Per rivals: He's coming to LSU for his official visit for the Arkansas game. Kid's a BEAST! Just like his dad. Manley II stands a 6'4" and weighs in at 260 lbs. and runs a ledgit 4.5-forty. His JUCO coach says he takes challenges from running backs and wide receivers on his team and beats them all in a foot race! :shock: WOW! Sounds like he is VERY high on LSU and Karl Dunbar (what can you say about Dunbar?! He's got great people-skills and does a great job recruiting! How can a top D-line recruit NOT at least listen to Karl? KD has been an all-SEC player, an NFL player, a successful collegiate D-line coach, a successful NFL D-line coach, and is young and energetic!) Manley II had some VERY impressive things to say about LSU (for those that don't subscribe to rivals), he said : And about Karl Dunbar: LSU is his only official visit as of yet, and when he was asked what other schools he thought are most likely to get official visits, Manley added: Not ready to proclaim him a Tiger Commit yet, because a lot can happen between now and signing day (and also a lot can happen depending on that other BEAST of a DE, Holmes, from JUCO in Arizona) but it's looking very, VERY good for LSU. Who knows for sure, but from reports about Louis Holmes, he might be staying on the west coast to play his ball? If that's the case, then a commitment from Manley might be an even greater possibility!
Both coming in the same weekend. Maybe they'll hang out, hit if off, and commit together. Would work out to a nice situation. Holmes can come in, start his first year, go pro after that like he plans on, and Manley will take his place the next year. Sounds like a plan to me.
He is listed as a 2 star but apparently the juco ratings are incomplete.. so he will probably get kicked up... at 260, he is smallish for a defensive end... get him up 275, 280 or slim him down to 250, 245 and let him play LB... Hope he is better academically than his dad.. saw on PTI today that his dad was illiterate even after college...
Obviously, we've had GREAT success with bigger DE's (Marquise Hill and Spears) and Oliver is a big boy as well.... I think the right mix of "run-stuffing" DE's and "pass-rushing" DE's is good balance (Spears and Hill were as balanced as you could get). But, DE's currently on our roster, or already committed to us, that weigh 260 lbs or less are: From this year's class: Marcus Tillman 250 lbs. -- rated #1 strong side DE in nation From 2005 class: Jean-Francois was listed at 241 lbs. -- rated #3 strong side DE in nation Al Jones was listed at 236 lbs. -- rated #2 weak side DE in nation Also, other DE's on our roster to note: Tremaine Johnson is 263 Kirston Pittman is 245 (has been a top reserve--even as a RS-Fresh and Soph. Tim Washington is 261 Chase Pittman is 258 (starter) So, while it's optimal to have a DE that's 280+ like Spears and Hill were, and are able to run 4.6 - 4.8-forty range is great, you can be successful with DE's in the 260 lbs range.
Isn't Tyson Jackson pushing 280? He's been impressive this year. He'll probably take over for Oliver if Holmes doesn't come our way.
Well.. with those HS seniors, they have four years to put on weight.. this guy is a JUCO... as for having small defensive ends, I believe this is a hinderance for our defense... many of the LB's we have coming are smallish speed guys... if that is the case you need as much beef upfront to occupy blockers while you LBs roam free.
Chase Pittman, man. He isn't a high school kid, nor is he an underclassman. He's a starter for us and he's only 258 lbs. And last I checked, he hasn't been "hindering" any of our LB's with his play....
it really depends on the type of defense we play in the future. It's more important for your defensive tackles to be beefier or at least take up more space because they pretty much control the gaps in a one gap control defense. Ends it doesn't matter too much as far as keeping the tackles off the Linebackers.
Or you go with versatility... And if you can't find someone that is both a run stuffer ANd a pass rusher (i.e. Marquise Hill, Spears and Louis Holmes) then you compensate for that by having a lot of depth at the DE position whereas you play the run stoppers in running situations and the pass rushers on passing downs. There's really no right or wrong way to go about it. If you have those dominant DE's like Hill, SPears and Holmes, then you certainly have something special going for you. If you don't have someone like those guys, and revert to multiple DE's, then at least you have a ton of depth--keeping everyone fresh and spread playing time more evenly. Basically, "it's all good!" :thumb: Besides, when you get a player, reguardless of position, size and weight, if he's listed in the top 10 at his position, then you're doing something right and you know that they can play.
