Lorenzo Neal's impact on pass rush could depend on snap count
After being asked whether Lorenzo Neal help Purdue stimulate its pass rush, defensive line coach Reggie Johnson smiled, laughed and then asked a valid question.
"At 330 pounds?" he said. "That's tough."
Neal is obviously the leader of a defensive line unit intent to develop a consistent pass rush element, and so it begs the question of whether the junior co-captain can improve upon his two sacks from the previous season.
And in order to do that, Johnson realizes it essentially becomes a math problem: How many snaps can the defensive tackle play in a game? The more snaps at an optimal level can translate to more of a pass rush push from the interior line by No. 9.
Neal's two sacks and officially credited two quarterback hurries lead all returning defensive linemen as Johnson's group undergoes a nearly complete transition following the graduations of Gelen Robinson and Austin Larkin and departure of Eddy Wilson.
"It's not ideal for a guy like that to be in a game (for) 60 snaps for him to be effective," Johnson said. "If we keep (the snaps down), yes then he can be effective in the pass rush and on third down. If those snaps are high, he simply won't be. I'd like for it to be under 50."
According to a culmination of GoldandBlack.com's Boilermaker Breakdown analyses from the previous season, Neal averaged nearly 37 snaps, a number weighted down by the parts of two games he missed due to a targeting penalty, and a number that will need to increase during the 2018 campaign. Purdue head coach Jeff Brohm has said throughout this month that the junior from Houston's conditioning will need to get to a point where he can potentially be a three-down player for this Boilermaker defense.
"Let's be honest, nobody wants to come out of a game," Neal said Tuesday. "I think it's a happy medium. As I talk to Coach (Johnson) about it, he's like, 'Look, I want you in a position taking the maximum amount of snaps you can but we don't want you out there being a body. We want you to be effective.' And I think that hurt some of the guys last year. A few of them played more snaps than their bodies were willing to take."
Continue reading below
With Brohm and Johnson both admitting that the pass rush, needed from a hodgepodge of inexperienced talent, isn't at an optimal level following the team's first preseason scrimmage, Purdue may need to lean on Neal and Anthony Watts, Neal's fellow defensive tackle and former roommate, to create an uncomfortable pocket for the veteran quarterbacks Purdue could see early in its 2018 schedule.
The unknown health status of fifth-year senior Keiwan Jones helped Watts, a 295-pound athletic defensive tackle, take over first-team duties despite only having one career tackle in nine games as a redshirt freshman last season.
"It's different for me this season than being at the nose and learning that position but I really like what they're doing with me this season and asking me to learn, which is more 3-technique," Watts said. "I think I can be very effective (in the pass rush) and make it habit with that skill set. It'll really depend on whether (Neal) is coming out or coming in and what I'm being asked to do."
Freshman Jeff Marks is being asked to learn both the defensive end and defensive tackle positions and the Mobile, Ala., native's hybrid training could lead to a meaningful role during his rookie season.
"Jeff was here in December and so as an early enrollee he's ahead of some other young guys," Johnson said. "We like his explosiveness. We like his playmaking ability but there's a lot more information to process, even though we put in a lot of stuff during the spring."
Membership Info: Sign up for GoldandBlack.com now | Why join? | Questions?
Follow GoldandBlack.com: Twitter | Facebook
More: Gold and Black Illustrated/Gold and Black Express | Subscribe to our podcast
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2018. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited.