Ok so back on topic,… this has got to be the biggest gut punch six weeks in my history as a fan… lose a chance at a natty basically two straights years when everything seemed so poised the day of the conference title games. And yes, zero impact DTs means forget a natty next year,… the ‘revenge season’ is relegated to the regular season and we all know it
I'm going to counterpoint this because I'm exhausted by everyone buying into this narrative. There were two playoff teams with top 10 DTs for the 2026 draft and each of the teams had 2! Guess what, they aren't in the title game. Oregon and Texas Tech
Defensive Tackle Rankings 2026 NFL Draft
You know what makes you a contender? Strong offense and strong defense. Great DEs are a cheat code at times. We don't need elite DTs, we just need some players to emerge (a portal acquisition wouldn't be frowned upon). We have a lot of players in the room who simply need to step up because we have really good edge players (Keeley would make that room even better), we have really good LBs, we have probably the best secondary in CFB returning.
Offense will be dictated by OL development this offseason and which RBs earn snaps. We have a lot of options at TE and WR and they aren't a concern.
If we get a stud DT, amazing. It rounds out the entire roster. Freeman has stacked the best talent any of us have seen in the past two decades.
Our DL must find 8-10 players from:
Boubacar Traore
Bryce Young
Loghan Thomas
Chris Burgess Jr
Dom Hulak
Cole Mullins
Elijah Hughes
Sean Sevilliano Jr
Davion Dixon
Gordy Sulfstead
Joe Reiff
Armel Mukam?
Jason Onye?
Rodney Dunham
Elijah Golden
E. Ewatade
Tiki Hola
+ any transfers
I'm excited to see what Cole Mullins, Burgess Jr, Sevilliano, Hughes and Dixon can do. I really want to see if any of the freshmen can earn 5-10 snaps/game. A DT transfer alleviates all concerns but if we simply have DTs who can hold the point of attack, we have enough athleticism everywhere else to be very disruptive.
Alright, done with the kool-aid. A DT would be nice.