This post continues a series evaluating our recruiting class. Today we discuss DEs.
Jadeveon Clowney. This fellow, of course, needs no introduction. The prize recruit of this class, most pundits expect Clowney to earn a starting spot next year. At 6'6 / 250, he probably needs to put on 10-15 pounds to be ready to truly reach his potential at the college level, and as I've said before, we probably shouldn't go into 2011 expecting 20 sacks and 10 forced fumbles. That's said, he should be an immediate difference-maker in 2011 and a potential All-American down the road, and that's about as much as you can hope for from a recruit at his position. Clowney's combination of size, speed, and agility are literally unheard of.
Gerald Dixon. Dixon held down the DE spot opposite Clowney at South Pointe High School, and together the two made a habit of scaring the daylights out of opposing QBs. He's a bit bigger than Clowney at 6'2 / 260 and lacks some of his counterpart's speed. No one will mistake Dixon for Clowney, but he's a solid prospect in his own right who I believe can give us solid depth and fight for a starting spot after current guys like Devin Taylor, Chaz Sutton, and Melvin Ingram graduate. I expect a redshirt for him this season.
Grade: A. We didn't sign a lot of depth at DE, but it's not really a position of need for us right now, as we have a lot of talented guys fighting for playing time. The important thing was to sign Clowney, a once-in-a-generation prospect. We did that, and that's what makes this portion of our class so great.