re: Ranking the Trenches (Offensive + Defensive Line)

Allen is one of the top DE's in the country, and I'd take him over any DE in the SEC outside of Garrett. Payne did a tremendous job as a freshman and would've started for the majority of the teams in the conference last year, including LSU. Tomlinson is very versatile and is a solid player as well. Hand is very talented and I expect him to have a really good season now that it's his time to shine, much like Pagan did in 2013. Our staff is also high on Frazier and multiple members of our front 7 have mentioned him as a guy who will be a key contributor this fall.

What will be interesting to see is who the other member of our 2-deep will be and how he will perform. I feel very confident about Allen/Payne/Tomlinson/Hand, I'm encouraged by what I've heard about Frazier, and I'm excited to see what Jamar King, OJ Smith, and our true/redshirt freshman can bring to the table.

All in all, our starters along the DL will be one of the 2-3 best in the SEC. But the unknown is the depth that we will have based on what we have returning. I would take our starters over LSU's, although they will likely be deeper than us this fall.