The unusually quiet 2011 Aggie Football offseason was rudely awoken late Wednesday night when word sprung up on fan recruiting websites and message boards that February 2011 football signee LaMarc Strahan would not be able to play for the Aggies in the fall due to admission issues entering into the University.
Strahan was a future nose tackle for the Aggies in Tim DeRutyer's 3-4 defense. At 6'4 and 365 pounds (and possibly larger), LaMarc had previously played at Blinn Junior College, just down the road in Brenham registering 22 tackles (7 solo), 4 TFL and 2 sacks in 2010. LaMarc is originally from Humble, Texas.
With the loss of Strahan (is it really a "loss" if he wasn't even on campus?), defensive coordinator Tim DeRutyer and defensive line coach Terrell Williams will now have to replace the void he has created at the nose tackle position. The original thought entering 2011 was that if Strahan was able to immediately complete and play at the position, then returning senior starter Jonathan Mathis who played last season at nose guard, could move over to the defensive end position left by departing senior Lucas Patterson and once again play his natural position. Now that theory will come into question once fall camp opens, with Eddie Brown the only solid returner at nose guard and lots of question marks behind him.
First, lets examine the right defensive end position and determine how much of a need Jonathan Mathis is there. Four names quickly emerge as leading candidates to man the position: sophomore Stephen Barrera, senior Ben Bass, redshirt freshman Ivan Robinson, and redshirt freshman Galvin Stansbury. In a perfect world, we would like to believe that both the 6'5 290 Barrera and the 6'4 260 Stansbury would be better fits at the left defensive end position, currently held by returning senior starter Tony-Jerod Eddie (6'5, 300). That position fits more bigger body players who can eat up blockers and is more run first than pass first. In contrast, the right defensive end position is for those lineman who are a little quicker on their feet and offer more explosion off the initial line of scrimage. Ideally, those types of players are matched up one-on-one with an offensive lineman and are more capable of shedding blocks and entering an opponents backfield. Both Ben Bass (6'5, 280) and Ivan Robinson (6'3 270) fit that description. But the player on the team that fits that description to a t? Jonathan Mathis (6-2 285). Out of all lineman under the supervision of coach Williams, Jonathan has the most explosion off the snap and causes havoc when left one-on-one. Ben Bass was a valuable rotation player last season for the Aggies after missing the 2009 season due to academic issues. Bass made a comeback with 7 tackles (2 solo), 1 TFL and 1 sack in 2010. Ivan Robinson redshirted last season but was one of the rising players for the Aggies during spring practice and is expected to see playing time this fall (even before the Strahan news) as a rotational player along the line. While Robinson has the potential to be the starter for the Aggies at the position, we see one or two more offseasons with Coach Kennedy before that occurs. As for Stephen Barrera and Galvin Stansbury? Barrera has shown flashes as being a great player in practice, but for the most part has been unable to remain healthy. And Stansbury is in a similar position to Robinson. So our take? The move of Jonathan Mathis to right defensive end is a transition that is needed for 2011 and should hold into fall camp.
So what about nose guard then? Senior starter Eddie Brown (6', 295) returns with sophomore Kirby Ennis (6'3 280) and redshirt freshman Brandon Jackson (6'4 260) behind him currently. Eddie Brown was fantastic at the position last season with 25 tackles (11 solo) 5 TFL, 1.5 sacks and 1 recovered fumble. Brown's defensive performance in 2010 may be most remembered by blowing a Nebraska center back off the line causing that center to step on quaterback Taylor Martinez's foot, injuring him during the game and all of the fun on the sidelines that resulted after. Watch the first play in this video:
Meanwhile, Kirby Ennis is coming off a season to recover from a knee injury he sustained during the Independence Bowl against Georgia in late 2009. In his true freshman year, Ennis played in 12 games with 12 tackles, 2 of those solo. This spring, Ennis quickly regained his old form before the knee injury and impressed us with his play at nose guard. Brandon Jackson, just like the two other redshirt freshman, should see rotational time but are a year or two away from true impact at the position.
So whats the final verdict? We believe entering fall camp that the Eddie Brown - Kirby Ennis one-two punch will be able to hold down the position while Jonathan Mathis makes the move to start at RDE. While we know what we will get from Eddie Brown, we believe a lot of people will be surprised in the early fall at the play of Kirby Ennis. He should be a more than capable backup and should split time with Brown evenly as the season goes on. Ennis is fantastic at the initial "punch" an offensive lineman receives at the snap, knocking the lineman off his feet a little and freeing his hands from Ennis' body, enough for Ennis to shoot a gap or be in position to make a play.
While we feel good about Kirby Ennis being able to make up for the playing time Strahan would have saw, the Aggies do lose at the position some important qualities Strahan would have provided. Both Eddie Brown and Kirby Ennis are nose guards that are one-on-one type of players. Again, go back to the Eddie Brown highlight posted above to see what we mean. While they are fantastic against a single lineman, both players aren't the big body type (or the 365 pound type) that require two or even three lineman to drive them off the ball. That is what LaMarc Strahan is. He disrupts a defense not by shooting gaps or rushing into an opponent's backfield -- but takes on multiple blockers to disrupt a blocking scheme, allowing for the inside linebackers behind him (say Garrick Williams) to be unblocked, filling a gap and making a play on the ball carrier. That's especially critical in short yardage situations or at points in the ball game when the other team will run the ball to run out the clock. The addition of Strahan would have benefited the search for a second inside linebacker even more; whoever fills that position opposite Garrick would have had an easier time making an impact, an impact at a position with the most criticism on the defense entering the fall. Creating that logjam in the middle of the field is the big hole now in the Aggies defense. But don't get too crazy on what the Aggies will be losing. After all, the Aggies put up great statistical numbers against the run last season without Strahan. Most of that is due to Coach DeRutyer's scheme in which he allows his defensive lineman to shoot gaps at angles giving them a leg up on offensive lineman that would rather have those battles head up. Future trouble against run heavy teams Arkansas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State causing extra losses and changes in 2011 preseason predictions? Not so fast my friend, check out these 2010 season statistics.
Rushing Statistics for 2010
Oklahoma State: 67 yards on 26 carries, 2 TDs for 2.57 yards per rushing attempt (oh and they lose Kendall Hunter and Dana Holgerson)
Arkansas: 132 yards on 36 carries, 0 TDs for 3.67 yards per rushing attempt, return 2 starters on the offensive line and will have to replace 2 OTs and 1 OG, but Knile Davis returns along with Wingo
Oklahoma: 72 rusing yards on 44 attempts, 1 TD for 1.64 yards per rushing attempt, lose RT and DeMarco Murray
Overall on the season: Teams averaged a total of 130.2 yards rushing per game (greatly helped out by the Baylor and Kansas games) for 3.5 yards per rushing attempt, giving up 14 rushing TDs on the season. Longest rush we gave up all year? 71 yards to Baylor, 2nd Longest was 45 to Arkansas.
If you are interested in the full season statistics, visit this PDF file and go to page 9.
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