Our D - better than advertised
- Thread starter MrWillard
- Start date
Maybe I missed something, didn't CPR say something about last year's team being the most athletic? Huge difference between athletic and talented.
This. No reason to give the hok lurkers any more ammo. That said, OL injuries killed last year's team more than anything. Doesn't matter how athletic the D or skill positions are if the OL is letting guys through like a sieve.
We return a lot of young guys as well. And we just need to be patient and see the progress we continue to make and what things look like after fall camp. I actually think the D will be better than last year. Our Defensive ends should be better. Our LB's better overall. Our corners should even be better. Safety is my biggest concern, but we have some good prospects, and should find the right guys. And Defensive Tackle will be just as good as last year. David Irving wasn't that great. Coe just started getting it at the end of the year. Return of Brandon Jensen is huge. He should be better than last year.
First off, for those of you that think the defense wasn't that bad last year and it was all the offense's fault, you're wrong. The defense was basically as bad as the offense last year IMO.
UNI scored TD's on their first 3 possessions against us. Yes, our offense didn't answer like they should have, but there's no way our defense should ever allow UNI to run up and down the field on us all night. They were bad. And Iowa did the same thing basically. We knew Iowa would come into the game wanting to run, and they did, and we still couldn't stop them.
Now, on to this year. On paper, this defense appears to be worse than last years. We lost some key players on the DL, LB, and both safeties. And we replace them mostly with supposedly talented, but young and inexperienced players. That is a recipe for disaster generally.
However, I'm hopeful that losing Irving and Coe are actually going to be addition by subtraction. I'm beginning to think that these two were a cancer on this team. Just look at Brandon Jensen leaving the team, and then when finding out that Irving and Coe were gone, he then comes back.
I think losing Irving and Coe will be a good thing hopefully. I think the defense will play together much more this season as a unit instead of a bunch of individuals. I would MUCH rather start Jensen and Cousin inside than Irving and Coe, let's put it that way. So I think the D-line could be ok with those two inside, and Morrissey and Myers or a JUCO at DE.
LB does scare me quite a bit. Over the last few seasons we've lost Knott, Klein, and now George. And I'm not sold on anyone we've replaced them with at this point. Yeah, of course Brackens and the younger Knott have shown glimpses at times of what they could be, but they are still pretty unproven IMO. We will need to depend on Jordan Harris to learn the system so he knows where he's supposed to be, and then on young guys like Seeley, Meeks, Mills, and White to step it up. I'm still not sold on Jevohn Miller either. He seems to be ok against the run, but a big liability against the pass. So we shall see. Oops, I almost forgot about Levi Peters! I love this kid. I look for him to get quite a few minutes this year. He's just a bulldog. Not full of talent, but boy does he bring it. All out, all the time. I love that!
I think we'll be ok at corner. At safety though, we lose both starters. However, here is where I think we do have a couple of really talented young guys that could end up being REALLY good. I love the potential of Cotton-Moya and Mutcherson back there. I'm sure there will be some growing pains, but these two could become All Big 12 safeties in a couple years IMO.
So in summation... I think losing Irving and Coe could be a good thing potentially. If the JUCO's can provide decent depth on the DL, I think the DL will be ok.... it will likely all depend on how much pressure they can get on the opposing QB's. If they have all day to pass, it will be a LONG year in the pass happy Big 12. LB position scares me the most right now. We needed a couple of JUCO's at LB last year IMO, and we didn't go out and get any. That hurt us big time IMO.
UNI scored TD's on their first 3 possessions against us. Yes, our offense didn't answer like they should have, but there's no way our defense should ever allow UNI to run up and down the field on us all night. They were bad. And Iowa did the same thing basically. We knew Iowa would come into the game wanting to run, and they did, and we still couldn't stop them.
Now, on to this year. On paper, this defense appears to be worse than last years. We lost some key players on the DL, LB, and both safeties. And we replace them mostly with supposedly talented, but young and inexperienced players. That is a recipe for disaster generally.
However, I'm hopeful that losing Irving and Coe are actually going to be addition by subtraction. I'm beginning to think that these two were a cancer on this team. Just look at Brandon Jensen leaving the team, and then when finding out that Irving and Coe were gone, he then comes back.
I think losing Irving and Coe will be a good thing hopefully. I think the defense will play together much more this season as a unit instead of a bunch of individuals. I would MUCH rather start Jensen and Cousin inside than Irving and Coe, let's put it that way. So I think the D-line could be ok with those two inside, and Morrissey and Myers or a JUCO at DE.
LB does scare me quite a bit. Over the last few seasons we've lost Knott, Klein, and now George. And I'm not sold on anyone we've replaced them with at this point. Yeah, of course Brackens and the younger Knott have shown glimpses at times of what they could be, but they are still pretty unproven IMO. We will need to depend on Jordan Harris to learn the system so he knows where he's supposed to be, and then on young guys like Seeley, Meeks, Mills, and White to step it up. I'm still not sold on Jevohn Miller either. He seems to be ok against the run, but a big liability against the pass. So we shall see. Oops, I almost forgot about Levi Peters! I love this kid. I look for him to get quite a few minutes this year. He's just a bulldog. Not full of talent, but boy does he bring it. All out, all the time. I love that!
I think we'll be ok at corner. At safety though, we lose both starters. However, here is where I think we do have a couple of really talented young guys that could end up being REALLY good. I love the potential of Cotton-Moya and Mutcherson back there. I'm sure there will be some growing pains, but these two could become All Big 12 safeties in a couple years IMO.
So in summation... I think losing Irving and Coe could be a good thing potentially. If the JUCO's can provide decent depth on the DL, I think the DL will be ok.... it will likely all depend on how much pressure they can get on the opposing QB's. If they have all day to pass, it will be a LONG year in the pass happy Big 12. LB position scares me the most right now. We needed a couple of JUCO's at LB last year IMO, and we didn't go out and get any. That hurt us big time IMO.
I Feel Strongly Our D Will be Better
I am confident our defense can be better, how much better will depend on the JUCO transfers. I think the key will be our front 7 on defense. I like Jenson, Cousins, Morrissey and Meyers. If Aka can contribute now that he is an upperclassman and JUCOs like Luna and Pearson play impact snaps- I think we we can be stout against:the run and get pressure on the QB. The group that will make or break our defense are the linebackers. I like the size and athleticism that Jordan Harris and Alton Meeks bring to the position. Jared Brackins looked great in the spring game. If Jevon Miller and Luke Knott can advance their play, I think our front 7 can hold its own.
I am confident our defense can be better, how much better will depend on the JUCO transfers. I think the key will be our front 7 on defense. I like Jenson, Cousins, Morrissey and Meyers. If Aka can contribute now that he is an upperclassman and JUCOs like Luna and Pearson play impact snaps- I think we we can be stout against:the run and get pressure on the QB. The group that will make or break our defense are the linebackers. I like the size and athleticism that Jordan Harris and Alton Meeks bring to the position. Jared Brackins looked great in the spring game. If Jevon Miller and Luke Knott can advance their play, I think our front 7 can hold its own.
A lot is hanging on those juco guys. Especially on the dline. We can't have our second leading tackler be a safety with >100 tackles on the season (Washington). That's a sign of a bad defense. Dline needs to step it up and take some pressure off the back 7
In God and Wally I trust. Wally has forgot more about defense than most people know. And he has forgot little.
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
I'll need to see an effective defense in the post-Jake Knott era before I get really excited about what he'll do.
I think Wally is good, but he hasn't proven much without Knott.
ISU ranked 94th out of 125 teams in yards allowed per play with 5.76, 98th in points allowed per drive at 2.51 and 102nd in points allowed per trip inside the 40 at 4.93.
Generally a "bend don't break" strategy will result in a high YPP allowed but should show a relatively low points allowed per trip inside the 40. So really, there is no reason for their poor stats. They were just bad.
*Disclaimer - the stats were obtained from a ratings program I created. The actual stats could be a little off but the rankings shouldn't be. The place I obtained game statistics is from here: http://www.cfbstats.com/blog/college-football-data/
Generally a "bend don't break" strategy will result in a high YPP allowed but should show a relatively low points allowed per trip inside the 40. So really, there is no reason for their poor stats. They were just bad.
*Disclaimer - the stats were obtained from a ratings program I created. The actual stats could be a little off but the rankings shouldn't be. The place I obtained game statistics is from here: http://www.cfbstats.com/blog/college-football-data/
If we've learned anything during the Paul Rhoads era, it's that defense alone doesn't win in the Big XII. The Cyclones had as good a defense as any team in the league in 2012 and barely got to a bowl game.
I'm not worried about the defense because, frankly, it doesn't matter that much. Rhoads and Burnham have shown us they can produce a quality defense with relatively little talent. If the new offensive coaches can take advantage of the best talent in the CPR era, Rhoads will be able to build this young defense enough to compete with the top of the league within the next couple years.
I'm not worried about the defense because, frankly, it doesn't matter that much. Rhoads and Burnham have shown us they can produce a quality defense with relatively little talent. If the new offensive coaches can take advantage of the best talent in the CPR era, Rhoads will be able to build this young defense enough to compete with the top of the league within the next couple years.
I may be wrong and I'm sure I'll be challenged if I am, but it seems to me that our recruiting for the past 3 years or so has been focused on players for the offense at the detriment of the defense. On a value for value basis it doesn't seem that beneficial to the program. I'm not saying that those players that have been recruited for "O" side are not talented.
