Just refer to LSU as "D-Line U"

July 23, 2008 8:58 PM

Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

Doug Benc/Getty Images

Junior Al Woods is projected to be a top pro prospect -- and he may not even start for LSU.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- A few more tidbits from Day 1 at the SEC media days:

• LSU center Brett Helms had the perfect answer for how a team could lose a player the caliber of Glenn Dorsey and return the next season with perhaps the best defensive line in the country.

"I was talking to Glenn yesterday, and he was saying this is 'D-Line U.' That's what we call it now," Helms said. "For the past few years with Kyle Williams and Claude Wroten and some of those guys, we just keep reloading here."

The Tigers are loaded up front, all right. Junior defensive tackle Al Woods is projected as a top 10 pick in the 2009 NFL draft by ESPN's Todd McShay [Insider], and Williams isn't even a probable starter heading into the season.

• Mississippi State coach Sylvester Croom joked that he won't miss Dorsey.

"If anybody else in this conference had lost Dorsey, they'd be in real trouble," Croom said. "LSU just puts another one in there."

Croom said Dorsey was one of three defensive linemen in his coaching career that he was truly afraid of going into a game.

The other two? Reggie White and Howie Long.

Some pretty heady company.

• Bobby Johnson has earned a dubious distinction at Vanderbilt. Entering his seventh season, Johnson is now the school's longest tenured coach since George MacIntyre, who coached the Commodores' last bowl team in 1982.

Johnson has guided the Commodores to 15 wins in the last three seasons, their best three-season win total since 1992-94.

"I remember in my first press conference, I think the very first day I was at Vanderbilt, some guy said, 'How long do you think you got before they fire you?' " Johnson recounted. "Really, he did. I said, 'I don't know.'

"The thing is that our coaching staff has invested a lot into this program. They've worked extremely hard. We want to see it be successful. We're hoping we can get it done. I think we made strides toward that. I think we were extremely close last year. A couple games go either way, and we're in a bowl."

The reality is that Vanderbilt may struggle this season when you look at everybody the Commodores lost, but 2009 could finally be the year they break their bowl drought.

monoxide (7/24/2008)

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Georgia Tech's D-line>any other D Line in the nation. Michael Johnson is the best pass rusher in football, Darryl Richard, Elris Anyaibe, and Vance Walker, provide great power in the middle, and Derrick Morgan is a decent right end that is still young.

BillyWitchDoctor (7/24/2008)

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That's saying a lot. Johnson has yet to prove to be that "elite" pass rusher, I know you said he was hurt and all, but 4 sacks or w/e is not what I would consider amazing. Everson Griffen DE from USC had 5 sacks last year with very limited playing timeas a true freshman. Griffen has the potential to be something special. G tech best DL in the nation? That's homerism at it's finest.

g6773a (7/24/2008)

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According to what Ive read Ricky Jean-Francois (sp?) is the best D-Line prospect that LSU has. One person even proclaimed he could eventually be better than Glenn Dorsey.

Can any of y'all think of a LSU D-Lineman that has lived up to the hype?