About our defense next year

[Cowboy76]

Every year we think we should be better. For the last 3 years we have gotten worse. I do not want to hype anyone of you but it APPEARS we should be better. There are definitely question marks.

DE: This is one area that we WILL be better. I loved Nate but, he was small, and Marque, but he was short. Next year we will have a significant improvement in height and bulk at DE. UGO(6'6"), Derek*6'5"), and Richetti(6'4") are taller and heavier than this year;s DE's. I saw Richetti at the Insight and he has put on 15 lbs of solid muscle since August. I think he can add at least 10 more. Ugo and Derek will add weight as well. Jamie Blatnick is an animal. Our OT's struggled with him on the scout team. Think of a bigger Nate. Jeremiah Price will figure here as well.

DT: Can't be worse. Could be much improved. Swanson will be a presence in the middle. I also have heard and seen good things from Ahmad Jones. Jeray will add a little more weight this summer and with his experience he will be a better DT. The biggest surprise will be Quincy Patrick. He still needs a few more pounds but he is cat quick for a big guy and if he learns a little more technique, he could be another KW. Tea will be in the rotation and play short yardage situations I think at least one juco DT redshirts. A lot of the improvement at this position may depend on who the new coach is as much as anything.

LB: This position worries me. We are till WAY behind other Big 12 teams at this position. Lavine is still learning. Marcus Richardson has looked good on the scout team and can go sideline to sideline but is unproven. Jared Glover could be a key. He could be the cover guy we have been needing at LB for so long. He seems to get in the passing lanes a lot and can cover a lot of ground. I do not know much about Kenny Alexander. We definitely need juco help and have at least one in Dan Booker. One more would not hurt.

CB: I like the way Anderson played in the bowl. Lacey is more than an adequate Big 12 CB and could matue into top notch. Cox needs better technique. Hopefully he matures. Les Miles thought he was one of the top 2 or 3 CB's in the nation so we know he has talent. We also get a top juco CB in Gray. Even if we get a top high school guy, I look for him to redshirt.

Safety: I know we signed(or will sign) a couple of highly ranked safeties in Martin and Luciene but don't look for Sexton or Price to give up easily. Sexton had a really sound Bowl game and is still learning. Plus, we have a couple of redshirts that have size and speed that will compete. If nothing else, I just think the competition level will improve our play at this position.

X-factor: We really do not know how well these kids bought into and used proper reads or technique for the Beckman scheme. Much like the Fedora offense the first year, we looked lost at times. I think year two in this system will show a marked improvement just from being familiar with the terminology and assignments for a year. More talent can only help out.. Knocking 4 to 6 points a game off of our scoring is certainly a possibilty. I could live with that.

[BigBadBen]

All solid points.

This is not a knock on any of the outgoing players so please do not take is as that, but honeslty we have nowhere to go but up. Our defense has been pathetic, it doesnt seem it can get much worse.

I hope we make major strides, but the 4-6 points per game improvement will be a welcome improvement.

[cactusjack]

Good post. The redshirt class from last year will be a big help. Young, but very talented. With the juco's...hopefully about 9 or so, and some solid freshmen...we will have a lot of competition. I still believe we will have at least 8 new starters next year.

Another big factor will be the new defensive coaches. They will be guys who have coached with Beckman before. Guys he knows, and trusts. I really expect to see major improvement. Enough to make a major push? Not gonna go that far. 2009 still seems to be the year that we could break out and be good on both sides of the ball.

[JonforOSU]

Nice points.

I like the redshirts we have coming off. Don't know if I agree with redshirting JUCOs or maybe I mis-understood you. Especially Gray the CB, we'll need him in the depth chart. Why would we waste a redhsirt year on a JUCO who only has two years of eligibilty?

I think the JUCOs make an instant impact, and they have to, for us to be better.

We need depth at safety, LB, DT and DE. Thats the reason we had to re-situate Spano,is for immediate help. Redshirt some of the incoming freshman.

[Inky29]

I just don't hold out too much hope of the defense making the jump they need to make until 2009. You are probably right about them being better next year but I don't expect them to be much better than the Bedford/Clay level.

LB is a concern right now with only Lavine returning with any real experience. Don't know what they are going to do with Sexton but if he could add some weight his speed and tackling ability could actually help us closer to the line. Heck if Marcus Howard can play DE for UGA at 6'2 235 surely Sexton can play LB at 6'1 210-225. I think he could end up being more effective than Woods or Nethon. That would be 2 of the 3 LB slots with hopefully some of the young guys can step up and hold down the other spot.

You are dead on with your assessment of the DT's, can't be any worse. Thankfully Beckman admitted he made a mistake in not building more depth across the line (although it worries me that it took him the entire season to realize that, but that's for another time) and our guys upfront were worn out by the end of the year.

Here are the only things I KNOW will happen between now and the start of next year. We will hear about how improved they are after spring and we will hear how they worked their tails off over the summer and they really believe they are going to be much better and will really shock some people with how good they have become. I KNOW this stuff is going to happen, what I don't know is if any of it will be true. I'm going to cross my fingers, light a candle at church, and pray like nothing else that it is all true.

[CaliforniaCowboy]

Everybody keeps complaining about the defense, and they do need some help (mostly needed experience and experienced depth; which we did not have).

My big concern is the offense, which continues to underperform; especially at key moments in key games; and in special teams which have moments of "goodness" followed by long spells of average or below with sporatic key breakdowns.

We can move between the 20's all we like, but we need to score more; even is it's just more FGs. We seem to go all the way, or go nowhere. We had a short field against Indiana all night, which is what we need more of.

The defense played sporatic as well... the KU game is a good example, we had a ton of 3-n-outs and 4-n-outs, but also gave up huge plays and to many points. We pounded Texas defensively, for one half. etc.

IMO, the difference between Miles' one or two games of extra success, versus the success that Gundy has had so far, is not with the offense or the defense, per se, but more to do with turnovers and special teams play.

On our 8 and 9 win seasons, our TO margin was very good, we weren't penalized all that much, and special teams consistently came up with some huge plays that consistently gave the offense a short field with which to work. We had some of the top return men in the country when Miles' was here, and I don't think it was coincidence, but rather a different philosphy of using expereinced starters.

Personally, I think it is a bit unfair to compare the tenures of the two Coaches, since we were so depleated when Gundy took over in 2005, and the changeover left us with a so-so class of recruits (based simply on recruiting reports).

It APPEARS that we now have solid (i.e. talented) players throughout almost every position on both offense and defense... but we're still working on the expereince part (losing Collins and Brown, really set us back in the expereince department; aw well...).

Our defense has been "so bad" recently, IMO, because we haven't been able to put expereinced guys in EVEN AS STARTERS... we had a solid DLine last year (2006) with a solid rotation, but practically everybody else was brand new some were true freshmen. This year it was a combination of both, new starters with marginal expereince on the DLine (Chatham, Tea, Cummings, Chinasa, Burton), AND new starters in new positions at other key positions (Woods to LB, Price to Safety from offense, Johnson to DE, etc.).

We simply have not been able to field a defense with starters that have been in the 2-deep rotation for a year or more (at every position). I believe that changes this year (2008). We can, for the first time under Gundy, field a defensive team with starters at almost every position that have played significantely (except for LB, as mentioned due to the "unexpected" losses of Collins and Brown).

Let me take that another step, (excluding LB, we know that will be key to the season), we can field a defensive team with starters that have played significant minutes, AND, for once, have some 2-deep guys that are not rookie freshmen or true freshmen. Sure some might be JUCO guys, but IMO, that has to be better than trying to plug a hole with a true freshman or a redshirt that hasn't played at the collegiate level (any level). I guess we'll see if my prognosis is accurate on these JUCO backups.

DE is still a significant problem, IMO, not because of the players, but because of the "experience factor" that I have been discussing, with only Burton and Chinasa having any game experience, and with the DE JUCOs "seemingly" not of the same caliber as the rest of the incoming JUCO class. The DE position is one injury away from complete disaster.

If nothing else, at least this year we'll be able to play big on the inside of the DLine with 3 guys over 300 pounds (Miller, Tea, Jones) and 3 guys in the 290 range (Chatham, Lewis, Donaldson), and ALSO have Patrick and Jarka that at least got "some" experience.

The secondary is in great shape, IMO, with solid starters returning at all 4 spots, and guys with some experience backing them up, and some young pups wanting to get their feet wet (Thomas, A. Moore, etc)... the JUCOs are just gravy on top of what we have in the secondary. They could start or be an immediate impact in the 2-deep, I don't know, but it's gravy on top of what looks to be a good situation to begin with (at least from a depth and experience standpoint).

Even at LB we can start by putting in guys with actual game experience (Lavine, Lemmon, Gent, Clements), then work in the rest... not saying that is the best option, I'm simply pointing out that LB is not as dire as it has been in the recent few seasons after switching from the 4-2-5 and playing the 2005 season with nobody at that position.

I am not going to get to excited about the impact of the JUCO kids or the unproven redshirt kids either, what I am excited about is what we have returning (which everybody has taken pot shots at; undeservedly, IMO, since they had no real experience).

For the first time in quite a while, we do not have to start (or play) a kid that has not been in the system for a full year (i.e., true freshmen are not needed to "save" us; welcomed if they can play, but not "needed" to fill out a position); and we don't have to have guys moved around just to fill-out the roster. The JUCO's arriving in Spring will allow them to learn the nomenclature, and acclimate somewhat; which can only help.

We are in much, much better shape than 2007 simply based on guys that have actually played returning at all positions, which is the single most important factor in getting improved defensive play, IMO (even if it's Lemmon and Gent starting at LB; once again, I'm just saying we "could", nothing more). The redshirts and the JUCO are simply gravy on top of a defense that has finally gotten some experience at every single position, and will not rely on true freshmen out of necessity.

We really had some very good moments on defense last year. Some bad moments too.

........

I'm still left wondering can we improve on the three significant factors that have kept us from moving forward faster.... turnovers, penalties, and special teams.

I have come to the conclusion that our inexperience and reliance on rookies at position after position has adversely influenced all three of those categories. Giving up TOs with changing QBs, new freshman TBs, etc., penalties and few take aways compounded by new faces and new schemes.... and then there is special teams, which we've staffed with mostly rookies, because, well because, that's what we filled our 2-deep with.


We have the potential to make huge strides in all aspects of our game... it will be fun watching to see if we can take those next steps since we now have good solid returning players at every single position, both offensively and defensively, and we have some real options at backups for every position.

2008 is going to be fun... very, very fun.

See you all in Seattle on Labor day!!

[Boss 24]

76, I hate to hijack your thread but I have to get this out...


Jared Glover's sister may be smokin' hot but she's a liar. Dad can't do it at least when it comes to making a good car deal.

As you were, That is all.

[OSU-DNA]

Nice points by 76 and CC.

I am not as optimistic for the DE position. Derek and Ugo will need substantial improvement just to get us to the Peterson and Fountain level. The competition from Jones, Blatnik and the Juco could get us there. I loved Peterson's engine, saw the same from Borensen, I wish we had him, and that engine plus the speed of the Georgia DEs is what we need. ONE big improvement would be for us not to lose containment when we pass rush.

DT has to improve with the additions to the team. Patrick surprised me with his play in Arizona and will certainly help, the redshirts will add depth and the Juco could start. Chatham and Tea enter their senior year and will be pushed.

LB is certainly a concern. Lavine is superb in pass coverage and has shown flexibility to play more than one position. Booker, apparently is a tackling machine, but they may indicate he is playing more against running teams, we will need to see his ability to play in space before we know if a position has been solidified. This Spring it will be up to Glover and Richardson, the stage will be theirs to win or lose a spot based on their play in space.

Lacey's play at CB has certainly improved. I remember last Spring he became the first to win a black shirt... and I wondered why. But during the course of the year, his play improved significantly and he had to be one of our best secondary player by mid-year. His play in the bowl was very good, so continued improvement. Anderson and Cox will be an intriguing battle, but with Cox's ball hawking skills I wonder if should not be playing free safety on clear passing downs.

Safety should also improve. Price will have his second year in place, but we have strong redshirts entering the picture and the juco coming in pushing for time as well.


While it is true that is easier to work with a staff you know, I am not in the camp that says you must have these types added to our coaching staff in order for Beckman's defense to improve. Any time you enter a new company you always have to adapt to the style and the talent, to say you need to clear the shelf in order to improve is absurd and really reflects poor management skills of the leader.

The two new staff members for our LB and DL positions may need concurrence from Beckman, but they need to be choices Mike would make on his own. We need to replace an outstanding recruiter and turn the DL position into a recruiting strength. I believe it is possible to find people with both skills of being good recruiters and good teachers. I would find it absolutley ridiculous that these people would need to come from having coached with Beckman previously, hence the Bowling Green guys.

It may be another Mike Gundy challenge but if the insistence from Beckman is that it these BG guys, then Mike should make another change at DC. Any defense that is so complicated that you can not have coaches understand it unless they have used it before then it is too complicated for college players.