The play of the defensive line is one of the bigger questions coming into this season following the departures of Zach Thompson, Nikita Whitlock and Kris Redding. One of the brighter spots for the future is true freshman defensive lineman Zeek Rodney.
Rodney, a 2014 graduate of South Pointe High School (Rock Hill, SC), should help assuage some of the fears moving forward. He was rated at the 40th defensive tackle in the nation, and at 6-1, 290, should continue to grow and develop into a space eater on the field.
At this juncture Rodney is competing with Shelldon Lewinson and Ali Lamot for second string duties at the defensive tackle spot (behind Josh Banks and Tylor Harris). With the Johnny Garcia injury, it could easily see a quicker progression for Rodney into the two-deep rotation. Banks and Harris have impressed so far, but beyond that, there are a lot of unproven commodities so far.
Rodney was the captain of the South Pointe football and basketball team as a senior. He accumulated 82 tackles, 14 sacks and 17 TFL last season, despite missing time during the first few games due to a hamstring issue.
During his junior season, Rodney racked up an impressive 26 sacks and 27 TFL.
He chose Wake Forest over Syracuse and Boston College
There are a lot of high expectations for Rodney at Wake Forest, and given the injuries and depth chart as it currently is, playing time could come a bit earlier than was originally projected.