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OL vs. DL Recruiting Question

B

Bobber

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2006
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Hudson, Iowa
Why do some people believe it's tougher to recruit good defensive line men relative to an Offensive Lineman.

I'm thinking it's much harder to find tall strong guy with good feet to play the O Line?

On defense you're mostly looking for smaller strong guys with a lot of speed. I think the genetic pool to draw from would be larger for this group?

Just curious? I've seen some fairly strong opinions(imagine that.:wink:) on this site saying I'm dead wrong.
 
I think it is hard to find a good D-Lineman because so many athletes on a high school level aren't taught any sort of technique other than a bull rush. Plus you really have to have a motor to face double teams (if you are good).
 
How many 6'4-6'5" 240-250lb guys do you know in Iowa that can run a sub 4.65 40? How bout the midwest? That's what you are looking for in a good DE. There aren't many. There are far more guys that are bigger and slower... thus OL.
 
The d-line has to be more athletic than the o-line because you need them to shed blocks, chase runningbacks and quarterbacks and make tackles. And they don't know where the play is going or when, and they have to be aware of misdirection. Besides the feet, hands are critical for a defensive lineman to get seperation to read the play, and then to defeat the block.

The o-line knows the play/direction and the snap count, and essentially they just have to stay between the defender and the ball. They need good feet to get in position, but then can use hands, shoulders, forearms, helmets, whatever to keep pressure on the defender. Certainly not as easy as that, but not as difficult as the d-line's job.
 
Defense ends aren't as hard to recruit, because they can grow from linebackers. Interior lineman I think are by far the scarcest commodity. Finding a big, powerful, quick guy who is 290+ and can get to the QB is the most prized position in football to me. If the leading tackler on your team is your defensive tackle, fantastic!! If its your safety... fail.
 
This is interesting to me because I was noticing Chris Lyle right before the snap has his head down more than Nate Frere does. In other words, from the end zone you can see Nate's face but not Chris's. So, is Chris just looking at the OL feet to know when the snap??

Anyway, it's fascinating to me wondering what the DL is looking at to see where the play is heading.
 
You can build onto the frame of a potential O-lineman and teach him techniques much easier.

Dline is much more instinct driven and requires explosive ability.
 
wartknight said:
Wrong. Ever since the advent of cover 4, safeties routinely lead good defenses in tackles.
Click to expand...

I'd still rather it be an interior lineman. That statistics alone guarantees that you have a decent rush defense and you're sacking the quarterback.
 
pulse said:
I'd still rather it be an interior lineman. That statistics alone guarantees that you have a decent rush defense and you're sacking the quarterback.
Click to expand...

I don't think there's any question about that. I just don't think its very realistic. As a player and now coach I can't think of any instance where a DL lead a team I was part of in tackles.
 
pulse said:
Defense ends aren't as hard to recruit, because they can grow from linebackers. Interior lineman I think are by far the scarcest commodity. Finding a big, powerful, quick guy who is 290+ and can get to the QB is the most prized position in football to me. If the leading tackler on your team is your defensive tackle, fantastic!! If its your safety... fail.
Click to expand...


On the flip side you can move TE's to O'Line tackles
 
wartknight said:
I don't think there's any question about that. I just don't think its very realistic. As a player and now coach I can't think of any instance where a DL lead a team I was part of in tackles.
Click to expand...

That's why I think its the most important position on the team. :biggrin:
 
I played o-line and my son played d-line in college. I was a converted tight end. Defensive tackles are the hardest to find and the most valuable during a game. Think Suh at Neb. currently and King/Klug at Iowa recently. Remember Tuba? Hard to find Big, Quick and Mean in the same package. An extra motor is important. By the way does Barryman have elgibility left?Just kinda kidding.
 
ISUFan22 said:
:yes:
Click to expand...

The first name that came to my mind was Bob Sanders. I think I'd take my chances if he was my leading tackler.

Besides, it's not uncommon for the strong safety to play up close to the line, so it's not like he's always making the tackle 10 yards down the field.
 
ISU needs to find diamonds in the rough when they are recruiting. Look for guys who are 6'4" 210, yet very quick, to come play D-line. They can pack on 30 pounds by their redshirt sophomore year and could really be a player

(see reggie hayward) although he was a 4* i think
 
I know Klein and Knott will be great LBs and that's where the coaches want them, but it would be nice to see them put on 20lbs and be a quick, athletic DE. And then do the same thing at LB. Recruit DB's like Benton, put 15-20lbs on them and move them to LB. It is hard for Iowa State to recruit guys that have the body ready to play in the Big XII, right away.
 
Bobber said:
Why do some people believe it's tougher to recruit good defensive line men relative to an Offensive Lineman.

I'm thinking it's much harder to find tall strong guy with good feet to play the O Line?

On defense you're mostly looking for smaller strong guys with a lot of speed. I think the genetic pool to draw from would be larger for this group?

Just curious? I've seen some fairly strong opinions(imagine that.:wink:) on this site saying I'm dead wrong.
Click to expand...

There aren't nearly as many high caliber D-Line recruits as O-Line recruits...especially DT's. Many college defensive line players are converted from the offensive line.
 
Its much harder to recruit D-lineman, because it is hard to find guys with the size and "quick-twitch" muscle reaction required to play on the D-line.
 
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