As the coaches try to finish the 2018 recruiting season with a bang, I've noticed some confusion if not a bit of consternation about the numbers we're potentially taking on the DL. Less on IT than elsewhere, of course. Are we eating up space at the expense of future classes where in-state talent may be more abundant? Probably not. There's no downside to taking extra DL because they have a naturally high attrition rate anyway. For DL, there's no need for the trapdoor. They let themselves out of the front door at a pretty high rate. See Charlie Strong's 2016 DL class. Or Mack Brown's 2010.
The constraint for any big man athletic enough to garner an offer from Texas isn't talent, but motor, discipline and drive. On the field, in the weight room, in the classroom, driving by Dominos at 3 AM. That mental evaluation, while discernible, isn't a science. DL sorta sort themselves out. Usually really quickly. Either positively in the weight room and learning their trade or negatively by failing out, becoming fatties, or putting a trash can through the windshield of their girlfriend's car. Either way, DL offer resolution. They don't hang out on your roster eating space like an OL who may actually be inconsiderate enough to attend class, get a 3.2 in a real major and stick around for his degree even after you tell him he's 3rd string behind a walk on. If a DL does hang out on your roster for four years, they're the most likely guy for a Gaskamp Award and a senior blossoming.
We already have Carson in the fold and we'll go all out for Ojomo and Williams. The more interesting question is whether we take Caleb Okechuwku if we miss out on Ojomo or Williams. There's a bigger class calculus going on for Okechuwku. Further, the need to shoehorn each DL into a role (are we taking too many 4is?) before they've even set foot on campus misunderstands what we're doing here. Each recruit represents a specific athletic type and you're making different bets on each. Carson is for floor. Ojomo is for ceiling. Williams is a wildcard. Okechuwku is your contingency. Further, the way we actually deploy the defense allows for mass substitution and for certain traits to come to the fore against certain opponents.
Breckyn Hager is getting a lot of snaps against Missouri and Texas Tech. Chris Nelson is your guy against USC. Carson is a long guy who lacks explosiveness but has the infrastructure and soft trait athleticism (coordination, feet). The question is whether the weight room and technique can make up the necessary ground on lesser physical gifts. Ojomo is Wonder Boy. I demand to see his Nigerian birth certificate. I'm not sure how an elite DL hides out at Katy, but somehow he pulled it off. Redshirt him and let him grow into his powers. There's no question he is Todd Orlando's ideal nose tackle when he's 285-290, but I could see him anywhere on a three man front.
Williams may not even make it on campus, may become a 4i, may end up at nose, may decide he's a 260 pound TE in the Alge Crumpler mode. Who cares? It's all gravy if he pans. The need to project our depth chart in 2020 at every position in our front 7, while understandable, is an instinct you should resist. The players will tell you where they should be played.
