Tulane Defensive Linemen Have Opportunity in Scrimmage
The Tulane Green Wave have both questions and answers on the depth chart, and coach Sumrall is sitting proven players to see how the next man up fares in Saturday’s scrimmage.
Speaking to reporters after Friday’s practice, Jon Sumrall made mention of two key veterans not expected to see much playing time this weekend: linebacker Tyler Grubbs and defensive tackle Patrick Jenkins.
However, Adin Huntington has been out this week after an injury last weekend – not expected to be serious. But it presents an opportunity for several guys on the defensive line to make their case.
“Pat Jenkins is probably going to take zero snaps,” Sumrall admitted. “So I want to see who’s the next guy in that d-line room right now. Who wants it? Who wants to be the next guy? Who wants to play 30%, 40% of the snaps in the game? Those guys, they got to go earn it. So who wants to step up in that room?”
In the absence of Huntington, I saw Michael Lunz getting first-team reps at Bandit, or edge rusher. Matthew Fobbs-White is another player who’s seen some snaps throughout camp on the edge. There’s also transfers Terrell Allen from Tennessee State and Javon Carter from Grambling.
That unit suffered a lot of production loss off the edge with the departure of Devean Deal and Keith Cooper in the transfer portal, and Darius Hodges to the NFL draft.
They did retain quite a bit of experience along the interior. Opposite Jenkins has mainly been Eric Hicks with the first team. When Jenkins has been held out in camp reps, Kam Hamilton has seen a lot of that playing time after being injured in spring camp. Other competitors for those spots have been Adonis Friloux and Elijah Champaigne, with Parker Peterson seeing considerable time through two weeks.
The trenches are what will decide a lot of matchups for the Green Wave this year – especially those Power 5 games against Oklahoma and Kansas State. Tulane’s ability to compete on the line of scrimmage is critical on both sides of the ball.
The stars on the defensive line are proven, but just one season before last, Devean Deal was largely a role player who made the most of every snap. That translated into starting at edge rusher last year. That opportunity is large for several defensive linemen to step up and make a case this Saturday.
MADDY HUDAK