I am asking because it appears that our front seven is much lighter than the front seven we had from 2001 to 2004. Plus, we don't have Saban's coaching and schemes anymore. All of our starting linemen are under 300 pounds and all of our starting LBs are under 240 according to LSUsports roster. We even have a starting lineman who weighs 242! Kirston is a good pass rusher, but we are replacing 295 pound Spears with 242 pound Pittman. We are replacing 255 pound Turner with 225 pound Kuale. That is a lot of size to lose in the front seven coupled with the loss of Saban. In 2003, we had 2 DEs near or over 300 pounds and LB Turner weighing 250-260, and we were very hard to run against. I liked having big 300 pound run stopping DEs who could rush the passer. Having a 242 pounder on the line worries me. Especially since we face Cobbs and the other guy in the first game and other tough running teams early in the season.

We do have big guys who are projected as back ups, and the starting seven are good football players, especially Williams and Wroten in the middle. We also have an NFL DL coach.

I expect us to have a great defense, but the reduction in the size of our front seven and the change in coaching (losing Saban) leaves me with worries and questions.

Is anybody else a little worried about this too?

DT Claude Wroten 6-3 293
DT Kyle Williams 6-2 295

DE Kirston Pittman 6-3 242 (starter per Miles in Thursday's Advocate)
DE Melvin Oliver 6-3 274

LB E.J. Kuale 6-2 225
LB Kenneth Hollis 6-0 235
LB Cameron Vaughn 6-4 237

These weights are from the roster on LSU's official site.

well the best defense in the NFL has guys at DE less than 300 lbs. jevon kearse probably weighs about 255-260 and hugh douglas about 280 and both play for the eagles.

hell i think even corey simon is a tad under 300 and he plays DT. i forget who the other dude is.

their LBs --simoneaux weighs somewhere about 230 at most. and dhani jones is one of the best in the league is about the same.

i think LB's anything near 220 is fine and the quicker ones are usually much more effective and versatile.

Same goes for DE's where you don't want to sacrifice mobility for the sake of having someone big. Versatility is the name of today's game where LB's and even DE's have to drop back and cover TE's and RB's/slot out of the backfield. Marcus Spears was a freak of nature at 300+ which is what made him so special.


Interior linemen as you mention are where weight is most important and our tackles are plenty big enough right under 300 lbs.


However, Kirston Pittman is rather light and more of a pass rusher for 3rd downs so Les may have to rethink him as an everydown DE and use him as Saban did.

good observation however.

On the Tiger Droppings review of the 50 yard lunch the guys writes that Miles said Chase not Kirston was the other starter. I don't know which is right the poster at Tiger Droppings or the Advocate.

I think the D will be good however I think we will score many more points on O... similar to 2001 team...

It'll be hard to replicate that smothering BIG front 4 we had in '03, but we have 2 COGS on the DL with a backup future superstar in Dorsey. M. Favorite isn't a slouch either.

Although not as big as Spears/Hill, we have an embarassing amount of talented prospects at DE. It wouldn't be too hard to imagine T. Jackson, T. Washington, C. Alexander, or even T. Johnson (all weighed around 260 out of H.S.) gaining another 10-15 lbs. If the two freshmen (A. Jones & Jean-Francois) play anything like they did in their respective all-star games, I think we're pretty much set at DE for the outyears.

At the 50 Yard Lunch, Coach Miles did mention Chase Pittman as the starting defensive end as of right now.

I don't think there's any doubt that we'll lose some of the dominance on the rushing game. The players you guys are mentioning seem best suited for medium gain run defense. That's not to say they'll be any less effective, given the speed they bring.

I think the operative question is whether they can maintain the % on 2nd and 3rd down conversions. Teams can try to throw to the back out of the backfield, but with the speed we have upfront, this could be tougher to do.

Damn damn damn I miss football.

damn how did i forget about glenn dorsey? I think he's gonna be the most dominant tackle in some time at LSU. I also think he has all the tools to dominate on the next level as well. He reminds me of a bigger corey simon.

dorsey was 300 lbs outta high school, a complete monster amongst kids. he does everything well and has a good head on his shoulders.

damn nick saban sure did leave this roster loaded to the gill in every aspect.

I wouldn't be too worried about the size of your linebackers. Before our season last year everybody on the auburn boards were worried about the same thing. We lost all of our size at linebacker but kept most of the speed. Well that worked out just fine for us. Speed at linebacker is the best thing u can have in the SEC imo.

D-line may be of some trouble (I'm worried about the same thing at Auburn, we return our great pass rushers but we lose our run-stoppers.) Quickness can only get you so far on D-line, whereas at linebacker it can make up for A LOT.

I know this is a little off subject and about a different position, Aubie, but speaking of AU's defense in 2004 I really enjoyed watching Carlos Rogers play. I like CBs who have good size and really do come up in run support when needed.

That's the one thing I've never liked about Deion Sanders. You can tell he hates to come up on run support by the way he (cough) "tackles".