By Steve SilverThe Daily Northwestern
In a typical driveway basketball game in Rutherford, N.J., several years ago, a neighborhood friend slam-dunked on top of Corey Wootton.
That friend: New York Giants’ seven-time Pro Bowl defensive end Michael Strahan.
The dunk taught Wootton, now a Northwestern redshirt freshman defensive end, a physical lesson in respecting his football elders.
But it represented so much more.
That dunk featured Strahan, a member of the old guard of defensive ends for 14 years, and Wootton, one of the poster children of the next generation of defensive ends – a generation that’s gaining value each year.
Wootton, a 6-foot-7, 275 pound defensive end, is the prototype of the athletic, hybrid body that was launched into the scouting world’s radar after N.C. State defensive end Mario Williams was selected with the first overall pick in the 2006 NFL draft by the Houston Texans.
With the pick, the Texans choice not only snubbed the likes of Reggie Bush, Vince Young and Matt Leinart, but displayed the growing importance of the defensive end position – and pushed players with a combination of height, strength and speed into the spotlight.
And the new breed’s value isn’t limited to the pro game.
“It is a point of emphasis in everybody’s recruiting class,” NU coach Pat Fitzgerald said, “to try and get as big and as fast defensive ends as you possibly can.”
Many of those ends become coveted NFL rookies.
Four defensive ends were selected in the first round of both the 2005 and 2006 NFL drafts, including former Wildcat Luis Castillo who was selected with the 22nd overall pick by the San Diego Chargers in 2005.
But at 6 foot 4 and 300 pounds, Castillo is in the old school. Many of the first-rounders, feature Wootton-like body compositions.
When Bruce Smith was selected first overall in the 1985 draft, he was 6-foot-4, 265 pounds. Williams is 6-foot-7, 291 pounds – and he clocked a 4.5 second 40-yard dash at the Indianapolis pre-draft scouting combine.
“They can impact the game,” Fitzgerald said. “With defensive ends like (Williams), those guys can take over a game and shut down one side of an offense and really turn the game around.”
Sudden Impact
Many defensive ends have wasted no time making their presence felt in the NFL and NCAA.
Carolina Panthers’ defensive end Julius Peppers leads the NFL in sacks (6) and has recorded the most tackles of any defensive lineman (22).
The Cats’ opponent Saturday, Purdue, boasts a rigid defensive line led by senior defensive end Anthony Spencer. Spencer ranks sixth in the nation in sacks (6.5) and 13th in solo tackles (36).
But it’s not just their dominance on a stat sheet that has caused defensive ends’ stock to rise.
NU defensive coordinator Greg Colby said scourts are focusing more attention on modern defensive ends because their unique combination of size and speed allows more on-field versatility in either a 3-4 or 4-3 formation.
They can line up as tackles, on the edge of the line or even drop back into pass coverage.
“They are premium athletes,” Colby said. “It is tough for everybody to find them. I’ve been at three other Big Ten schools and I had a hard time finding them too.
“And the pros are looking for them too. It is kind of like finding a big cornerback that can run a 4.4. Same thing, hard to find.”
Even if a team does find them, they don’t always work out.
One infamous flop was Courtney Brown, a No. 1 overall pick of the Cleveland Browns in 2000. Brown sat out games in each season from 2001 to 2004 because of injury and has yet to make it to a Pro Bowl.
“Defensive end – it’s a really good position, but it is also really hard,” Wootton said. “In the NFL especially, the offensive linemen were All-Americans, all-everything in college. Somebody like Courtney Brown was probably used to going against guys who weren’t as good. It is a hard adjustment. Some people can do it and some people can’t.”
Success for a lineman, though, is not always measured in statistics.
“For a lot of schemes, it’s letting your linebackers make plays,” sophomore defensive end Kevin Mims said. “Especially when we have to go down and play (as) defensive tackles.
“There are a lot of things that we know if we are doing our job and the guy next to us is doing his, then we are going to make a lot of plays.”
The Next Big Thing?
Wootton, who is in his first full year of competition, already has taken on a major role in NU’s defense as well as being heralded as the model for future defensive ends.
In six games, Wootton leads the team with three sacks. He also has 31 tackles.
But Wootton almost didn’t step foot on the playing field this year.
After suffering a season-ending neck injury in his fourth game last year, Wootton didn’t know if he would ever be allowed to play again.
“I was just kind of waiting and waiting until the week before camp,” Wootton said about his period in limbo with medical clearance. “They told me I could go and I was just real excited.”
Although he started two games in 2005, Wootton received a special medical hardship redshirt from the NCAA, adding another year of playing eligibility for him.
To the coaches, this is good news.
“I see him being one of the better players in the Big Ten if he progresses like I think he is capable of progressing,” Colby said. “I think his potential is unlimited. He can go just about any heights that he wants to. He might even be playing on Sundays in five years.”
At 6-foot-7, Wootton certainly has the height to be a potential NFL prospect, and he also appears to have finally stopped growing. As a freshman in high school, Wootton was 5-foot-10, 160 pounds. In the last year alone, he has grown two inches and gained 20 pounds.
“He is a little bit gangly right now and he is still catching up to his body,” Colby said. “Strength wise he still has a way to go because he grew so much in the last three to four years.”
Wootton said he knows he can carry more weight on his frame. But he also wants to reduce his 40-yard dash time. He currently runs a 4.8, but he hopes to drop that time to a first-round friendly 4.6.
Although Wootton quickly is becoming one of the leaders of NU’s defense, Wootton actually was an offensive lineman in high school. He played both offensive tackle and tight end before coming to Evanston.
Now Wootton said he loves to play defense and he even showed off his favorite pass rushing move – a “spin counter.”
After his first collegiate start, Wootton received a phone call from his mentor, Strahan, and he said continues to learn from watching him play on television.
“You always need to improve as a player no matter how good people think you are doing,” Wootton said about the praise he has garnered in his short career. “It shows that (my coaches and teammates) have a lot of confidence in me. And it shows that I really need to do something if I want to play in the NFL.”
Tackle Tweaking
With the increased prominence of defensive ends, offensive tackles also have stepped into the spotlight for their responsibility of stopping them.
Offensive tackles are slowly transforming from lumbering linemen like 6-foot-9, 345 pound Jonathan Ogden, to faster, more slender blockers like 6-foot-6, 305 pound D’Brickashaw Ferguson. Ogden was the fourth overall pick in the 1996 NFL draft and Ferguson was taken in the same position in the 2006 draft.
Still, how does any 300-plus pound tackle stop an end with 4.6 speed coming off an edge?
“You’ve got to plant their legs,” Fitzgerald said. “The great thing about college football is you can chop them. You’ve got to chop them, you’ve got to slow them down, you’ve got to slow their pass rush down, you’ve got to get them off the field, you’ve got to screen them, you’ve got to draw them and you’ve got to get them thinking.”
NU’s offensive line, filled with upperclassmen, has
had the advantage of competing against now-pro defensive linemen such as Luis Castillo and Barry Cofield.
But as far as stopping Wootton and the like, it’s simply a matter of seniority.
“(Wootton’s) got some great spin moves, a lot of upsides like his long arms,” said senior offensive lineman Austin Matthews. “But you know I’m a little older than him. It comes down to senior ability and proving you are the upperclassmen and just being better.”
Small, But Not Forgotten
Mims, who represents a more classic defensive end at 6-foot-3, 280 pounds, recognizes the growing size of defensive ends like Wootton. The defensive ends selected in the first round of last year’s NFL Draft averaged 6-foot-5, 269 pounds.
But smaller defensive ends still have a place in the game. To Mims, speed is really the key to succeeding.
“It really comes down to how that guy plays,” NU’s defensive line coach Eric Washington said. “I think you are always looking for the biggest, strongest, fastest, and the guy with the most span that you can get. But those guys come in small packages too. Case-in-point is Tamba Hali from Penn State. He was not a real tall guy, but he had tremendous speed.”
Hali was selected 20th by the Kansas City Chiefs last year.
While the debate on the necessary size of successful defensive ends continues across the country, all of NU’s defensive coaches agreed that the end position is becoming a marquee position.
“I think it is a natural part of the progression in the game,” Colby said. “Defensive ends have always been a premium spot to find, even when I played, back in the dark ages. They weren’t as big as they are now.
“But as offensive linemen have gotten bigger, the defensive line, especially the ends have needed to get bigger and better.”
Reach Steve Silver at [email protected].
