Chase Smith

[Stallion]

...I don't believe that is true at all. The best group of linemen were recruited by Rossley and then played up to their potential under Cavan/Darrell Dickey. That was just about the only line we have had in 16 years that I would describe as even an average NCAA line-and just about the only line we have had that could actually push people around on occassion. The rest were all below average by the NCAA scale not the SMU scale.

[Corso]

Forgot about that (Adami, Holder, Bandy, etc.) group. They were a stout bunch. I still would contend that we have more size and strength overall (as opposed to the starting five) now, though. Hope they play that way....

[PonyTales]

I think it might be. When you consider a group with Darrin Johnson, Tommy Poynter, Ben Poynter, Caleb Peveto, Kenard Burley, Joe Holmes, Sean Lobo, Dustin Morton, Chase Smith, Ross Nigh, David Allison, Brad Lankford, Mitch Enright, Josh Hickman (and Paulius Ritter?) -- that's 15 guys. I'm hopeful there's at least 10 good ones in there.

Is Sean Lobo playing tackle or guard?

[Pony Up]

Is Chase Smith one of those linemen who played on both the offensive line and the defensive line in high school? Maybe he's not as far from contributing as we thought?

[PK]

Is Chase Smith one of those linemen who played on both the offensive line and the defensive line in high school? Maybe he's not as far from contributing as we thought?

From PonyFans.com Recruiting Roundup...

Flower Mound coach Cody Vanderford:

"We moved Chase around a little bit in our defense. Our base defense is a 4-2-5, but in our dime package, we sometimes lined him up at noseguard or flipped him out to defensive end.

"Chase hasn’t been playing defensive line that long. As a sophomore, he started 10 games for us at offensive tackle. I’d probably compare him now to ... maybe Chad Hennings, because he’s just a big, physical kid who gets in there and just clogs up the line and overpowers guys. And I don’t know if he’s done growing. He might be done growing in terms of his height, but he’s certainly going to get bigger, because he works so hard at it. He’s on the powerlifting team here, and he’s the strongest player in school history.

[PerunaPunch]

That was around '99 or '00 when the OL was Slater, Bandy, Adami, Holder and Morgan – all of whom were in the 6'3 to 6'6 range and right around 300 lbs. each.

So my guess is that with Johnson, the two Poynters, Peveto and Burley, this is the first time that we've fielded a line that was 6'4 to 6'6 since 2000 (and maybe before), although these guys are a little lighter and supposedly more athletic than the 99-2000 bunch. Every one of these starters can bench right at 400 or upwards (yes, I know that's not a good measure of football strength). I doubt we've EVER been able to make that claim... Even pre-DP.

It would be interesting to hear from some of the '99-'00 linemen to learn what they were benching, deadlifting, etc. in their day. Anybody know how to get a hold of Austine Adami or Joey Slater??

[Stallion]

Hey the problem for the MILLIONTH Time ain't size or height-its QUALITY. YOU will find this out once again. There are literrally thousands of kids across the country who are 6-5, 300 and can't play a lick. They are at every school in the country and have been on every team SMU has fielded for the last 20 years. You seem to be suggesting that this is some how a highly touted group-I see two walkons, a few 2A-3A sleepers, several guys who really are not over 6-1, guys that haven't played in 4 years and some young guys who have had very few alternatives in recruiting coming off a year in which the offensive line played a big part in SMU finishing last in Total Offense. What's changed?

[RedRiverPony]

You're not seriously suggesting this isn't a better line than what we rolled out there four or five years ago, are you? I agree that it might not yet be the equal of the Holder/Bandy/Chavira/Adami crowd, but it's a vast improvement over most of the post-DP lines we've had. Better still, Darrin Johnson will be (I think) the only senior in the bunch. You're right in the sense that height and weight don't necessarily make a great lineman. But at the same time, I'd rather have a question mark who looks like Darrin Johnson or Kenard Burley than some of the shorter, lighter, weaker, slower guys we've had at other times. Wouldn't you?

[Stallion]

....Darrin Johnson doesn't fit under any one of the categories of players I listed so you can be assured I did not mean him. The rest of them-I think it is a team weakness across the board at every offensive line position. They haven't proven a thing-and they got a long way to go to be average. No I don't think this is a very strong unit-and I doubt it will be this year either.

[Mustang75]

Speaking of shorter OL, what happened to Bryan Turner? I know he was sick last summer but I've noticed he's not on the roster any more. I thought he was pretty good.

[Mickey]

Hey the problem for the MILLIONTH Time ain't size or height-its QUALITY. YOU will find this out once again. There are literrally thousands of kids across the country who are 6-5, 300 and can't play a lick. They are at every school in the country and have been on every team SMU has fielded for the last 20 years. You seem to be suggesting that this is some how a highly touted group-I see two walkons, a few 2A-3A sleepers, several guys who really are not over 6-1, guys that haven't played in 4 years and some young guys who have had very few alternatives in recruiting coming off a year in which the offensive line played a big part in SMU finishing last in Total Offense. What's changed?

Jeez Stallion, for the MILLIONITH time, the SMU staff is better talent evaluators than the other D1 schools. We would rather have players with Heart rather than players that the BCS schools are recuiting.Don't forget about sleepers like Chris Bordano who had very few offers and went on the NFL. Also don't forget Bill Kiely and Wes Hopkins were walk ons.

And don't bother reminding us about our record for the past 20 years. We won 5 games last year and we are about to turn this thing around. You need to join the Sunshine Club like most of these guys and get aboard the good ship Lollipop while SMU Athletics sails off to oblivion.

[Dark Horse]

Nobody said our coaches are better talent evaluators. But it's human nature that with the exception of the Sergio Kindles of the world, who a blind guy could identify as a great prospect, players will appeal differently to different coaches. Most coaches can look at another school's class and say "we'd recruit those guys, but not this guy, etc." Doesn't mean the kid can't play -- might just mean the coach at one school sees different needs that need to be addressed.