Defense

[anomander]

I think many are going to be in for a surprise the turnaround our defense makes this year. I’m not sure where the defense ranked, but after 9 games I thought our defense was slightly above average. There were no blowouts and even kept us in games, as well as being a huge factor in the Clemson win. Once the injuries started to pile up that’s where the drop off occurred. Plus, losing Dungey effected the defense just as much as the offense. The O couldn’t stay on the field, which further broke down an already depleted D. The only thing the defense didn’t do through 9 games was force turnovers. That must improve, if only to give the offense a chance for easy scores and maybe even sl
E points put up by the defense. Fast forward to this years defense and IMO the overall depth has drastically improved. We have studs on the DL, who should actually give us a pass rush that doesn’t involve blitzing. The secondary is young, but should be the most improved group on the team. LB is the only question, but you can argue the new guys are bigger and more athletic almost to a man. Ii think a lot of the improvements with be with the eye test since running an offense like we do we will always give up big yardage. Even still, I wouldn’t be surprised if we have a top 60 defense.

 

[Trueblue25]

I think the key words always going to be depth with our defense. Specifically at safety and dl

 

[djorange1989]

I think many are going to be in for a surprise the turnaround our defense makes this year. I’m not sure where the defense ranked, but after 9 games I thought our defense was slightly above average. There were no blowouts and even kept us in games, as well as being a huge factor in the Clemson win. Once the injuries started to pile up that’s where the drop off occurred. Plus, losing Dungey effected the defense just as much as the offense. The O couldn’t stay on the field, which further broke down an already depleted D. The only thing the defense didn’t do through 9 games was force turnovers. That must improve, if only to give the offense a chance for easy scores and maybe even sl
E points put up by the defense. Fast forward to this years defense and IMO the overall depth has drastically improved. We have studs on the DL, who should actually give us a pass rush that doesn’t involve blitzing. The secondary is young, but should be the most improved group on the team. LB is the only question, but you can argue the new guys are bigger and more athletic almost to a man. Ii think a lot of the improvements with be with the eye test since running an offense like we do we will always give up big yardage. Even still, I wouldn’t be surprised if we have a top 60 defense.

Agree and if we have a top 60 defense you can lock in a bowl bid.

 

[TheCusian]

If the O can be effecient and out some points on the board early, the D will be in an even better spot.

That’s the tipping point for this system on both O and D.

 

[BlueShaq]

If the O can be effecient and out some points on the board early, the D will be in an even better spot.

That’s the tipping point for this system on both O and D.

I feel the O can really help out the defense this year. One of our problems last year was finishing drives with touchdowns and sustaining drives in general. If our O-Line and running game, filled with veterans and players with game experience now, can help us be more efficient in sustaining drives, the D can get more rest and provide better performances.

 

[money3189]

Honestly just hope for them to be a average defense which I think they will. Great things will come if we are above average

 

[shu 49]

I think we will see big jump in defense this year if our linebackers can handle their gaps. Having Cordy at nickel will help a ton except against bc and Miami. Most other teams are spread so it’s a good d to have for the most part. Dline will be tough to stop. Love the big uglies. Top 50 defense would get us 7 wins top 60 -6 top 70 -5. The more we can run the ball effectively gives our defense a longer break. Let’s kick some ars please.

 

[Alsacs]

The defense is where Dino had the biggest rebuild.
He wasn’t left much in the secondary.
He had young DL and experience at LB.
Now he has a few cracks to bring in some DL and secondary help.

We needed P5 talent in those spots which we didn’t have. If our defense is first 9 games good this year we could win 7-9 games.

 

[upperdeck]

Dino said on the XM review that the DBs he started with none of them would play on this team now.