Name: Anthony Lalota
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 263 lbs.
High school: The Hun School in Princeton, NJ
Position: Defensive end
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #90
Last year: I ranked Lalota #73, said he'd redshirt, and predicted he'd play defensive end (he also got reps at OLB in spring 2009). He redshirted and moved to defensive end.
It's good to see that Lalota is back up to the weight that he supposedly was in high school. As a high school senior, he was listed as a 6'6", 260 lbs. prospect. When he got to Michigan, the roster said he was 6'4", 235. Now he's apparently gained those 28 pounds back, which he'll need if he's going to play strongside defensive end this year.
Brandon Graham graduated, and Ryan Van Bergen has moved from defensive tackle to defensive end. Lalota should be his primary backup, especially now that Will Heininger will miss the season due to a torn ACL. Coming out of high school, Lalota was a project, having only played football during his junior and senior years. Getting a significant contribution from him this season will be a huge positive. However, I think Bruce Tall will rotate players in an effort to get his upperclassmen on the field rather than throwing Lalota out there too much. Greg Banks, Mike Martin, Renaldo Sagesse, and Adam Patterson are all guys that could play some defensive end.
Prediction for 2010: Backup defensive end
Your calling Lalota to backup AP, but you countdown AP before Lalota? Is Lalota in front of AP or not? AP is going to play DE? I think that is right, just wondering what you think and why Lalota is more significant than AP if he is going to play behind him.
ReplyDelete@ Anonymous 4:22 p.m.
ReplyDeleteI think Lalota is ahead of Patterson on the depth chart, but I was just mentioning other guys who could be in the DE rotation.
Thunder/Magnus,
ReplyDeleteHas there been any word as to whether he actually looks good at SDE?
@ Anonymous
ReplyDeleteHe apparently looked solid but unspectacular. He's big and strong, but he's not a playmaker - at least not yet.
Patterson played exclusively at tackle in the spring game. Sagesse played both tackle and WDE in the spring game, so RVB's backup remains a question mark. Lalota needs work.
ReplyDelete