Big men at a big position

I was invited to take part in my first podcast – at the fine Oklahoma blog, Blatant Homerism (yes, the subject of a certain former defensive coordinator did come up) – and one of the subjects for discussion was the state of Georgia’s defensive line.  My thought was that DeAngelo Tyson had the lead in starting at the tackle position, but that the coaches seemed to hint that they wanted an excuse to play him at the end position.  That “excuse”, of course, would have to be confidence in Kwame Geathers/Justin Anderson’s ability to succeed in manning the tackle spot.

After the interview ended, I fired up Twitter, and I’ll be damned if I didn’t come across this story:

During his first two years at Georgia, Justin “Bean” Anderson made 12 starts as an offensive lineman. If the season started today, Anderson would make his 13th start — but his first as a defensive lineman.

Anderson, who converted to defense before spring practice, is in line to start at nose tackle, defensive line coach Rodney Garner said after Wednesday’s practice. DeAngelo Tyson, a starter last year at defensive tackle, would switch over to end.

Needless to say, that’s good news.  Even if the coaches are still sounding tentative about it.

“We are hoping (Anderson) he will continue to improve. He is not where we want him to be and where we need him to be,” Garner said. “I think Bean’s come along; he’s ahead of Geathers. But we need for Geathers to come along and keep working, too, because he has some ability.”

Defensive coordinator Todd Grantham said Anderson and Geathers have both stood out.

“Kwame and Bean have done a nice job, I noticed them in Saturday’s scrimmage, and that’s a good thing,” Grantham said. “The closer you are to the ball, the faster things happen, and as the nose, you’re right there. You have to react to the blocking schemes, and they’ve done well.”

If Grantham and Garner can fashion a functioning rotation at tackle, that’s a big step in putting a defense together that can play an effective 3-4 in the aggressive way Grantham wants.  Keep your fingers crossed.