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2019 Nose Tackle

ScottyBuff

ScottyBuff

Well-Known Member
I know it's early and we don't know all the particulars of the Tucker-Summers defense but it does seem like they are going to run a base 3-4 defense.

With that said our current depth chart at the Nose Tackle position consists of:

5th year Senior: Lyle Tuiloma 6'3 310: 429 plays, 28 tackles, 2 QBP, 1 FF (used mostly in garbage time/weak opponents in the past 2 years).
Walk-on Junior: Nico Magri 6'3 270: 12 plays, 0 tackles, 1 FF
RS Freshman (GS): Jalen Sami 6'6 320 (Torn ACL: surgery in May of 2018)
Freshman (Verbal): Na'im Rodman 6'3 295

What we do have on our roster is one of the most disruptive defensive lineman in the Pac-12 this past season, who regularly faced double-teams, and was used at times at the nose during passing downs...
Junior: Mustafa Johnson 6'2 290: 673 plays, 73 tackles, 8.5 sacks, 17.5 TFL, 16 QBP, 1 FR, 1 PBU

Along with our other young and talented DL:
Sophomore: Israel Antwine 6'4 315: 457 plays, 16 tackles, 1 sack, 3 TFL, 9 QBP (committed to CU in part because he was promised to be used as a 3-4 DE rather than a NT).
Sophomore: Terrance Lang 6'7 275: 263 plays, 11 tackles, 1 sack, 2 TFL, 6 QBP, 3 PBU
RS Freshman: Tavau Finau 6'3 260

I would propose moving Mustafa to the "0" nose tackle position where his disruptiveness and ability to shed blockers and penetrate could be huge. Having Lang start at the "5-technique" DE where his height is a great attribute; along with Antwine at the "3-technique" DE spot would give us our most talented DL.
With Tuiloma and Sami as depth NT players (and you could still move Mustafa around with multiple packages like an under-front or back to the 5-technique when Tui or Sami rotate in). That gives us Finau and Roberts as DE depth players.

Unless Tuiloma takes major steps forward over the next 9 months I don't see who else can be a quality player there for us (Sami might not be recovered in time for spring ball).

Mustafa could use the off-season to gain strength and size (he does have those tree-trunk legs already) to even fit the role better.
 
Last edited:
Buffnik said:
No way do you want to move Mustafa. He was disruptive this year, had a bunch of TFLs, and made All-Conference. Moving him would make 2 positions worse.

Antwine's a possibility at NT, though.
Click to expand...
Completely agree with this- I'm not 100% familiar with the 3-4 scheme that MT ran at UGA, but I believe that the role of the NT is mainly to eat up blockers in that defense. Not only is Mustafa's skill set better suited to playing one of the other DL positions, but he's also a little undersized for that role. My guess is that Antwine ends up as the starter.
 
Buffnik said:
No way do you want to move Mustafa. He was disruptive this year, had a bunch of TFLs, and made All-Conference. Moving him would make 2 positions worse.

Antwine's a possibility at NT, though.
Click to expand...

I was waiting to see how long it would take for you to post that! ;)

Maybe Tucker will be able to convince Antwine to shift over. Would you then put Mustafa at the 3 or the 5? Lang seems like a pure 5 technique guy to me and nobody else on the roster fits the mold for the 3 tech spot aside from Antwine and Mustafa.

I am really hoping that Sami is fully recovered by spring and Tuiloma shows he can play at this level; but it sure looks like our only 3 "players" are Mustafa, Antwine, and Lang right now.
 
ScottyBuff said:
Our current roster of players dictate that maybe a 4-3 under front is the best scheme right now.
Click to expand...
Except we don't have the depth to run a 4-3 since we haven't recruited numbers at DL and none of our OLBs are really big enough to put a hand on the ground. I like Antwine, Lang and Mustafa. Sami supposedly has a ton of potential as a NT.

I think that the key is to run a 3-4 the way Pendergast does at USC, which techincally turns it into a "5-2 Under" defense. Antwine in a "1" technique at N, Mustafa in a "3" technique at T and Lang in a "5" technique at E.
5-2.0.jpg
 
Buffnik said:
Except we don't have the depth to run a 4-3 since we haven't recruited numbers at DL and none of our OLBs are really big enough to put a hand on the ground. I like Antwine, Lang and Mustafa. Sami supposedly has a ton of potential as a NT.

I think that the key is to run a 3-4 the way Pendergast does at USC, which techincally turns it into a "5-2 Under" defense. Antwine in a "1" technique at N, Mustafa in a "3" technique at T and Lang in a "5" technique at E.
5-2.0.jpg
Click to expand...
Who is W in this version of 3-4 next year?
 
Sami was expected to challenge Edwards before the acl. He may be better suited outside though.

Tuiloma played a lot of important snaps not just garbage time. He had to as Edwards couldn't play that long at once. He's a serviceable backup. A good DL coach is very important here.
 
I think Lou Holz put this together at Arkansas in the mid 70s.
Buffnik said:
Except we don't have the depth to run a 4-3 since we haven't recruited numbers at DL and none of our OLBs are really big enough to put a hand on the ground. I like Antwine, Lang and Mustafa. Sami supposedly has a ton of potential as a NT.

I think that the key is to run a 3-4 the way Pendergast does at USC, which techincally turns it into a "5-2 Under" defense. Antwine in a "1" technique at N, Mustafa in a "3" technique at T and Lang in a "5" technique at E.
5-2.0.jpg
Click to expand...
Lou
 
i'm thinking antwine goes to nose tackle, based upon what we know now about our guys. he's got the size and can get bigger so he can be the plug up the middle. no way you move mustafa there-- he's got that quick burst that makes him special. sami relieves entwine.

as for scheme, the whole reason our new dc went to georgia was to learn the 3-4 from tucker and smart, per some articles. tucker is a 3-4 guy. our personnel is 3-4 personnel.
 
I should have been more clear in my OP:

The assumptions being that Tuiloma doesn't make a giant leap forward, Sami is not full-go (coming off ACL surgery) and Antwine refuses to play NT (threatens to transfer, based off of his recruiting comments about playing DE which implicated that is one of the bigger reasons we flipped him from OK-State).

Do you: play Tuiloma knowing that he is not the run-stuffer/block-eater we need and platoon Mustafa/Lang/Antwine at the DE spots or do you try to play your best 3 DL.
 
7 months into rehab. We are in 2018. He's not released for contact but will be 100%.

Buff fans are going to like Sami.
 
Tuiloma can be a solid/unspectacular starter at the nose next year. He has plenty of meaningful reps, but I expect Sami to pass him once he gets acclimated to game speed.
 
Liver said:
i'm thinking antwine goes to nose tackle, based upon what we know now about our guys. he's got the size and can get bigger so he can be the plug up the middle. no way you move mustafa there-- he's got that quick burst that makes him special. sami relieves entwine.

as for scheme, the whole reason our new dc went to georgia was to learn the 3-4 from tucker and smart, per some articles. tucker is a 3-4 guy. our personnel is 3-4 personnel.
Click to expand...
Was t there a “deal” with Antwine that he would play outside when he was recruited.
 
hawg1 said:
Was t there a “deal” with Antwine that he would play outside when he was recruited.
Click to expand...
Maybe. But if so, surely such a deal was made with Mike MacIntyre, not with Mel Tucker. Mel Tucker’s here to win football games, not be voted nicest man ever and let the players do whatever they want. If Antwine wants to stay at defensive end, it’s his job to prove to Tucker that he provides more value at that position than at DT. If he can’t, he has no one to blame but himself if he gets moved to DT
 
Shldr2Shldr said:
at least 1 of the 3 DT's we just picked up seem to be likely candidates to help out at NT.
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Looks that way for sure, maybe all three of them. Rodman seems to fit as a NT prototype for sure.

Crazy that last year we had 3 scholarship DT on the roster and this year Tucker brings in 3 in one class!
 
I know they liked Sami a lot last spring, but he was raw. But honestly, at 6'6" 320, I don't know that he's a NT. He's also extremely athletic for his size, might he fit better at DE? Anyone that watched the spring game saw that he flashed and was extremely disruptive.
In comparison:

Antwine is 6'4" 315.
Mustafa 6'2" 290
Janez 6'4" 305
Austin Williams 6'3" 330
Rodman 6'2" 295
Tuiloma 6'3" 310
Sami 6'6" 320

Lang 6'7" 275
Finau 6'3" 260
Doss 6'4" 260
 
buffaholic said:
I know they liked Sami a lot last spring, but he was raw. But honestly, at 6'6" 320, I don't know that he's a NT. He's also extremely athletic for his size, might he fit better at DE? Anyone that watched the spring game saw that he flashed and was extremely disruptive.
In comparison:

Antwine is 6'4" 315.
Mustafa 6'2" 290
Janez 6'4" 305
Austin Williams 6'3" 330
Rodman 6'2" 295
Tuiloma 6'3" 310
Sami 6'6" 320

Lang 6'7" 275
Finau 6'3" 260
Doss 6'4" 260
Click to expand...

Wouldn't surprise me to see Rodman, Janez, and Tuiloma factor in at NT for most downs. Sami could potentially make a solid passing down DT with his athleticism. Will be interesting to see come Spring.
 
buffaholic said:
I know they liked Sami a lot last spring, but he was raw. But honestly, at 6'6" 320, I don't know that he's a NT. He's also extremely athletic for his size, might he fit better at DE? Anyone that watched the spring game saw that he flashed and was extremely disruptive.
In comparison:

Antwine is 6'4" 315.
Mustafa 6'2" 290
Janez 6'4" 305
Austin Williams 6'3" 330
Rodman 6'2" 295
Tuiloma 6'3" 310
Sami 6'6" 320

Lang 6'7" 275
Finau 6'3" 260
Doss 6'4" 260
Click to expand...

He is taller than the traditional NT but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Javier was 6'5" Suh and Cox in the NFL are 6'4"

I don't think we are going to have a lot of choice. Sami is a guy who is comfortable in the middle and reportedly is also very powerful. Antwine "could" move inside but he is more comfortable in a 3 or 5 technique. If we have injuries he may have to fill in some but he did very well for a true freshman where he was.

Allbuffs wouldn't be allbuffs though if we didn't spend all offseason trying to mover guys to different positions.

I'm looking forward under Tucker to a day when we can like a real PAC12 team go two deep across the DL with guys who belong at the P5 level.
 
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