Louisville Defensive Front

The U of L defense has been in need of the consistent, top level talent that the offense has been able to produce for several years now. Things have improved but the questions remain with whether results on the field will reflect this. in 2005, the defensive front was very solid in the middle and spectacular from the ends. Will there be improvement in 2006 after losing Montavious Stanley and the undersized sack king, Elvis Dumervil?

I think the answer is yes but it would be surprising to most. Lets look deeper.

- Amobi Okoye is a solid anchor to the middle of the line. He is a run-stopper that is a lot more athletic than his size would indicate. There should be no doubts at this position.

- Next to Amobi was last year's most underrated player through the regular season, Montavious Stanley. Adrian Grady will fill these shoes admirably. He stepped into them during the Gator Bowl. Few run the ball with the fury of Va Tech and Grady was there to lead.

- Earl Heyman was a play maker from Defensive Tackle last year. He seemed to recover fumbles everytime he entered a game. With a year of strength training, he will be a force.

- At the ends, Dumerville will obviously be missed. Zach Anderson is mature and now has experience to go along with it. He will step forward. The other end is the biggest question mark. There are many suitors and UL will need one to step up. By season's end, I hope that that step up performer is not Peanut Whitehead. Dont get me wrong, I want him to be all that UL fans think he can be. The problem is that if he is demanding significant time on the field, it will likely be because of injury or poor performance in front of him. Hopefully, he will fill the Earl Heyman role from 2005 and be the man later in his career.