2009 College Football Unit Rankings: Defensive Line

Each and every year writers are guilty of labeling teams as “one of the best” at something, or “one of the five deepest” at a position, but very few writers take the time to figure out who really has the best section of a defense, or an offense. I myself am guilty and said it a minimum of 30 billion times per conference in the recent conference previews.

But today we will actually look to see which teams really do have the top units in college. You will get the top-5 from each of the positional units, a few teams that just missed the short list, and a couple of small school teams that don’t get the love they deserve.

The defensive side of the ball is a very hard thing to because of the diversity and the pain of statistics. Most of the teams on these lists are decided by talent, experience, depth, success, and potential, more than the true stats can tell. Oklahoma is statistically not a great team on defense, but the team has one of the best units in college. It’s simple to know that the SEC is a defensive league that does nothing but bleed talent, but it is much harder to look past the stats, and to see who really is the best.

The defensive line is one of the, if not the most important part of the defense. If you look at teams that are winning games, chances are they can stop the run and pressure the passer with their defensive line. Just think about the New York Giants in professional football, and you will see that the defense is dominate as a whole because of their line. Their LB’s are above average, and their DB get the job done, but if the line was hurt or thin, the team would not be good.

The Smaller School Units

Southern Miss — The Eagles have a ton of talent on the line including junior stud DT Anthony Gray who brings back six sacks and a couple of forced fumbles. Overall the team is one of the most talented and deepest in small school football, and there are four sophomores in the second string that are ready to learn and develop even more for the Eagles.

ECU — The Pirates return a ton of talent on their line and might be able to rival a good portion of the BCS schools in depth. The star of the line is DE C.J. Wilson who returns 10.5 sacks, which is good for just half a sack less than the team ranked 5th in the list below. Linval Josepth and Jay Ross are possibly the two best 1-2 punch inside the defensive ends in small school college

Utah — I’m not quite sure we should call Utah a Small School anymore since they have two BCS wins (including a huge win against Alabama last year). Paul Kruger is gone but most of the line returns for the team that allowed only one TD to Alabama and TCU last year. Koa Misi, Nai Fotu, and Derrick Shelby might combine to make one of the top lines in small school football, let alone FBS football.

Honorable Mention

3. Ole Miss — The team has decent depth run behind the great DE Greg Hardy, but losing DT Peria Jerry might hurt them more than most believe. Think LSU last year after losing Glenn Dorsey with Tyson Jackson. Jackson still had a good year, but the defense was not able to rebound from the loss of Dorsey to truly compete in the SEC.

2. Clemson — This is a minor shock in the rankings as most would have Clemson in the top five. But seventh is still very close. The team returns three starting ends, but Ricky Sapp is coming back from an ACL injury, and Jarvis Jenkins will do well at DT, but the team lost three tackles from last year. Most think that this is the year that LE Da’Quan Bowers becomes the stud that he can, but I don’t see him clicking until at least the later part of the season. If Bowers is going to do it however, it will be in part to new D-Coordinator Kevin Steele.

1. Alabama — The team brings back one of the deepest, and nastiest DL in the game led my Mount Cody at NT. Brandon Deaderick brings four sacks back to the team, and senior end Lorenzo Washington will more than work well for the team.

THE List

5. North Carolina Tar Heels

The team might not seem to have one of the better defenses in college, but the Tar Heels would argue otherwise. The Heels return the 32nd best scoring defense in college, and one of the best and deepest lines in football. The team will never win a stats war against another team, but it should improve for the season as the line goes 2.5 strings deep with game time experience. DT Marvin Austin is one of the better DT prospects for the 2010 draft, and end Robert Quinn us a talented sophomore that could become a stud in 2009.

4. Virginia Tech Hokies

Right above the Tar Heels in the ACC however is the Virginia Tech Hokies. The Hokies are packed full of talent at tackle, and moved last year’s starter John Graves to the right end position. The end position is a little thin, but Graves should work very well for the team. This allows Demetrius Taylor to take the realm at DT as a starter next to Blake DeChrisopher. The head returning star is Jason Wirilds who became one of the best ends in the ACC last season with eight sacks. Keep your ears open for Freshmen Issiah Hamlette and Antoine Hopkins on the line as well.

3. Ohio State Buckeyes

The Buckeyes are a very easy pick at third for the list. The team is a little thin (in comparison of the top two) at tackle, but might have the deepest group of ends in college. Thaddeus Gibson brings five sacks back to the team at left end, and is joined at his side by tackle Doug Worthingston who is a beastly player. Junior Dexter Larimore will likely take the other tackle spot, but will have to fight the spot off of senior Todd Denlinger. On the other end of the field Cameron Heyward (and backup Lawrence Wilson) hold down a nasty amount of talent. Of course you have to keep your eyes and ears open for underclassmen Nathan Williams and Garrett Goebel as they seems to have secured their own second string spots and will see good time.

2. Florida Gators

Sorry Gators, but you can’t have the best everything. You will have to suffer under the fact that the Sooners are better than you at something, but only slightly. The Gators have Carlos Dunlap at LE and has been called the next Mario Williams of the NFL. Dunlap returns 9.5 sacks to the team, and will not be alone on the line. Jermaine Cunningham is a fringe 1st round end for the 2010 draft, and will attempt to improve on the good season he had as a junior.

Lawrence Marsh (another fringe 1st) is the rock of the interior line, but is joined by Terron Sanders who is no pushover in his own right. Justin Trattou, Omar Hunter, Jaye Howard, and William Green are four backups that could be stud starters on just about any other team. The Gators might not have the best DL in these rankings, but there is no doubt that they could see the gold in other rankings.

1. Oklahoma Sooners

That’s right folks, the team from the “bad defense” Big 12 Conference leads up the list. Most people assume that because the Big 12 isn’t the best at stopping yardage defensively that they have bad defenses, which just isn’t true. The Sooners have a ton of talent on the line, and have the best 1-2 punch of DT talent DeMarcus Granger and Gerald McCoy. McCoy looks like a top 10 pick for 2010, and Granger is a 1st round talent as well. Junior Jeremy Beal returns to the LE with his 8.5 sack season that he had last year.

If that isn’t enough, Auston English, Cordero Moore, and Adrian Taylor will get a ton of snaps in the backfield. It looks like sophomore Frank Alexander who was a top-10 recruit could take the right end spot this year. Just like a ton of other players mentioned in these rankings, keep your eyes and ears open for freshman R.J. Washington who is another top recruitment player for the Sooners. Overall the team is stacked with talent, and is the best in the nation. The defense faces some of the best offenses every week and does a damn good job of defending.