The Memphis Tigers defense line recruits, highlighted by four-star defensive lineman Joshua White from Decatur, AL; who according to Website 24/7 Sports he turned down interest and offers from four top-level SEC schools.
Others are James Quinnelly is a three-star defensive lineman signed from Daphne, AL. Also, Eric Gaston is a three-star edge rusher signed from Antioch, TN. A big addition is DT Hydee Barlow is three-star transfer from Gulf Coast Community College.
There are some linebackers added. Three-star Warren Peeples is a transfer from Highland Community College. in Kansas. Another big get for the Tigers is AJ Odom is a three-star linebacker signed from Oakman, AL. Another hopeful is LB Geoffrey Cantin-Arku is a linebacker transfer from Syracuse.
I can see, like anyone that watches a lot of Tigers football last year, it wasn’t the defensive players, it was the offensive scheme. The scheme was an offense that was one of the fastest in the country very effective. However, there was a very low time of possession, and left the defense on the field a long, long time. Later in the game you would see the team wear down and some late leads were lost.
The Tigers hope that with a good recruiting year and a good haul from the transfer portal, the defense will excel as in the past. The problem could be size.
Let’s compare this to a top-level national program; the University of Alabama is heavier. Their defense line, projected, is 290,300,290 pounds. When you assess their linebackers, they are 240,225,228,240 pounds. The University of Memphis, based on early, early reports, might go 245,265, 290, 240 across the Defensive line. For Memphis the projected LB starters, 225,220, 215 pounds are the pre-camp weights.
One hope though, is that it’s early. Of course there’s not been a pad hit in summer practice yet, and the weight room makes changes quickly. But against top-level SEC squads, and national-level teams like Houston and Cincinnati the combined weight differences add up over the span of a full 60 minutes.
If you enjoyed the preview, I spotlighted the DBs in a post earlier this summer.