2018 Defense

John Galt

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I listened to the Ryan Burns podcast and he had some interesting thoughts on the defense. His prediction for the starting 11 is:

DE: Esezi Otomewo
DT: OJ Smith
DT : Gary Moore
DE: Carter Coughlin
OLB: Martin
MLB: Barber
OLB: Cashman
CB: Williamson
CB: Thomas
S: Winfield
S: Huff

He said Williamson is our best corner if he can stay healthy. No depth at safety after the starting 2, we will probably see Swenson, CJ Smith or Sapp. I'd still like to see Coughlin at LB on 1st down and running downs with a larger DE so we can hold up against the run.

Burns predicts 6 wins with upside to 7-8. Downside is 3 with injuries in the secondary or DE. He sees the offense as being better than the defense this season.
 
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Man, I knew Cashman was well thought of, but playing two positions at once seems like a lot of responsibility for the young man.
 

Man, I knew Cashman was well thought of, but playing two positions at once seems like a lot of responsibility for the young man.
Yeah for sure! LOL. Not too many players can play two different positions at the same time.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 

Man, I knew Cashman was well thought of, but playing two positions at once seems like a lot of responsibility for the young man.

Im assuming he meant to reference Kamal Martin. I'm not so sure I see the offense being better than the defense though.
 

It seems like the new prevailing theory on D-Line is to have a rotation, instead of relying on 4 starters to handle most of the snaps. So, I suspect the issue of who starts may not be the crucial factor. The real issue is who makes up that second rotation across the line, especially at DT and for DE on passing downs.

Same thing with the Secondary, when you get into nickle and dime packages and need extra DB's on the field.

In today's game, you really don't have a starting 11 on defense. It's more like a starting 18 or 19, when you factor in all the situational substitution that takes place. That's where depth really comes into play. If you have a big drop-off from the starters to the first subs, other teams will figure out how to take advantage.
 


Man, I knew Cashman was well thought of, but playing two positions at once seems like a lot of responsibility for the young man.

Yes - that would be impressive. Changed it to Martin.
 

He also mentioned that KHH’s transfer was going to happen one way or another due to off the field issues.
 

Im assuming he meant to reference Kamal Martin. I'm not so sure I see the offense being better than the defense though.

His concern with the defense was how are we going to stop the run and depth at DB if there are any injuries.
 




O better than D? So is the O going to be really improved or is the D going to take a big step backwards in his opinion?
 

I listened to the Ryan Burns podcast and he had some interesting thoughts on the defense. His prediction for the starting 11 is:

DE: Esezi Otomewo
DT: OJ Smith
DT : Gary Moore
DE: Carter Coughlin
OLB: Martin
MLB: Barber
OLB: Cashman
CB: Williamson
CB: Thomas
S: Winfield
S: Huff

He said Williamson is our best corner if he can stay healthy. No depth at safety after the starting 2, we will probably see Swenson, CJ Smith or Sapp. I'd still like to see Coughlin at LB on 1st down and running downs with a larger DE so we can hold up against the run.

Burns predicts 6 wins with upside to 7-8. Downside is 3 with injuries in the secondary or DE. He sees the offense as being better than the defense this season.

Honest question here. Is there a larger DE on the roster? I read Umlor was moved to DT.
 

O better than D? So is the O going to be really improved or is the D going to take a big step backwards in his opinion?

I don't really know why the D would take a step back at all, unless injuries strike. We are thin at DB, but we were thin last year too. We have more depth at CB this year, safety is still so thin. I kind of wish we had found a safety juco to fill for McGhee. I have high hopes for Swenson to help add safety depth, maybe a cb can switch to safety. No reason the DL and LBs should be worse than last year.
 





I don't really know why the D would take a step back at all, unless injuries strike. We are thin at DB, but we were thin last year too. We have more depth at CB this year, safety is still so thin. I kind of wish we had found a safety juco to fill for McGhee. I have high hopes for Swenson to help add safety depth, maybe a cb can switch to safety. No reason the DL and LBs should be worse than last year.

I'm not sure if we have a front seven that can stop a power running team.
 


The front 7 is how you stop the run. That's the primary responsibility of any front 7, regardless how they line-up or what "base" scheme/strategy they operate under.

John Galt -- what is it about that front 7 listed that you find concerning?? I like those names. I trust those names to get the job done, when healthy.

In obvious running downs, you also usually bring a safety into the mix as a pseudo LB, which would probably be Winfield. That's another name I like and trust, when healthy.


Sure, if we get injuries (well, not an if ... more like a when! Happens every year, to every team, to some degree...) then we'll see ...
 

The front 7 is how you stop the run. That's the primary responsibility of any front 7, regardless how they line-up or what "base" scheme/strategy they operate under.

John Galt -- what is it about that front 7 listed that you find concerning?? I like those names. I trust those names to get the job done, when healthy.

In obvious running downs, you also usually bring a safety into the mix as a pseudo LB, which would probably be Winfield. That's another name I like and trust, when healthy.


Sure, if we get injuries (well, not an if ... more like a when! Happens every year, to every team, to some degree...) then we'll see ...

Last year our top 3 DTs were Richardson, Jackson and Moore. This year it will be OJ Smith, Silver and Moore. So unless someone believes that Smith, Silver and Moore will be significantly better than our top 3 last year, it's hard to make an argument that we will be a lot better this year at DT. Smith and Silver are basically complete unknowns. Our other 2 DTs will likely be Umlor and Teague. Umlor is new to the position, Teague is a true freshmen. Hope always springs eternal in August, but other than Moore the rest of the DTs will be taking their first ever snaps at DT in P5 games.


I continue to hate the fact that we put our top LB recruit of all-time at DE. I like CC a lot as a pass rusher, but he isn't going to be able to stop the run against the big boys. Our other DE will likely be Otomewo. I like his promise and he has the size to play DE, but he's never done it.
 

Good points. I like Coughlin as a stand-up, hybrid DE/4th LB, allowing the defense to flex between 4-3 over and under base schemes on the fly. Sure, if you’re talking about obvious running downs, you might want a larger DE. But when you look at the overall scheme and situations, I like it as a base/1st down defense.

DL is important, but so are LBs. the former’s goal is to occupy two blockers, allowing the latter to make the tackle.
 

This season will be a trial run trying out new recipes on defense. They've got three preseason games to get the recipe fine tuned a little. This will be a long learning and maturing season. I like the idea of how we are building up good depth on defense.

Towards the end of the season, platooning parts or all of the defense maybe possible (if they stay healthy) to keep them fresh in the final quarter. Not that they want to implement something like that. It is the fact that they have enough depth to give some players rest.
 

FWIW: looked at last year's stats for selected DL

(solo - assists - total tackles - tfl - sacks)
Richardson 11 - 12 = 23 4 0
Moore 12 - 7 = 19 2.5 1
Jackson 6 - 9 = 15 3.5 2.5
Umlor 4 - 7 = 11 0 0
Stelter 7 - 3 = 10 2 1.5

Richardson is a loss - but for the other guys, it's not like they have to replace a bunch of guys who were all-conference caliber.
 

I don't really know why the D would take a step back at all, unless injuries strike. We are thin at DB, but we were thin last year too. We have more depth at CB this year, safety is still so thin. I kind of wish we had found a safety juco to fill for McGhee. I have high hopes for Swenson to help add safety depth, maybe a cb can switch to safety. No reason the DL and LBs should be worse than last year.

If Winfield is healthy, our DBs will be better. He is our best player, so a fully year of him (regardless of anyone else) will improve our secondary.
 

O better than D? So is the O going to be really improved or is the D going to take a big step backwards in his opinion?

My memory of what he said is that the offense under Fleck will be better eventually -- but not necessarily this year. I may have misheard.

But Burns was really down on the job Robb Smith did last year, particularly against the run. He probably gave Smith more criticism (without actually saying his name) than he's given any existing Gopher coach. (He's been happy to criticize after they're gone.) He said the decline of the defense last year against the run is a "major red flag," considering that much of the D-line and front seven were returning from the year before. He said he's not sure if it's the overall scheme or guys recruited for a different scheme.
 

My memory of what he said is that the offense under Fleck will be better eventually -- but not necessarily this year. I may have misheard.

But Burns was really down on the job Robb Smith did last year, particularly against the run. He probably gave Smith more criticism (without actually saying his name) than he's given any existing Gopher coach. (He's been happy to criticize after they're gone.) He said the decline of the defense last year against the run is a "major red flag," considering that much of the D-line and front seven were returning from the year before. He said he's not sure if it's the overall scheme or guys recruited for a different scheme.

I normally agree with a lot of what Burns says but I'll disagree with him here. We lost 3 starters, both Epke's and Elmore off the DL into last year. All solid players with more size than what they were replaced with. We had limited options along the DL especially at DE last year. Our DE's were undersized and we'll have more options this year. Time will tell if they are better, but there's no doubt the DL will be bigger and that will help against the run.

As long as Winfield and the DBs stay healthy, I think there is plenty of reasons to think the defense will be better this year.
 

My memory of what he said is that the offense under Fleck will be better eventually -- but not necessarily this year. I may have misheard.

But Burns was really down on the job Robb Smith did last year, particularly against the run. He probably gave Smith more criticism (without actually saying his name) than he's given any existing Gopher coach. (He's been happy to criticize after they're gone.) He said the decline of the defense last year against the run is a "major red flag," considering that much of the D-line and front seven were returning from the year before. He said he's not sure if it's the overall scheme or guys recruited for a different scheme.

Indeed. Robb Smith was a questionable hire (being charitable) after the steep decline he oversaw at Arkansas. I do not hold high hopes for him running our defense.
 

Indeed. Robb Smith was a questionable hire (being charitable) after the steep decline he oversaw at Arkansas. I do not hold high hopes for him running our defense.

I'm a fan of most of what Fleck does, but the Robb Smith hire is probably the move I disagree with him most on.
Being patient and hoping I'm wrong, but his results at Arkansas was not something I am impressed with.
 

My memory of what he said is that the offense under Fleck will be better eventually -- but not necessarily this year. I may have misheard.

But Burns was really down on the job Robb Smith did last year, particularly against the run. He probably gave Smith more criticism (without actually saying his name) than he's given any existing Gopher coach. (He's been happy to criticize after they're gone.) He said the decline of the defense last year against the run is a "major red flag," considering that much of the D-line and front seven were returning from the year before. He said he's not sure if it's the overall scheme or guys recruited for a different scheme.

The OP says this year.
 

Fleck loves Greg Schiano, and Robb Smith was with Schiano at Rutgers and Tampa Bay.
 


If Winfield is healthy, our DBs will be better. He is our best player, so a fully year of him (regardless of anyone else) will improve our secondary.

I think Winfield is so important that losing him last year was the difference between 5-7 and 7-5.
 




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