Under the Radar ’21 – Defensive tackles
Brian Jerzak
This story is the final entry in our series of under the radar athletes and the ninth installment of our series highlighting top talent in the Class of 2021 – who do not have many – if any offers – yet. These are all guys we feel will – especially with big senior seasons – have offers down the road. Right now, they are just under the radar.
We finish with interior defensive linemen. As noted early in this series of stories, these guys would have been a nightmare for an undersized and marginally talented center. After watching these guys play – I know they would have had my lunch because they made much better players look bad last fall.
<strong>[player_tooltip player_id="18190" first="Ben" last="Westling"] – DT Princeton</strong>
One on one, most centers are not going to be able to move Westling off the ball. He gets good arm extension when engaging with blockers. Adding to his arm extension, the junior has quick and powerful hands, allowing him to rid himself of blockers quickly. The 6’3" 285-pound athlete is a two-way player. He starts on the interior of the Tigers’ offensive line.
<strong>[player_tooltip player_id="18156" first="Lumen" last="Koumodji"] – DT Bloomington Kennedy</strong>
Koumodji has a quick first step. He has a low center of gravity, gets under linemen’s pads and stands them up to drive them into the backfield. At 6’2" and 250 pounds, Koumodji is still quick off the ball. He takes on double teams and is still able to get off the double team to make a play. He has good feet for a big man – so much that he plays both ways and is athletic enough to be a pulling offensive tackle.
<strong>[player_tooltip player_id="18163" first="Manny" last="Thomas"] – DT Totino-Grace</strong>
Thomas is a pure run-stopping nose tackle. He is a compact athlete with a low center of gravity. He is tough to move off his spot. He is adept at holding off the blocker while still making the play even though he is still engaged with a blocker. Thomas is quick and powerful enough to take on double teams and also split them to still get into the backfield.
<strong>[player_tooltip player_id="18112" first="Gavin" last="Rein"] – DT Owatonna</strong>
Rein is an overpowering force in the middle. He is all of the 6’2" 275 pounds that he is listed at. When single blocked, he often overpowers centers. He has a strong lower body that he uses to drive his blockers into the backfield. Rein only played three games in 2019 due to a knee injury. He was recently cleared to go one hundred percent. Even with limited playing time, Rein has DII and DIII interest.
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