First it was Ryan Glasgow that failed his physical and was released. The hope is probably to pick him back up on waivers and put him on the practice squad because they needed to get down to 80 for camp. Then the bombshell was dropped that Josh Tupou would be sitting out the season due to COVID concerns. Tupou was a run stopping machine and was a top-25 DT at that specialty. This is a hot trend with DTs right now, likely because of their BMI.
Yes I know we have DJ Reader (who I love) and Geno Atkins (who I love even more) but DTs are usually rotated based on passing/rushing downs fairly often. Remember that is a lot of meat to move around. In the old days we would bump Michael Johnson to the inside and we could even do that with Carl Lawson but that would be a passing situation.
What we are left with realistically is Renell Wren and Freedom Akinmoladun for rotation. I expect a run on free agents right now as many are opting out. We will likely miss on guys like Mike Daniels and Damon Harrison. I could see a guy like Timmy Jernigan or Domato Peko to the mix. We need a run stuffer to rotate Geno Atkins out of the lineup and pair with DJ Reader. The other option could be to switch to a 3-4 on running plays and rely heavily on our unproven and young linebackers……ugh.
I am not saying this is an emergency and losing a small-time player like Tupou or Glasgow is going to make us lose games, but depth is always key and right now we do not have it.