Illini Football Unit breakdown: Defensive Line.

We stand at the door step of the month of July. The preview magazines have been released, the freshmen are on campus, and we are all getting ready for purest form of the game: college football. In the interest of getting all of you interested and excited (or pessimistic, depending on the case) about Illini football, HTTO is beginning its coverage of each of the teams units.Who will be the playing, who will be starring and what should we be expecting?

I believe, as the old adage goes, that games are won and lost up front on the lines. With that in mind I will begin with the Defensive and offensive lines and move away from the ball from there. So we begin today with the unit that may be the subject of the most speculation and uncertainty on the entire team. The defensive line.

Projected Starters. I suppose this is the million dollar question isn't it? From a line that lost Derek Walker, David Lindquist and Will Davis, and underperformed its potential last year, things already seem like they might be an uphill battle. Because last year line was supposedly so loaded with talent, but disappointed, Tom Sims, the DL coach was let go.  In steps Keith Gilmore into a situation that only gets more complicated. If I had to list the ideal in terms of talent starting defensive line, I would probably list DE's Doug Pilcher and Jerry Brown flanking DTs Sirod Williams and Josh Brent. Why do I say ideal you ask? Well thus far Josh Brent is serving his 60 day jail sentence for DUI and driving on a suspended license, Sirod Williams is recovering from a torn ACL from last summer,  and Jerry Brown may not be academically eligible to play. But hey Doug Pilcher is still good right? In the nightmare scenario of all three of these question marks go south, Brown doesn't clear, Sirod's knee isn't 100%, and Brent is suspended or leaves the team, the line could look very, very different. As in  Corey Liuget, Antonio James, and whichever heretofore unseen DT wins out at Camp Rantoul.(Uzodinma?) Regardless, the line situation probably wont be all bad, I am sure that probably two out of three of the players in question will make it into the lineup somehow. Even with Sirod and Brent playing you can count of Liuget seeing significant playing time, even if he isn't starting. Clay Nurse and Antonio James too will more than likely play a lot regardless of Brown's situation.

Possible Star. He may not even be a guaranteed starter, but Corey Liuget has the makings of a very good player at 6'3", 290. He played really well last year as a true freshman. He is going to be a starter in 2010, and may overtake Josh Brent or Sirod Williams this year if he makes the big leap every one seems to think he will. He can and will get into the back field and disrupt plays, and he will only get better.

What To Expect? As I said earlier there is alot we still do not know about how this line will look when it takes the field in St Louis. How little we know about the Dline, especially at DT drives amplifies the losses of two former recruiting gems, Reggie Ellis and D'Angelo McCray. What was once perhaps the pride of depth of the defense has suffered an extreme amount of attrition.

Last year at about this time, the defensive line was being touted as perhaps the strongest aspect of the defense, and perhaps one of the better lines in the NCAA. These expectations were soon put to rest as the D line lost Sirod in camp and proceeded to fail to live up to those expectations from just about day 1. The D-line wasn't the only or even the worst problem for the team last year, but not being the strength we thought it was surely played a part in the huge numbers that were put up against the Illini on the ground.

The outcome of last year, along with the attrition since has led me to take a wait and see approach. Defensive Tackle is arguably the most important position in a college defense. Strength here will go a long way in masking other shortcomings on defense, and perhaps result in a stronger defense overall than last year. I will feel alot better if either Josh Brent or Sirod Williams comes through and contributes this fall. A core of DTs with Sirod, Brent and Liuget would be formidable indeed and could result in a stronger inside defense than we saw in all of 2008. With only Pilcher to look forward to as a reliable DE, the position will more than likely see some drop off. But frankly if the line is as strong as it could be up the middle it might not matter all that much. Bob Assmussen recently said that a defense that includes Josh Brent might mean an improvement of 30 yards given up, in the most unlikely scenario of Brown, Sirod and Brent all being cleared, healthy and not suspended, the Defensive Line will be without a doubt the strongest aspect of the defense on paper. Lets hope the expectations aren't so insurmountable this time around.