Phil Steele Blog • March 18, 2017

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2016 Top 50 True Freshman DL's and their Impact on the season.

Today lets talk about my 2016 Top 50 True Freshman Defensive Linemen and their impact on the season. As expected a lot more defensive linemen played this year due to a teams need to have more depth at this position.

Out of the Top 50 defensive linemen, 29 (58%) contributed in some way this past year. Of the 29 that played 11 had over 20 tackles, and 8 of the players were in my Top 10.

Two players stood out in this group. PS#5 Ed Oliver of Houston with 66 tackles and 5 sacks ended up 1st TM AP All American and 1st TM AAC honors. PS#2 Dexter Lawrence of Clemson 63 tackles and 7 sacks received 2nd TM ACC (Cch) and ACC Defensive rookie of the year.

Thirteen players recorded at least 1 sack in 2016. Florida State’s Brian Burns (PS#24) led all freshmen nationally with 9.5 sacks. His sack mark ranked No. 25 overall in the country and 7th in the ACC giving him Frosh All American Honors. Coming in at a close second is Joe Jackson (PS#34) of Miami, Fl with 8.5 sacks.

Ed Oliver led this group again with 18 tackles for loss. The next closest players in this category both had only 4 TFL in PS#1 Rashan Gary of Michigan (27 Tkls), and PS#15 Benito Jones of Mississippi (39 Tkls).

The 2016 Top 50 True Freshman Defensive Linemen contributed with 534 tackles, 47.5 sacks, and 51 TFL last year.

Here is the complete list of my 2016 Top 50 True Freshman Defensive Linemen. Followed by my Top 50 True Freshman Defensive Linemen for 2016. Tuesday I will have my Top 50 True Freshman Linebackers and their impact on the 2016 season.

Top                    
50 RS NAME TEAM TKL SKS TFL PBU INT QBH Other/Info
1   Rashan Gary Michigan 27 1 4 0 0 7  
2 Dexter Lawrence Clemson 63 7 2.5 1 0 6 2nd Tm ACC Cch, ACC D ROY
3 Nick Bosa Ohio State 29 5 2 0 0 3  
4 Derrick Brown Auburn 11 1 0.5 1 0 0  
5 Ed Oliver Houston 66 5 18 9 0 7 1st TM AP AA, 1st TM AAC
6 RS Shavar Manuel Fort Scott CC 0 0 0 0 0 0 Trans from Florida St
7 Oluwole Betiku USC 0 0 0 0 0 0 No Stats, Played in 5 games
8 Julian Rochester Georgia 36 2 0 0 0 2  
9 Rashard Lawrence LSU 6 1 0 0 0 0  
10 Marlon Davidson Auburn 38 2.5 3.5 4 0 6 All SEC Frosh TM
11 McTelvin Agim Arkansas 27 2.5 3 0 0 2 All SEC Frosh TM
12 RS Shane Simmons Penn State 0 0 0 0 0 0  
13 Jeffery Simmons Mississippi State 40 0 3.5 2 0 4  
14 Edwin Alexander LSU 13 0 0.5 0 0 0 All SEC Frosh TM
15 Benito Jones Mississippi 39 0.5 4 0 0 4  
16 RS Antwuan Jackson Auburn 0 0 0 0 0 0  
17 Kendell Jones Unsigned 0 0 0 0 0 0 Failed to Qualify
18 Jonathon Cooper Ohio State 6 1 0 0 0 0  
19 RS Janarius Robinson Florida State 0 0 0 0 0 0  
20 RS Justin Madubuike Texas A&M 0 0 0 0 0 0  
21 Antonneous Clayton Florida 3 0 0 0 0 0  
22 Auston Robertson Michigan St 3 0 0 0 0 0  
23 Josh King Michigan State 10 0 1.5 0 0 0  
24 Brian Burns Florida State 24 9.5 1 0 0 1 Frosh AA Honors
25 Raekwon Davis Alabama 4 1 0 0 0 0  
26 Michail Carter Georgia 3 0 0 0 0 1  
27 RS Ellison Jordan Penn State 0 0 0 0 0 0  
28 Boss Tagaloa UCLA 19 0 0 0 0 0  
29 Amani Bledsoe Oklahoma 3 0 0.5 1 0 6  
30 RS Isaiah Chambers TCU 0 0 0 0 0 0  
31 Garrett Rand Wisconsin 5 0 0 0 0 0  
32 Khalid Kareem Notre Dame 0 0 0 0 0 0 No stats
33 RS Xavier Kelly Clemson 0 0 0 0 0 0  
34 Joe Jackson Miami (FL) 32 8.5 3 0 0 1  
35 RS Glen Logan LSU 0 0 0 0 0 0  
36 RS Prince Michael Sammons Auburn 0 0 0 0 0 0 Moved to OL
37 RS Naquan Jones Michigan State 0 0 0 0 0 0  
38 Karamo Dioubate Temple 5 0 1 0 0 0  
39 RS Cedric Wood Florida State 0 0 0 0 0 0  
40 RS Maxs Tupai Unsigned 0 0 0 0 0 0  
41 Mark Jackson Oklahoma 2 0 0 0 0 0  
42 Brandon Bowen TCU 2 0 1 0 0 0 Trans from Baylor
43 RS Ron Johnson Michigan 0 0 0 0 0 0  
44 RS Nyles Pinckney Clemson 0 0 0 0 0 0  
45 Connor Murphy USC 6 0 0 0 0 0  
46 Jordon Elliott Texas 8 0 1.5 0 0 0  
47 RS Keyshon Camp Pittsburgh 0 0 0 0 0 0  
48 Julian Okwara Notre Dame 4 0 0 0 0 0  
49 RS Nick Coe Auburn 0 0 0 0 0 0  
50   Darius Whitfield Miss Gulf Coast 0 0 0 0 0 0 Trans from South Carolina
Total 534 47.5 51 18 0 50

Here are the Top 50 Rated freshman Defensive Linemen for 2017.

2017    
Top 50 Player Team
1 Marvin Wilson Florida State
2 Jaelan Phillips UCLA
3 AJ Epenesa Iowa
4 Chase Young Ohio State
5 Joshua Kaindoh Florida State
6 Tyler Shelvin LSU
7 Jay Tufele USC
8 Jarez Parks Alabama
9 LaGaryonn Carson Unsigned
10 Haskell Garrett Ohio State
11 Aubrey Solomon Michigan
12 Ja'len Parks Florida State
13 Malik Herring Georgia
14 Luiji Vilain Michigan
15 Marlon Tuipulotu USC
16 LaBryan Ray Alabama
17 Zachary Carter Florida
18 K'Lavon Chaisson LSU
19 Nathan Proctor Virginia Tech
20 Greg Rogers UCLA
21 DJ Johnson Miami (FL)
22 Darnell Ewell Notre Dame
23 Eric Crosby Tennessee
24 Tyler Johnson Arizona State
25 Yetur Gross-Matos Penn State
26 Fred Hansard Penn State
27 Jake Lawler North Carolina
28 Ta'Quon Graham Texas
29 Ryan Johnson Stanford
30 TyJuan Garbutt Virginia Tech
31 Langi Tuifua BYU
32 Jordan Williams Clemson
33 Chester Graves Mississippi
34 Corey Malone-Hatcher Michigan
35 Donovan Jeter Michigan
36 Jerron Cage Ohio State
37 Cam Spence Maryland
38 Markaviest "Big Cat" Bryant Auburn
39 MJ Webb South Carolina
40 Cory Durden Florida State
41 Martin Andrus UCLA
42 Phidarian Mathis Alabama
43 James Hudson Michigan
44 Deron Irving-Bey Michigan
45 Bryan Jones Houston
46 Xach Gill North Carolina
47 Guy Thomas Nebraska
48 Javaris Steward Unsigned
49 Breyon Gaddy Maryland
50 Akial Byers Mississippi Gulf Coast