard. Thus far in this young season, Howard has been the steadying force at defensive end as Texas Tech has battled injuries, pulling in 19 tackles and 3 sacks.

4. OU vs. Da U: Who ya' got?

Here's what I had to say at Rock M Nation:

Give me Oklahoma. I know the competition hasn't been top notch, but the Sooner offense seems to have gotten its act together since Week 1. Furthermore, Miami wunderkind Jacory Harris got a dose of reality last week when the speed and aggressiveness of Bud Foster's defense at Virginia Tech completely threw Harris and the Miami offense off rhythm. The bad news for Miami is that Oklahoma has that same kind of speed, a better defensive line, and a somewhat similarly respected defensive mind in Brent Venables.

5. Give us your Offensive Player of the Week, Defensive Player of the Week, and Storyline of the Week for last week.

Offensive Player of the Week: In all, five players garnered nominations, and this week's honors were nearly split between two Missouri Tigers. The combined success of a prodigious Friday night in Reno made the award a race between Danario Alexander and Blaine Gabbert, with Alexander defeating his quarterback three votes to two. Other nominees included Jerrod Johnson, Brandon Banks, and Alexander Robinson.

Defensive Player of the Week: It's a tie for defensive player of the week, as conference award-winner Earl Thomas of Texas and Kansas' Chris Harris each received three votes. Texas' Emmanuel Acho and Missouri's Sean Weatherspoon each earned individual votes as well.

Storyline of the Week: As sad as it is, the tear in Robert Griffin's ACL is the runaway winner. As I type this, I'm beginning to wonder if maybe "runaway winner" was a poor choice of vocabulary.

6. Power Poll! Rank the teams 1-12 based on who would win on a neutral field.

Team (Average ranking)

1. Texas (1.000)
2. Oklahoma (2.000
3. Oklahoma State (4.250)
4. Nebraska (4.500)
5. Missouri (4.625)
6. Kansas (4.875)
7. Texas Tech (7.125)
8. Texas A&M (7.625)
9. Baylor (9.750)
10. Iowa State (10.000)
11. Kansas State (10.750)
12. Colorado (11.500)

SB Nation Big 12 Roundtable :: Week 5

Seth C — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 01:45:42 -0000

This is the fifth installment of the 2009 edition of the SB Nation Big 12 Roundtable. Rock M Nation is once again serving as hosts, and as such, we will have a recap post of the different responses around SBN later in the week.

On to the questions!

1. Is it time for the Big 12 to collectively pour one out for the departure of Baylor quarterback Robert "Hot Tub" Griffin? Even if your team benefits from his injury, are you sad to see one of the conference's premier playmakers done for the season?

I hate that this happened to Griffin. Perhaps it's just me, but I absolutely love playing other teams best players and I take no solace when a player is injured. Add on top of that the fact that Griffin was an unbelievable player who is simply dynamic and you've got me a little sad by the fact that I won't get to see Griffin play in November in Cowboys Stadium against Texas Tech.

2. Play the role of Mythbusters for us. If you could dispel one national perception of your team, what would it be?

Defense? Sure, why not. The Texas Tech defense has been beleagured for years and the truth of the matter is that it's been much deserved for the most part. Even last year when Texas Tech made a big jump in national recognition, the defense still ranked 79th in total defense. We're not talking about a huge improvement, but in this very young season, Texas Tech is ranked 61st in total defense while playing Texas, the #5 ranked team in total offense in the NCAA, and Houston, the #2 ranked team in total offense. Perhaps the best news is that the rush defense, which can sometimes be a indicator of a good defense overall, is ranked 29th in the nation, however, that number is probably skewed because of the 4 teams the Red Raiders have played, none of them are truly strong rushing teams.

The defense isn't quite there yet, but I think there's improvement.

3. Give us the name of one player on each side of the ball on your team that everyone else in the conference may not know about or fully appreciate.

Starting with the offense, how about WR Lyle Leong, who barely weighs 165 (that's his listed weight, but c'mon) and thus far he's only caught 21 passes for 263 yards and 5 touchdowns. Not bad for 4 games. Leong is one of those guys that looks like he belongs in the rec league because of his size, but in 2008 in the outdoor competiton he high jumped 6'11". Leong will get up and get the ball and he's the type of guy that you probably think you can dominate defensively because of his size, but he catches just about everything thrown his way.

On the defense, how about DE Daniel Howard. I've had an obvious man-crush on Howard for the better part of the summer and part of that is because you can tell the guy is a hard worker, and although he's not as gifted as the more well-known defensive ends who left early for a various of reasons (Brandon Williams, McKinner Dixon and Brandon Sesay) he is by far one of the hardest workers you'll see at defensive end. And that's not one of those back-handed compliments (i.e., he's scrappy therefore he's a good player), but Howard is a legitimate threat and an offensive tackle cannot afford to take a play off against Howard. Thus far in this young season, Howard has been the steadying force at defensive end as Texas Tech has battled injuries, pulling in 19 tackles and 3 sacks.

4. OU vs. Da U: Who ya' got?

Damn. I was convinced that Miami was for real . . . before last week. Now they've come back to earth a bit and although I seem like I'm a bit behind on news, it doesn't look like Sam Bradford will play. I'll take Miami and the points this week, but only because Miami's at home.

5. Give us your Offensive Player of the Week, Defensive Player of the Week, and Storyline of the Week for last week.

OPOTW: This is a little unconventional, but I'd have to go with Kansas St.'s Brandon Banks, who not only had 3 catches for 90 yards, but also had two kickoff returns for touchdowns. I know that's more special teams play, but that's a hell of a day and K-State could also use some love.

DPOTW: Emmanuel Acho, who had 3 TFL and one sack, while helping hold UTEP to 9 yards rushing.

6. Power Poll! Rank the teams 1-12 based on who would win on a neutral field.

1. Texas Longhorns
2. Oklahoma Sooners
3. Missouri Tigers
4. Oklahoma St. Cowboys
5. Nebraska Cornhuskers
6. Texas Tech Red Raiders
7. Kansas Jayhawks
8. Texas A&M Aggies
9. Baylor Bears
10. Kansas St. Wildcats
11. Colorado Buffaloes
12. Iowa St. Cyclones

Crunching the Numbers :: Texas Tech vs. North Dakota

Seth C — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:00:16 -0000

vs.

Game Information:
North Dakota Fighting Sioux (0-0, 0-0) vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders (0-0, 0-0)
September 5, 2009, 6:00 p.m. CST :: Weather: Lubbock, TX
TV: None :: Radio: Texas Tech, North Dakota :: Game Cast: Fox Sports

The North Dakota Fighting Sioux come to Lubbock for their very first game as a Football Championship Series football team. That's right, ~~last year~~ two years ago North Dakota competed on a Division II level (I'm almost positive of this) and this will be their first game as a FCS team. The Texas Tech Red Raiders will be heavily favored in this game, but this is a big game for North Dakota.

Join me after the jump for a statistical comparison of North Dakota and Texas Tech.

Team Statistics

Category	Statistic (NCAA Rank, Conference Rank)	Winner
TTU Pass Offense vs. ND Pass Defense	413.15 (1, 1) 268.30 (137, 5)
TTU Rush Offense vs. ND Rush Defense	117.84 (94, 11) 112.40 (36, 2)
ND Pass Offense vs. TTU Pass Defense	245.60 (37, 2) 242.23 (94, 3)
ND Rush Offense vs. TTU Rush Defense	145.80 (73, 4) 140.38 (61, 8)
TTU Scoring Offense vs. ND Scoring Defense	43.77 (3, 2) 26.30 (80, 3)
ND Scoring Offense vs. TTU Scoring Defense	32.10 (35, 4) 27.85 (74, 4)

Team Leaders


STATISTIC	TEXAS TECH	NORTH DAKOTA
Passing	Taylor Potts :: 23-36 : 260 : 2 : 1	Jake Landry :: 3-4 : 77 : 1 : 0
Rushing	Baron Batch :: 113 : 758 : 7	Catlin Solum :: 21 : 98 : 0
Receiving	Detron Lewis :: 76 : 913 : 3	Ismael Bamba :: 21 : 310 : 3
Punt Returns	Jamar Wall :: 1 : 0 : 0	Matt Cole :: 4 : 20 : 0
Kickoff Returns	Jamar Wall :: 20 : 477 : 0	Dominique Hawkins :: 12 : 321 : 0
Tackles	Brian Duncan :: 95	Dominique Hawkins :: 50
Sacks	Daniel Howard :: 3.0 : 23	Ross Cochran :: 2.0 : 8
Tackles for Loss	Colby Whitlock :: 5.5 : 16	Ty Boyle :: 4.0 : 14
Interceptions	Jamar Wall :: 2 : 21 : 0	Dominique Hawkins :: 2 : 15 : 0

Five Initial Thoughts

One :: FBS vs. NCAA Division II: Before everyone goes crazy, keep in mind that 2009 will be the first year that North Dakota will be a member of the FCS. That's right, last year, the Fighting Sioux were Division II and the 2008 numbers really aren't a fair comparison. I know, I'm comparing apples to oranges with the statistics of these two teams, but they are what they are. I know it's not fair to have Texas Tech "lose" a statistical battle, but this is the only FCS opponent on the schedule (compared to UMass and Eastern Washington last year) so this is the only time that the numbers will not be accurate.

Two :: This Could Get Ugly: I hate predicting blowouts, but from just a glance, if North Dakota is 137th in the nation in Division II in passing defense. It could be a very long game. There's no question in my mind that Potts will absolutely get quite a few repetitions. He's going to need it because he's got to be ready for Austin in two weeks. Potts can get all of the practice time a guy could want, but actual game snaps for Potts, and the rest of the offense is imperative.

Three :: Not Great Offensively: The Fighting Sioux aren't really great offensively, which could be a problem when trying to keep pace with Texas Tech. UND isn't an offensively inept team, as it appears UND was in the top third in scoring, but that was last year, and this year UND is replacing a ton of talent offensively. I know enough about UND to know that their head coach is in his second year, that the Fighting Sioux are replacing their quarterback, their top receivers and their top running back. Not to mention, I think UND is only returning two offensive starters from last year, and although I cannot attest to knowing the UND depth chart, I'd also imagine that they're replacing almost the entire offensive line.

Four :: At One Time A Quality Rushing Attack: If you look back at last year's statistics for UND, Josh Murray is all over the place. The only problem is that Murray is the Brandon Sesay or McKinner Dixon of North Dakota football (i.e. he's no longer with the program). At the very least, this would have been something for North Dakota to hang their hat, but with a very inexperienced quarterback and a running back with only 21 carries in 2008, you can't help but think that UND is going to be up against it.

Five :: Zero Pocket Pressure: The Fighting Sioux were 115th in sacks and 140th in tackles for a loss in Division II. These guys did not get to the quarterback and despite Texas Tech having a relatively inexperienced offensive line at left tackle right guard this is going to be a huge area of concern for North Dakota. If the Fighting Sioux cannot get to Potts or at the very least put pressure on Potts then this may not be much of a competition.

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe // 08.29.09

Seth C — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 12:14:08 -0000

Texas Tech Football

Cathey's Gone, Sesay Unlikely to Return: LAJ's Don Williams had a short story yesterday where he confirmed that freshman DT Romario Cathey would not be with this year's team and the return of DE Brandon Sesay would be entirely up to him, but it looked unlikely:

"I can’t comment on the eligibility thing, but he hasn’t been declared eligible,’’ Leach said. "His problems are for him to solve, and so the door’s not closed, but I’m not optimistic.’’

Leach also said, "The only players we’re concerned with are those that we’ve been coaching since the beginning of camp.’’

One Game at a Time: FWST's Dwain Price writes that the Red Raiders are willing to earn respect one game at a time and WR Detron Lewis is leading that charge:

"This year we’re going to have to earn our respect each and every week, because it’s not being given to us like it was last year," receiver Detron Lewis said. "The top guys we had last year — Crab and Graham — they earned that respect, but they didn’t make the whole team.

"We couldn’t stick those two on the field and win the game. But this year we’re just going to have to earn the respect, and we’re all just looking forward to that."

Corker Profile: Miami Herald's Evan Drexler profiles Texas Tech commitment Shawn Corker. It's a good read and you get to know Corker a little more.

Cobb Brothers: Texas Tech has been fairly successful in recruiting various brothers to Texas Tech, the Charbonnet's and the Rowland's off the top of my head, but freshman S Daniel Cobb has a little brother, David, who just ran for 293 yards and two touchdowns on 32 carries. He's only a junior, but this is certainly something to watch.

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe // 08.07.09

Seth C — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 11:16:23 -0000

Texas Tech Football

LAJ's Don Williams has some less than encouraging news in that DE Brandon Sesay is not going to be on the preseason practice roster, which is capped at 105 players. Captain Mike Leach puts it succinctly:

"Contrary to popular belief, no train stops for Brandon Sesay,’’ Leach said.

I have no idea as to the actual issues that Sesay is dealing with, but you've got to think that either he's just not spending enough time in the classroom or he just can't make the grades. I'm hoping for the best, and it maybe by the time the season starts, Sesay will be eligible, but don't anyone hold your breath.

Williams has two additional notes football related items. Item #1 is one I never understood in the first place, but David Neill, former DT, then OL, and now DT, has switched back to the defensive line. I never understood why Neill was moved to the offense in the first place back in September of last year, perhaps because of some defections and players leaving the program, but the defensive line is typically the toughest position to recruit and with the graduation of so many players this year, Neill should have been a valuable backup at this point with the potential to start next year. At least Neill is 6-5/286, and we'll see if he plays at that weight and how his re-adjustment to the defense works out.

Item #2 is that DE Brandon Sharpe will be the co-first team at the right defensive end position with fellow DE Daniel Howard. Defensive line coach Charlie Sadler had this to say:

"Both of them will play a lot,’’ Sadler said. "I could see them anywhere from splitting reps to, when we get in situations where go 30 package (three defensive linemen on pass-rush downs), Daniel could be in the joker (standup rush) position and Brandon being at end. So they could be on the field at the same time.’’

I have no doubt that Howard and Sharpe had better be ready to play a lot, especially with the news about Sesay.

Off the field, Williams has a good breakdown of the current season ticket situation as well as the tickets sold for the Baylor game. Go check it out.

FWST's Dwain Price (for those of you who do not recall, Price is one of the non-Lubbock writers that writes about Texas Tech as much as possible) writes that the Red Raiders' confidence is sky high after an 11-2 season. Here's Captain Mike Leach:

"We had the best recruiting class that we’ve had since I’ve been here this year and now we’re starting to work on next year’s class," Leach said. "One positive by-product is a lot of people were excited about Texas Tech based on last season, so we have plenty of recruits that we’re writing to.

"I think everybody was excited about how can we best keep our forces together and maximize our efforts toward making Texas Tech as good a university as possible for our students, fans and alumni."

Lots of good information in the article itself, and only one item that I thought was inaccurate, which was that Price thought that DT Myles Wade would end up at defensive end, and at 6-2/340, there ain't no way that Wade plays defensive end. He should get plenty of time at defensive tackle, and as the LAJ article mentions above, the other defensive end spot will be split between Daniel Howard and Brandon Sharpe, opposite, Rajon Henley.

Doug Gillett from Hey Jenny Slater is filling in for Spencer Hall at EDBS and takes a look at the Hal Mumme coaching tree and comes to the conclusion that it's more of a shrub with the most significant branch being Mike Leach.

Scouting the Enemy: ESPN's Tim Griffin writes that Baylor QB Robert Griffin, III has put on 10 pounds and is just as fast as he ever way (I believe it) . . . BOTC's TB with some good thoughts on who will win the Big 12 North . . . ESPN's Tim Griffin notes that Oklahoma St. will need to find a second receiver to pair with Dez Bryant . . . Also from ESPN's Tim Griffin, a bit on Baylor OT Danny Watkins and his hockey career . . .

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe // 08.05.09

Seth C — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 11:12:10 -0000

Texas Tech Football

Congrats to RB Baron Batch who was named to the 2009 Doak Walker Award watch list. So yesterday, Taylor Potts was named to the to the Davey O'Brien Award watch list and now Batch is recognized for his play. This is actually an impressive and well-deserve feat for Batch, who has battled back from serious injury to be one of the toughest and most talented running backs I've ever watched at Texas Tech.

CFN has come out with their preseason poll and your Red Raiders check in at #33, which seems a little high for me, behind the likes of North Carolina and Tennessee. This bit seems a tad extreme, and although I'm concerned about the pass rush, I don't think that desperate is the right word:

What to expect on defense: A desperate hope for a pass rush. After losing Brandon Williams to the NFL and McKinner Dixon to academic issues, the Red Raider line needs to figure out how to get into the backfield on a regular basis. Daniel Howard has a great burst and could be the breakout player on one side, while part-tackle, part-end Ra'Jon Henley will be counted on in a variety of ways. In a dream world, Brandon Sesay is half as good as his hype after coming out of the JUCO ranks last year.

Smart Football's Chris Brown is on vacation but dug up an article from former TAMU coach Bob Davie about some of the practice drills that helps the Texas Tech quarterbacks throw all of those damned completions:

Settle-noose: This is basically a warm-up drill. The receivers begin out quarter speed and shuffle between two cones, "settling" nearer to one than the other, as if they were two zone defenders. The quarterback takes a drop -- again, reduced speed -- and throws the ball, aiming for the receiver but away from the nearer "defender." The receiver uses good catching form and bursts upfield after making the catch. You can see how this simple drill sets up the entire theory of their offense, which relies on finding seams in the zones and quarterbacks throwing between defenders.

Pat-n-go: This is another simple drill. Most teams use a form of "route lines," or quarterbacks dropping and receivers running routes on "air" -- i.e. with no defenders. The one clever insight here is that one group of QBs and receivers lines up on opposite from another. This way they can complete a pass, have the receiver burst as if scoring, and simply get in line on the opposite side of the field, rather than have to run back through. Just another way they get more repetitions.

Routes on air: Probably their best drill. The coaches line up garbage cans or bags or whathaveyou where defenders would drop for a zone. Then all five receivers and/or runningbacks line up, and they call a play. Five quarterbacks (or four and a manager, etc) each drop back and throw the ball to a receiver. Here's the deal: if you're the QB who should throw it to the first read, you drop back and throw it to him. If you are assigned to the third read, well you drop back, look at #1, then #2, then #3 and throw it to him. Same goes for #2, #4, and even #5. Moreover, every receiver who runs the route catches a ball and practices scoring. Then the quarterbacks rotate over -- i.e. if you threw it to #2 now you throw it to #3, etc -- and a new group of receivers steps in. This way quarterbacks absolutely learn all their reads and practice it every day (how many reps like this does the third or fourth string guy at another school get?), and they also practice throwing it to all their receivers. Each time they do this

7-on-7 and man-to-man: These are what they sound like, and most do these drills. One-on-one or man-to-man involves the receivers going against press man in practice, while 7-on-7 is like a real scrimmage, minus the linemen.

The Press Democrat's Matt Maiocco updated the WR Michael Crabtree contract negotiation with the San Francisco 49ers and this seems like a fairly wide gap:

My wife, Sarah, asked me a good question last night: How far apart are the 49ers and Michael Crabtree, in terms of actual dollars?

Answer: First, it seems to me that the major difference is more philosophical. Like the real-estate market, it's all about comparables. Crabtree's agent, Eugene Parker, wants one set of comparables as the basis, while - as I understand it - the 49ers believe it's pretty straight-forward based on where Crabtree was selected in the draft.

So if I were to take an educated-but-uninformed guess, I'd say the sides are in the neighborhood of $8-10 million apart in guaranteed money.

Scouting the Enemy: SAEN's Brent Zwerneman writes that QB Todd Reesing is a big reason for Kansas' success . . . Corn Nation's Husker Mike previews the Oklahoma Sooners . . . Rock M Nation's Bill C's takes a look at the Kansas State offense beyond the box . . . Waco Tribune's John Werner writes that the Baylor Bears hope to improve based on their experience . . .

Texas Tech Basketball

Former Red Raider Charlie Burgess continues his quest to make the Belize National Team and talks a bit about playing for Bob Knight:

Charlie Burgess, National Team
"Oh man that was a great day because not only will I remember that but everybody remembers I played on that team. He passed it off rough you know as one of the all time winningest coaches in Kentucky and with Bob Knight they just took it to another pedestal.Everybody knew he was a great coach but after he achieved that, it was like all things possible you could do."

Jules Vasquez,
"What was that like playing with the man regarded as one of the greatest basketball minds in the United States basketball?"

Charlie Burgess,
"Oh it was challenging, extremely tough because everyday was like a test, you test your mind everyday. He puts you through certain situations and sees if you could overcome them or not. So it just builds your character as a person and as a man. I got a lot of respect for him because he made me a lot of who I am today."

Jules Vasquez,
"Did he throw any chairs at you?"

Charlie Burgess,
"No, unfortunately I haven’t gotten a chair thrown at me but I got a couple of f-bombs dropped on me but apart from that it was a great experience, I can’t really complain too much about it. I wouldn’t change it for the world."

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe // 08.03.09

Seth C — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 11:23:48 -0000

Odds and Ends

It's strange typing out 08.03.09 this morning. It doesn't seem like August should be here already, but it is, which means that practice is right around the corner, this Saturday in fact, before the big concert (more on that later).

Texas Tech Football

The first place to start this morning is with the LAJ's Don Williams, who has a pre-practice report. There's a ton of good stuff in the article and I thought we'd take it bit-by-bit. Williams writes about the battle at left tackle, talking about how at the end of the spring, it was between Terry McDaniel and Chris Olson and offensive line coach appears to be willing to let the two of them fight it out:

"I’m going to have to find out who’s going to win it,’’ said line coach Matt Moore, who didn’t put a time frame on making the determination. "They’ve both had really good off-seasons. They’ve pushed themselves harder than they ever have. Olson’s gotten stronger and has experience on his side, but Terry’s just so massive.’’

I have no idea which way Moore will go on this, but I really like McDaniel. He could be a four-year starter if he gets the nod, at left tackle, and that's almost unheard of. Olson is talented as well, nothing against him, and I get the feeling he's going to get some burn somewhere along the line, but McDaniel is pretty good.

Follow me after the jump for more news, notes and links on your Red Raiders.

Williams then writes about defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill and wanting 8 to 10 "playable players" to play along the defensive line. The strange thing here is that Williams mentions Ryan Haliburton by name as a player to step-up along the defensive line along with Chris Perry and Brandon Sharpe. Haliburton was okay during the spring, but he looked like a guy that still needs to add some strength and size to compete on the Big 12 level.

If I had to give my ten players: Rajon Henley, Richard Jones, Colby Whitlock, Daniel Howard, Brandon Sharpe, Victor Hunter, Chris Perry, Brandon Sesay, Pearlie Graves and Myles Wade.

And finally, looking at the defensive backfield, especially the safeties and the voluminous number of freshmen defensive backs. The most interesting thing here is that the defense didn't work on any nickel or dime packages during the spring. Huh. That seems strange. Here's McNeill:

"We wanted to wait until we got all the freshmen here,’’ McNeill said. "We’ve talked about the packages and what we want to do front-wise, coverage-wise, blitz-wise, but we didn’t want to do personnel finalization until the freshmen arrived.’’

Also of note, Texas Tech's practice is going to be worked around Captain Mike Leach's schedule, which includes going to to the John Mellencamp, Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson concert. Lots of other notes in the article, and I'll encourage you to click on through with notes on Kyle Clark, Joel Gray, LaAdrian Waddle, James Scott, Stefan Loucks and Aaron Charbonnet.

I posted the video on Friday, but TechPrezNB forwarded to me the accompanying article from NewsOK's Brandon Chatmon on DT Colby Whitlock, and as we discuss whether or not stars and offers matter with new Texas Tech commit Coby Coleman, let's not forget Whitlock, who had almost no offers and was lowly rated by the scouting services:

Few expected this type of impact from Whitlock coming out of high school. Several schools including Oklahoma and Oklahoma State passed on the opportunity to land him and Rivals.com rated him a three-star player. It's a good thing recruiting rankings and evaluations didn't matter to Whitlock.

"I'm not a person who that stuff means a lot to me," Whitlock said of being overlooked out of high school. "As long as some people are giving me looks I didn't mind it. I don't think that's real important, like the star rating, I think that's a joke, they miss (evaluate) a lot. Stuff like that has no importance."

I'll take Whitlock's word for it.

Again, I can't say that I understand all of the math, but Football Outsider's Bill Connelly (also of Rock M Nation) writes that Texas Tech had the best offensive line last year. And in terms of giving up sacks, Texas Tech's offensive line was significantly better than Oklahoma's line:

Not surprisingly, Texas Tech and Oklahoma possessed the best two pass blocking lines in the country. What is a surprise, however, was just how much better Texas Tech's unit was than everybody else. Third-place Boise State's SkRt+ was much closer to Middle Tennessee's (20th) than to Texas Tech's. Only Oklahoma had a SkRt+ within 100 of Tech's.

Snip

In case you were keeping score, here were the lines that finished in the nation's Top 20 in both Line Yards+ and Sack Rate+: Texas Tech (3rd in LY+, 1st in SkRt+), Oklahoma (5th, 2nd), Florida (1st, 8th), and Penn State (4th, 18th). Tech and Florida return a reasonable amount of experience here in 2009, while Oklahoma and PSU are lagging behind a bit in that department.

Fox34 is continuing their countdown of the top 25 players, and checking in at #5 is RB Harrison Jeffers:

It appears that former Red Raider Brandon Williams is doing well in his professional career. DMN's Tim McMahon writes that the Dallas Cowboys LB coach is happy with Williams progress:

"Victor Butler and Brandon Williams are what we consider doing things right now that give us hope that they have a chance to help us this year," Herring said. "They're showing some pass-rush skills -- things that are instinctive. They're explosive off the ball, quick get-off. Every day they're understanding the tempo and the speed of the game, learning how to use their fundamentals and their hands. They're showing some improvement every practice that gives you a feeling or hope that they will help us this year -- somehow, some way, at least special teams and definitely pass rush."

I found a couple of notes on recruiting, something that I really don't cover unless it's just finding video and links on new commitments, but thought I'd pass these two things along. New Texas Tech commit, WR Shawn Corker, attended some event earlier this week and this was written about his performance:

At WR, new Texas Tech commit Shawn Corker showed why he was one of the most coveted WR's in the state this year. He has no weakness.

And apparently another Florida WR, Kadron Boone, (he's a 4-star guy) is down to his final three teams: OU, Georgia and Texas Tech.

Big 12 Stuff: AAS's Kirk Bohl's asks if the Big 12 is overrated . . . The Oklahoman polled the players at the Big 12 Media Days and asked them a bunch of questions regarding the conference, including best and worst uniforms, best and worst fans, best and worst mascots, etc. (see the links on the right -- "Related Stories") . . . CT's Dave Matter writes that Big 12 defenses are still playing catch-up to the offense . . . DMN's Chuck Carlton lays out the likelihood of the Big 12 in 2009 running into the same scenario in 2008, a three-way tie . . . Tulsa World's Dave Sittler writes that the Big 12 North have become easy targets

Scouting the Enemy: SAEN's Brent Zwerneman writes about Nebraska Cornhuster defensive superstar, Ndamukong Suh . . . NY Times college football blog, the Quad, thinks the Houston Cougars are #30 team in the nation . . .

The Captain and the Yearly Ritual

Seth C — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 02:13:26 -0000

There was nothing earth-shattering and I think that's a good thing. The Big 12 Media Days wrapped up today and I don't know that Captain Mike Leach stole the show, but he was entertaining to say the least, and the rest of the college football world acknowledged that you may not like him, but at least he has something to say. There were a couple of interesting things that I wanted to point out from Mike Leach's press conference probably aren't as entertaining and won't make the papers tomorrow morning, but I think they're important to the direction of Texas Tech as a football program.

Follow me after the jump.

The first thing that really jumped out at me was this question and answer regarding the loss of DE McKinner Dixon:

Q. With the loss of Dixon, what's your sense of how strong your defensive line's going to be?

COACH LEACH: I think it will help our team. You know, there is a certain addition by subtraction that exists in football. You know, guys that are willing to pull the right direction as a unit I think are more important than, you know, individuals that can strum up some flashes here and there. So I think it makes us a stronger team. I think, to answer the question in general, I think our defense will probably be a little better than it was last year. We certainly have the chance to.

That's an incredibly telling quote from the Captain, and I'm a bit torn by his comments. The truth of the matter was that Dixon was a spot-player, who didn't start, but the obvious implication is that Dixon free-lanced quite a bit and didn't necessarily play into the team concept. I can't say that I noticed this type of play from Dixon, but I'm not on the sideline or in the huddle when the defensive calls are made. I thought that Dixon did an excellent job of stopping the run last year, while being an effective rusher. There's no doubt that Leach recognized Dixon's talent here, but Leach is clear that he thinks with Dixon's absence, he's more than prepared to move forward.

But there's a second element to that, in that he thinks (or at least there's a "chance to") that the defense overall will be better than last year. I know, this is probably coach-speak, and intended to be taken with a grain of salt, but what if it's not? I certainly think that at some point during a program's progression, it's not always about replacing talent (more on this later), but I get the feeling that Leach believes that Texas Tech is crossing that hurdle. Two years ago, to lose a guy like Dixon I think would have been incredibly detrimental to the overall success of the team, but at some point we can't underestimate the returning talent. I don't think there's the huge drop-off in talent as there may have been in the past. There's talent and quantity at the defensive end position with Daniel Howard, Brandon Sesay, Brandon Sharpe, Pearlie Graves, Rajon Henley, etc. Obviously, you wish things would have or could have worked out differently, but I don't think the cupboard is bare.

And to the second interesting question and answer, which is actually fairly lengthy, but copied and pasted for it's effect, regarding the replacement of QB Graham Harrell and WR Michael Crabtree:

Q. Mike, when you have the kind of success and the kind of season you had last year, such an incredible season, talk about the transition you have to go through coming back from that, especially when you're making changes at quarterback and you lose Crabtree.

COACH LEACH: I don't think it's really that dramatic. A lot's been made out of it, but there was a time when nobody had heard of Harrell and Crabtree too. It was a couple years ago where, you know, the questions were a little more along the line of how's this Harrell going to be any good? How's this Crabtree guy? What do you mean he's just a freshman? And all this other business.

You know, it's a yearly ritual, honestly. So, yeah, there's some guys that are going to play that most people haven't heard of. But they've been around our place for a while, and we feel good about them. I think they're going to do well. I don't feel like there's a big letdown this year.

I feel like we've had the best off-season we've had since I've been there. I think we're -- I don't know that we'll have an individual player that's as good as Crabtree was, you know, among the receivers, but I think the overall receiving unit is going to be a little deeper and could very well overall be better.

Quarterback, you know, if Taylor Potts ends up being the starter, which at the end of spring he was our front-runner. He could have started for a lot of teams last year. Could have started for ours except for Graham was ahead of him. You know, which that's -- in Graham's case, you've got a guy who has thrown more touchdown passes than anybody in the history of college football and is the only guy in the history of college football to throw back-to-back 5,000-yard seasons.

So it's not like he was following a guy that didn't have pretty good capabilities.

So I feel really good about it. And I think, to me, everything is very impressive. So regardless of who ends up being our starter, if Potts is our starter, I know we've got a good one. If somebody beats out Potts, I know we have an even better one.

So I feel really good about it. And, you know, he's a bigger guy, stronger arm, where's the whole experience, learning curve and all that? I don't know. Probably there will be some things learned along the way, but he's been with us for three years, and he's familiar with all the receivers he's throwing to.

I can't tell you when that tipping point occurred or will occur, but I don't think Leach is just telling us what we want to hear. Leach calls these types of questions for what they are, the process of replacing players in college is a yearly ritual. It's part of the process. But I think that this process has become much easier. The more you win, the easier it is to recruit players. The better the players the better the team. It's not rocket science.

There's no doubt that Harrell and Crabtree may be once in a generation type of players, but as the talent improves, there's no reason that the likelihood of having impact players who do make their mark on this program increases.

The easy story to write about the Big 12 Media Days and Texas Tech will be that the Red Raiders have an uphill battle to climb because of the loss of two outstanding players, but perhaps the better story, a story that I think most of you believe, is that the climb, nor the steepness of the hill is as great as it was five years ago.

This is probably the fan in me speaking more than anything else, but I'm excited about the season and I can't wait for the opportunity for these players, all of them, to show you, the Big 12 and the rest of the nation, that they are here to improve on what happened last year. I could be entirely wrong about where I think Texas Tech is and where we are as a program, but I don't think I am.

Besides, if I am wrong, you can blame the eternal optimist in me.

5 Things // Defensive Players Who Must Improve in 2009

Seth C — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:00:12 -0000

Five Things is a handful (i.e., five) of thoughts about a single topic. Hopefully, discussion ensues.

Defensive Players Who Must Improve in 2009

There are a ton of factors that go into a team improving, but I thought that it might be good to take a look at both offensive and defensive players who need to improve their game for Texas Tech to have a successful 2009. This is going to sound more critical than it actually is, but the truth of the matter is that the Red Raiders need these players to step up their games.

Join me after the jump for a look at the defensive players who must improve in 2009.

1: DE/DT, Rajon Henley

Henley was injured for a good chunk of the 2008 season, and as a result, his 2008 season statistics seem very pedestrian. Only 10 tackles, 1.5 sacks and TFL, and this is your starting left defensive end. With Brandon Williams going to the NFL, McKinner Dixon declaring for the NFL Supplemental Draft, the current grade questions surrounding Brandon Sesay and Jake Ratliff graduating, there's a fairly substantial loss (or potential loss) in the ranks of defensive ends. It's strange to me (and I fall into this category) that Texas Tech fans are depending so much on a guy who, admittedly injured, only managed 10 tackles for the entire year.

What Henley does have going for him is a track record prior to 2008. As a junior in 2007, Henley had 45 tackles, 4.5 sacks and 7.5 TFL. That's what Henley is capable of as a full-time starter, and if Texas Tech can get similar production from Henely in 2009, then I think the Red Raiders will be okay at the end position.

2: DT, Chris Perry

For my own safety, I probably shouldn't pick on two defensive linemen, but I had great expectations for Perry, who found his way to Lubbock a little differently. Perry, originally signed with the Miami Hurricanes, decided to transfer to be closer to home and was given a reprieve from the NCAA and was not required to sit out a year due to normal transfer rules. Perry did play last year, relatively speaking. In 2008, Perry registered 7 tackles, 1 TFL and 1 sack. Of course Perry only saw action in 7 games.

Perry is certainly talented, and in fact, he was a Rivals 3 star and Scout 4 star recruit coming out of high school. The talent is there, but the word is that when Perry arrived at Texas Tech he was not quite physically ready for Big 12 play. I'm incredibly hopeful that Perry and strength and conditioning coach Bennie Wylie got to know each other intimately during the 2008 season and during the summer of 2009 and he's ready to burst onto the scene.

3: CB, Brent Nickerson

Nickerson is one of those incredibly frustrating players to watch. I know he has the athletic ability to play cornerback, but there were too many times last year where I felt like he got behind a receiver. I can't say that I'm privy to everything that's going on in Ruffin McNeill's defense meetings, but I have to believe that one of his tenants is not to get beat deep. Granted, part of the problem may be the safety not getting beat deep either, but Nickerson has his responsibility as well.

There may have been a couple of things that were working against Nickerson, the first being that he wasn't the full-time starter at the right corner spot, which initially went to L.A. Reed. Reed was injured, and then somewat back, but never made the impact considering his potential. The big statistic for me is the passes broken up, which was only 2 for the year, for Nickerson. For comparison purposes, Jamar Wall had 11 and Darcel McBath had 7. The numbers play this out, but there just weren't enough times that Nickerson was busting up a play, and that's a big part of playing cornerback.

Right now, Nickerson, along with Taylor Charbonnet and LaRon Moore, are battling for that right cornerback job. There are pluses and minuses with all three of these guys, and then you have the six freshmen defensive backs arriving in Lubbock looking to take someone's job.

4: LB, Bront Bird

I have a feeling that I may catch some flack for this pick, in part because it's tough to look at Bird's numbers from last year and complain very much. Bird was 4th on the team in tackles and 4th on the team in tackles for a loss. The biggest problem I have with Bird is that there were games where he would absolutely disappear (1 tackle vs. TAMU; 0 tackles vs. Texas; 2 tackles vs. Baylor). Granted, much of this can be attributed to match-up problems, i.e., Bird may not be quick enough to cover certain opponents due to match-up, and that's at the heart of the problem for me. Bird, while wonderful at certain things, has almost gotten to the point due to the increase in size where he's not able to be as versatile as I had hoped, especially because he was a safety coming out of high school. This may be a pipe dream, but the one thing that I'd love to see change on this defense is more speed at the linebacker position. I have a feeling that McNeill is headed that way and as mentioned above, it's hard to complain with the production of the three starters, Brian Duncan, Marlon Williams and Bird, but with the evolution of spread offenses in the Big 12, the more speed that you can have on the field, no matter position, I think the better you are. In fact, if you take a look at the linebackers from the 2009 recruiting class, the two commitments at linebacker that are in Lubbock are Dion Chidozie and Brandon Mahoney, both guys that can fly up and down the sidelines. I'm afraid that because of Bird's increase in size, he is a step slow to be useful in pass coverage and as more teams pass, especially in the spread offense, that's his fate.

5: DE/DT, Brandon Sesay

I hesitated putting Sesay's name here, but there's not doubt that he belongs here. There was a ton of hype following Brandon Sesay from junior college and whether this is a case of Sesay adjusting to a major college conference level or play, or adjusting to a new position, defensive tackle, but 8 tackles and 1 sack for the entire year just isn't going to cut it. Sesay is an absolute physical specimen at 6-6/278 and I think that McNeill made the right call last year, moving Sesay to defensive tackle, especially considering the overall depth at the defensive end position last year (Brandon Williams, McKinner Dixon, Jake Ratliff, etc.). But this year is a bit of a different story. With defections, graduations, and dismissals, Sesay becomes an integral part that defensive end rotation.

This spring, Sesay wasn't at spring practices, he was in the classroom working on his school work. If we can assume anything about Leach, it's that he will give you plenty of opportunity to get your grades up and if a guy is off the team, Leach won't hesitate to announce the move and go forward. Sesay did play in the spring game and finished the day with 3 tackles and 2 sakcs. I get the feeling that Leach wanted to keep Sesay motivated.

With that being said, Leach hasn't made any announcement, and I think it's safe to say that so long as Sesay working on his issues, then he'll be dressed and ready to play in 2009. There's no doubt that with Sesay's attributes, he's got visisions of NFL contracts dancing in his head, and he should. He's that type of talented, but the only way to prove to NFL draft folks that you're worthy of a pick (8 tackles and 1 sack will not do it), then be the guy this year. There's going to be opportunity to play and it's up to Sesay to prove it.