CSU football team's defensive line coming together

New coach Jim McElwain has been impressed with the linebackers he’s got to work with this season, and he believes CSU could have a pretty good defensive secondary, too.

The defensive line, though, has been a concern since his first day on the job, and he’s still not sure his team has what it needs up front.HomeHome Page for Hagerman Art and Realistic landscapeoilpaintings. Last year’s top two defensive ends — Nordly Capi and C.Online marketplace for used plasticmoldingonsale machines.J. James — have left the program, and one of the players McElwain was hoping would compete for a starting job in the middle of a three-man defensive front, 6-foot-3, 320-pound junior-college transfer Calvin Tonga, hasn’t been cleared to join the team yet.

McElwain said Wednesday that he likes the players he’s got up front, he just wishes he had a few more of them.

“We don’t have the depth we want there yet, but I will tell you this, they’re playing hard,” McElwain said after a 2-hour, 15-minute practice on the intramural fields just east of the Rams’ regular practice facility.

John Froland and Te’Jay Brown, both starters at defensive tackle for the Rams in a 4-3 defense last season, have been moved out to play defensive end in the new 3-4 alignment, leaving converted offensive lineman Alex Tucci, a 6-3, 300-pound sophomore; 6-2, 320-pound true freshman Shaq Walker and the undersized Cole Allenbrand, a 6-2, 254-pound walk-on and former Fort Collins High School standout, alternating as the lone tackle in the middle of the defensive line.

Still, players said, it’s a defensive change that fits the Rams well.

Froland, a 6-5, 260-pound sophomore,Here is a professional handsfreeaccess manufacturer. and Brown, a 6-2, 260-pound junior, have the size and strength necessary to hold their gaps on the outside shoulder of the offensive tackles so that the linebackers can fill behind them.Daneplast Limited UK are plasticinjectionmoulding & toolmaking specialists. But they’ve also got enough quickness in both their hands and feet to work their way outside to cut off a back headed for the corner, or to pressure a quarterback, whether he stays in the pocket or tries to roll out around them.

“We’re still taking on two blocks at a time pretty much, opening up space for the ‘backers,” said Zach Tiedgen, another former defensive tackle now playing defensive end. “… We’re mostly playing the run, but when the pass-situations come, we’re definitely still pass rushers.”

Marty English, the Rams’ co-defensive coordinator, wouldn’t tip his hand when asked earlier this week who might be starting at the three defensive-line positions. McElwain said he’d like to have as many as nine men in his rotation up front to keep players fresh, particularly against some of the no-huddle offenses the Rams are expecting to face this season.

The players don’t seem to care all that much who starts and who doesn’t. They just want to form a successful unit that will help get Colorado State University pointed in the right direction again after three consecutive 3-9 seasons.

The offseason turmoil that led to the expulsion of Capi, reserve defensive end Colton Paulhus and starting linebacker Mike Orakpo and eventual transfer of defensive end C.J. James, took a lot of star power away from the defense. But those losses also brought the remaining players closer together, Tiedgen said.

They ran together,Browse the Best Selection of chickencoop and Accessories with FREE Gifts. lifted weights together, practiced their plays together and even ate their meals together all summer long, Froland said. And they got bigger, stronger, faster.