D-line health a priority

PULLMAN – There is no position that was more depleted by injuries in 2006 than the Washington State defensive line. From preseason injuries to Matt Mullennix (knee, out for the year) and A’i Ahmu (broken foot) to midseason wounds suffered by Aaron Johnson (back and elbow) and Ropati Pitoitua (knee), the defensive line was depleted in every game.

The bug bit once again in the spring, when Lance Broadus, who started all 12 games last season, tore up his left shoulder and had to have surgery. The returning sack leader (7.5) has yet to practice and isn’t expected back for the Sept. 1 opener at Wisconsin.

But besides Broadus, the football gods have smiled on the Cougars’ defensive line thus far this year, with no injuries of consequence.

Which has allowed the coaches to experiment, the biggest of which is moving Pitoitua from tackle to defensive end, not only giving the Cougars more size on the edge, but …

“We want to get our four best on the field at the same time,” said Mike Walker, who, along with Marty Long, coaches the defensive line.

“With Ropati at end, things are working out just fine with all four of those guys out there. They are playing so good right now it is scary.”

Pretty strong stuff. But the object of the commotion agrees.

“Everybody’s looking good out there,” Pitoitua said, though he admits he’s been looking at them from a different angle.

“It’s a lot more speed and finesse (at end), more than power,” said Pitoitua, describing a position he last occupied as a high school junior. When asked if he’s becoming a speed and finesse player, he smiled and said, “I’m getting there.”

“It doesn’t matter to me (where I’m at),” he continued. “Wherever they put me, I’ll play there. It’s a little different for me. I really like being out there, though.”

In a way, Pitoitua is filling the spot vacated by the graduation of All-American Mkristo Bruce, who led the team with 11 sacks. The Cougars were third in the Pac-10 in that category last year with 36, though many of those came early, before the injuries hit and forced WSU into a 3-4 front more than the coaching staff would have liked.

“Like you’ve seen the past couple years, when we have a couple injuries, that kind of affected our d-line,” Pitoitua said.

“We look pretty good right now, so we are just happy with that.”

But will it last? It sounds like the “four best” may be on the field a lot.

“I told them the other day, forgot about that rotation stuff, when were playing a running team, get ready to play the whole game,” head coach Bill Doba said.

But Doba quickly tempered that statement by talking about situation substitutions, where he will send in speed rushers when the offense is in a passing down.

Walker expounded on that Thursday.

“We have (Mike) Graise and (Kevin) Kooyman, guys who can rush the passer, sitting there, so there will be situational things,” he said.

But to get to long-yardage situations, the Cougars will have to be at least as good against the run as they were last year (fourth in the conference, yielding 114.1 yards per game). Anyway, that’s how Pitoitua sees it.

“We have to stop the run for one thing,” he said in describing the unit’s goals. “And we have to work on our pass rush. Just little goals here and there.”

So what are the two defensive line coaches looking for?

“With all our guys healthy, we’ll be able to keep everyone in there and have a solid unit, instead of last year where we had six or eight different guys the whole season,” Walker said. “Every game we started with somebody different. That continuity wasn’t there. And hopefully, it will be this year.”

“They are doing some good things, but we are a long ways away,” Long added. “We have to get them a lot of reps and work on their technique. They’re getting better, but they’re not there yet.”

Position outlook

There isn’t a deeper group right now than this one. The Ropati move should pay immediate dividends against the run, but the pass rush may have to wait until Broadus returns. Expect more situational substitutions than in the past, especially if everyone stays healthy.