Quincy Roche And Gregory Rousseau Form Perhaps Best DE Duo In College Football

While the biggest offseason news thus far for the Miami Hurricanes has been the addition of transfer quarterback D’Eriq King, UM also picked up defensive end Quincy Roche, who came over from Temple.

With Roche’s arrival to Coral Gables, the Canes have potentially the best duo at defensive end in all of college football, as Quincy will now be alongside fellow DE, Gregory Rousseau.

Rousseau became one of the most dominant forces in football during his redshirt freshman season in 2019, finishing with 15.5 sacks and 19.5 tackles for loss. He’s already been named to ESPN’s way-too-early All-America team for the 2020 year.

In 2019, the two main defensive ends for Miami were Rousseau and Jonathan Garvin, with Trevon Hill also playing a significant role as the season progressed. Between Hill and Garvin, the two combined for 9.5 sacks and 18.5 TFLs. However, Hill and Garvin are now gone from UM, and many were wondering how that position would be looking for the Hurricanes in 2020.

That being said, with Roche coming to Miami, the Hurricanes defense and especially their d-line, could potentially be even better than they were in 2020.

If you've been following me the past month, you know that I’m a huge fan of Roche, and for great reason. The 2019 AAC Defensive Player Of The Year, Roche was on another level. In 12 games for the Owls, Roche finished with 13 sacks and 19 TFLs.

In fact, Pro Football Focus recently listed Roche as the number one defensive lineman that’s returning in college football for the 2020 season. If we even look ahead a year from now, we could potentially be projecting Roche and Rousseau as first round draft picks in the 2021 NFL Draft.

Now, you team up Roche and Rousseau, and just the thought of those two together on the same defensive line will keep offensive coordinators awake for days. Their combined stats from this past season is ridiculous; 28.5 sacks, 38.5 TFLs, and 103 total tackles between the two of them.

Going into 2020, the Hurricanes will have two players who were both top-five in sacks last year in Rousseau and Roche, and they were both also in the top-ten for tackles for loss.

Even a scarier thought, if Jaelan Phillips can get back to where he was at UCLA, Miami could then have the best defensive end trio in college football. Phillips had to sit out in 2019, but many are expecting a monster season from this former number-one recruit.

UM has always had dominant defensive ends, and also great duos at the position. If Rousseau and Roche can match what they did in 2019, the Hurricanes may have one of the best defenses in the nation in 2020.