It's obvious that Manny, unlike Gary, isn't worried about the DT position at all. In fact he feels it will be a strength. Here's what he had to say on CS:
Jon Ford - Jon is so gifted physically, so strong, physical,” Diaz said. “And tough. He didn’t have that mentality to dominate. One day the bell rings and the guy just realizes `Why am I letting these guys block me?’ And Jon became a disruptive force.
Asked about the defensive tackle spot, Diaz said “We always have to put it on tape and make it a reality, but if you look at us the last three years - 2016 no one thought we had a defensive line and we played pretty pretty good defense. 2018 pretty good. Then we bring in Tito Odenigbo, Gerald Willis has a big time year (last season). The way we’re set up schematically we’re set up for your guys to dominate. Nesta Silvera, Jon Ford, Chigozie Nnoruka has a chance to be a big-time player for us (as a transfer), is that disruptive inside guy you’ve seen us dominate with the last three years that got caught up a in a scheme change at UCLA that didn’t suit him. … We think we’ll have guys up front. Then linebackers behind that are so fast because we’re so experienced at linebacker they can make your line better.”
Jon Ford - Jon is so gifted physically, so strong, physical,” Diaz said. “And tough. He didn’t have that mentality to dominate. One day the bell rings and the guy just realizes `Why am I letting these guys block me?’ And Jon became a disruptive force.
Asked about the defensive tackle spot, Diaz said “We always have to put it on tape and make it a reality, but if you look at us the last three years - 2016 no one thought we had a defensive line and we played pretty pretty good defense. 2018 pretty good. Then we bring in Tito Odenigbo, Gerald Willis has a big time year (last season). The way we’re set up schematically we’re set up for your guys to dominate. Nesta Silvera, Jon Ford, Chigozie Nnoruka has a chance to be a big-time player for us (as a transfer), is that disruptive inside guy you’ve seen us dominate with the last three years that got caught up a in a scheme change at UCLA that didn’t suit him. … We think we’ll have guys up front. Then linebackers behind that are so fast because we’re so experienced at linebacker they can make your line better.”
