Patrick Stevens The Washington Times - August 13, 2009, 01:07PM

A lot on the blog and in the dead-tree edition about the defensive line today.

And there’s just two more posts related to it (including this one). Promise.

SEE RELATED:

But just for fun (and perspective), it seemed to appropriate to roll out the number of career starts Maryland has brought back during the Ralph Friedgen years.

For purposes of keeping this as much of an apples-to-apples comparison, the LEO position will be considered as a defensive end —- basically because Maryland now has four true defensive end spots.

Onward to this chart, which only includes starts for guys who continued to play on the defensive line:

Year Starts Returnees
2001 35 C. Hill 15, Whaley 11, Roundtree 5, L. Jones 2, S.Smith 2
2002 33 Roundtree 16, Feldheim 12, L. Jones 2, S. Smith 2, Starks 1
2003 51 Feldheim 20, Starks 15, Cochran 13, S. Smith 2, Merriman 1
2004 16 Eli 10, Merriman 6
2005 12 Bolston 10, R. Armstrong 2
2006 46 Bolston 21, Navarre 10, Covington 9, Moore 3, Lemons 2, Savage 1
2007 65 Navarre 22, Covington 21, Moore 13, Feliciano 7, Lemons 2
2008 70 Navarre 35, Covington 34, R. Costa 1
2009 
10 Ivey 4, D. Armstrong 3, Harrell 2, Drummond 1

In short, a lack of experience on the defensive line isn’t unprecedented during the Friedgen years. But it certainly is a little different than the last three seasons when at least two starters returned each time.

—- Patrick Stevens