Would you put John Chick as that guy? Or do you have to go back all the way to the Fiefia brothers?

As far an offensive line I would have to say Donald Penn's $48 million contract speaks for itself.

Brian Soi

if not necessarily dominant was Nate Putnam, who was really more of a sack specialist. He quit when it appeared that Mickey D was not going to get the team any where...Because if that, his little brother started for BYU. A little more effort by the school at that time to get things in order might have made the difference.

Another great past "recent" D linemen was Mark Mraz (Raiders). An O-Lineman that lasted a long time in the NFL was Rich Tylski who played a lot of years with Pittsburgh and Jacksonville before hanging it up two years ago...

Nate was a good player and a great guy, but I certainly wouldn't call him dominant. If we are talking about DE's, I have to go with Chick.

Not recent but how about Rulon Jones. Has to be on the top five list.

[quote="Big Blue"]if not necessarily dominant was Nate Putnam, who was really more of a sack specialist. He quit when it appeared that Mickey D was not going to get the team any where...Because if that, his little brother started for BYU. A little more effort by the school at that time to get things in order might have made the difference./quote]


Nate definitely wasn't dominant. He left after his Junior year because he was done with classes and off to med school I believe. As for his little brother if you listen to Gunther and Yorgensen at all they both bag on him pretty heavy. Gunther said that his little bro (starter on the O-line for SDSU) mentioned that lil Putnam was one of the worst D-linemen that he had ever faced. While saying this Yorgensen only said "no comment", basically agreeing with him.

Evan Huahulu.

Oh, I see you meant past DL's. My bad.

I remember a d-end from the early 70's
Alan McMurray weighed 185 lbs and played defensive end. He was
warrier . Despite his size he made many outstanding plays. I loved
watching him, he would get knocked down get back up and still be in on the tackle.
We think Koskan is small at 230 lbs can you imagine a 185 lb lineman

AGGIEFIGHT wrote:I remember a d-end from the early 70's
Alan McMurray weighed 185 lbs and played defensive end. He was
warrier . Despite his size he made many outstanding plays. I loved
watching him, he would get knocked down get back up and still be in on the tackle.
We think Koskan is small at 230 lbs can you imagine a 185 lb lineman

Madpup was a nut. Loved the guy. Good artist, too. For those who don't remember, he's the one who came up with the stylized bull ~uSu~ logo that Gus has as his avatar.

Ben Crosland

Have to agree on Ben Crosland. He was a mean mother!

To say that Putnam, Soi, Chick, etc were "dominant" is laughable at best. They were good D Linemen, and played well for the most part.....but dominant?? I don't think so.

Ben Crosland is the closest to being dominant since Rulon Jones. Mad Pup, I thought played linebacker.....I could be wrong, but I thought he played outside linebacker and got down in the three point stance at times.

DOMINANT, to me is someone who has to be double and tripled teamed, and still make plays. Rulon Jones, Bill Staley, Merlin and Phil Olsen all fit that mode.

mcaggie1 wrote:To say that Putnam, Soi, Chick, etc were "dominant" is laughable at best. They were good D Linemen, and played well for the most part.....but dominant?? I don't think so.

Ben Crosland is the closest to being dominant since Rulon Jones. Mad Pup, I thought played linebacker.....I could be wrong, but I thought he played outside linebacker and got down in the three point stance at times.

DOMINANT, to me is someone who has to be double and tripled teamed, and still make plays. Rulon Jones, Bill Staley, Merlin and Phil Olsen all fit that mode.

Mad Pup played stand-up DE in the 5-2 "Okie" defense USU ran in those days. I can see why you were thinking LB, since he rarely got down in a 3-pt stance.

mcaggie1 wrote:DOMINANT, to me is someone who has to be double and tripled teamed, and still make plays. Rulon Jones, Bill Staley, Merlin and Phil Olsen all fit that mode.

I agree with you on your list. I remember one game that Staley played where he dislocated his shoulder. You could
see it hanging lower than the other arm yet he stayed in the game and made plays with one arm.

Crosland and Chick were both from Wyoming. Maybe we are looking in the wrong places for DL's?

Chick was pretty good while he was here, but Soi was DOMINANT especially for a freshman. Too bad he couldn't spell his own name. I remember the pregame for the game at Hawaii that year and June Jones said that he thought that USU's D-line was the best in the conference.

Last dominant DT I remember seeing was Pratt Lyons who played here a year as a starter and then transfered to Troy. He played for the Tennessee Titans and was one of the starting DT most of the 1998 season. He was a beast at 6'%" 295 lbs.

+1 on Lyons... a shame that he was only in Logan for a year. Sad to think what might've been had he finished his career at USU, along with Donald Toomer in the same class.

I wouldn't neccessarily say that Soi was "dominant"... good, but had a lot of potential to be an all-timer. And as good as Soi was, he was no Pratt. I look at old tape of the '93 team from time to time and there are a bunch of highlights that feature Pratt, especially the BYU and LV Bowl games. Truly a disruptive and dominant force and for just a Freshman, too.