Wednesday August 01, 2007

Winkopp News; ACC Defensive Line Rankings

Winkopp Renews
I have had several great meetings with the marketing department at Tom Winkopp Development in recent weeks and I am happy to report that the title sponsorship of this blog as been renewed and will remain intact hopefully for a long time. I knew I was extremely satisfied with the relationship over the past year and it was great news to hear how excited Tom and his marketing director Scott Foster were about future sponsorship of this blog.

In the next few days look for a video infomercial on this site and others that we did featuring The Park at Valley Walk and Sunset at Valley Walk. I had a blast helping with the videos and I hope you will find them informative.

Tom has a great vision for the community and he has some incredible long-term developments that we will be telling you about soon. We hope to continue this wonderful relationship with our friends at Tom Winkopp. We could not do this project without their support and I hope you will consider his current and future developments when you consider your next purchase.

My only regret is Tom does not want to promote how much money his company has given to Clemson for the West Zone initiative by given one percent of all gross sales to the University. Tom’s only regret is his height (I am sure I will be getting a phone call later today for that one). Thanks Tom.

ACC Defensive Line Rankings

In my opinion this is the top unit across the board in the ACC. I think all 12 teams have reason to be excited about their defensive lines and there are fewer questions and more answers at this position than any other in the ACC. Virginia’s Chris Long and Miami’s Calias Campbell are two of the top defensive ends in America. Also I read one pre-season magazine that had eight ACC teams ranked among the top 30 defensive lines in the country.

1. Virginia-The Cavaliers play a 3-4 but have built talent and depth along its defensive front. Chris Long is a future NFLer. He might be the best overall defensive lineman in the ACC this season. He is the son of former NFL defensive end Howie Long so it is easy to see where his energy comes from. Long is a great pass rusher and solid in his fundamentals and techniques. Jeffrey Fitzgerald had a fantastic freshman season last year and some think he could be better than Long down the road. Virginia is very deep along its front three.

2. Virginia Tech-The Hokies return seven of their top eight defensive linemen from last season including starters Chris Ellis, Carlton Powell and Barry Booker. These three seniors are a key to what should be one of the top defenses in the country in 2007. Virginia Tech controls the line of scrimmage and this unit is helped by the eight-man front they often show.

3. Boston College-If you plan on running on the Eagles you better bring some beef because there are massive in their interior defensive line, BJ Raji and Ron Brace are returning starters who are almost 700 pounds between them. Clemson coaches thought Raji was a major force against them in his sophomore season. These gap control monsters are hard to move and one of the reasons why BC gave up only 100 yards per game on the ground last season. Brady Smith and Nick Larkin return at defensive end and they are joined by Jim Ramella is back from an injury.

4. Clemson-See Tuesday’s blog for complete analysis.

5. Florida State-Andre Fluellen, Letroy Guion, Alex Boston, Everett Brown, Justin Mincey, Neefy Moffett, Paul Griffin, etc. The names just keep coming at you. Unfortunately this group has been hit by injuries over the last few seasons. Griffin had huge hype going last season but missed most of the year with a bad knee. Fluellen is the most decorated of the Noles and rightfully so. He is an All-American candidate and a good pass rusher from his defensive tackle slot. I like Brown as much as any player on this line. He is strong enough to play well against the run but athletic enough to create a pass rush.

6. Georgia Tech-The Yellow Jackets have one of the fastest risers in the ACC in defensive end Michael Johnson. He was one of the best looking athletics I saw all of last season. Keep your eye out for this future NFL star. Darrell Robertson, Darryl Richard and Adam Oliver are three players with a lot of experience in this defense. I think if Johnson is as good as I believe this unit could be underrated.

7. NCSU-Under Chuck Amato NC State recruited extremely well along its defensive line and despite losing several high draft picks in the past two years State has talent still on campus. Willie Young and Demario Pressley look the part. Young is a future star who is a long, lean body and an athletic defensive end. He is among the best pass rushers in the league. Pressley is the next in line of the top NFL-type talent as some think he can develop into a top two round pick. Martel Brown returns at defensive end and he could be an NFL pick in the upcoming draft.

8. Maryland-The Terps have all four starters are back including two senior starters at tackle. Dre Moore and Carlos Feliciano are two 300-pounders with Moore having the bigger upside of this duo. Trey Covington, Jeremy Navarre and Mack Frost are very good defensive ends in their scheme.

9. Miami-I may be the only one in America that does not think this is a great defensive line. Calais Campbell is a future first round draft pick but the rest of this unit is unproven and needs to be more productive. The death of Brian Pata shook the Cane family and hurt this unit. The Canes must also replace Kareem Brown and Baraka Atkins. There is still talent there but not like most Miami teams at this position.

10. North Carolina-The Tar Heels have some good seniors like Kyndraus Guy, Hilee Taylor and Kentwan Balmer but the real talent in Chapel Hill comes in their underclassmen. Marvin Austin is a true freshman that could play in any program in America. He has a chance to come in and play right away. Derrick Massenburg, Derrick Powell, Aleric Mullins and Cam Thomas are all freshmen and sophomores so this unit should be much improved later in Butch Davis’ tenure.

11. Wake Forest- The Deacons were very good last year here and could be better this season. Matt Robinson and Jeremy Thompson come back from injuries and they could make this unit improved even though two starters were lost from a year ago. Zack Stukes returns at defensive tackle after a solid junior season.

12. Duke-The Blue Devils return six or seven of their top ten defensive linemen including high school All-American Vince Oghobaase. The Texas native missed his freshman season with a knee injury but played a little last year. If he is healthy this group can be above average. Patrick Bailey is a returning starter and perhaps the most consistent defender at Duke.

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