I completely agree, size is only half the battle. We have 3 new guys coming in that were back up's last year. Doesn't mean they won't produce this year. Seniors leave, and new guys step up, that's college football.
The new defenses are going a bit smaller and adding speed. More and more offenses are running some kind of spread, so teams have to evolve to stay a step ahead, or they'll go by the way side. It's what's happening to USC, they were a prototypical pro defense, but more teams in the PAC-10/12 went to some form of the spread. They have great athletes for the NFL, but they're a step slow against fast offenses. Oregon's D-line is compatible in their 40 times. Our DT's are under 5.0 (4.8, 4.9), but none of Oregon's DE's can match Montgomery's speed on the outside. Jordan is a 4.5, but he has 3 more inches on Montgomery.
:thumb:"pound the ball down the duck's throats"! You do realize we are talking about a west coast team. Pounding , balls and down throats have a somewhat diffrent context when speaking of a bunch from the west coast.:wave:
