Our D next year

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In Tubby We Trust

In Tubby We Trust

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DT - I think we can feel confident with Hageman as one starting DT, but what about the other starting spot and two guys to rotate in. I didnt see anyone to impress at DT that will be coming back. This is a big area of concern I think

DE - We dont lose anyone really. we have 4-5 nice young DE that should(hopefully) get better with another year under Kill and in the weight room.

LB - Rallis and Cooper are locks to start and its nice to have them back. Tough to count on anything from Beal but it would be nice to see what he could do. Who fills the other starting spot and who else sees time?

CB - a lot of if's with Troy's 5th year and if Carter takes care of work in the classroom, but with those two back and Vereen we have a nice trio of upperclassmen CB. Add a few young guys and I think we are in good Shape

S - big concern here. Manuel is a guy I would like to see more of. Has the physical tools but doesnt see the field. We really need 2 guys to step up...not holding my breath on a WO or JUCO so who then?
 

DT - Legania, Jacques, and Botticelli have played a lot. Hopefully we find more depth.

S - I believe Levine will become a starter next year. We have lots DB recruits from last year and in this 2012 class. Along with the Jucos, they should find a good combo with more depth.

LB - Mettilus was a beast in fall camp. Not sure if he will stay at LB, or be able to move to DE or DT in a year or two?
 

I've heard Carter was in the dog house most of the year, but do we really know if it was classroom related?
 

When I glanced at the article in the paper today, I realized how many decent players we lose (Kirksey, Jacobs, Tinsley, Royston, whoever else I'm missing off the top of my head), but an additional year of Claeys getting used to his guys and the guys getting used to Claeys and I think we'll be alright.

I think the key guy is Hageman. He has shown some glimpses of how good he might be at junctures this year. Getting a consistent disruptive force inside can make the rest of the defense (think Suh when he was at Nebraska), Not saying Hageman is Suh, just saying that some noise in the middle would be nice.
 

Hageman living up to his potential will be huge for next year. I am excited about what he can possibly become however one of his sacks yesterday was a blocking breakdown by the Illinois O-Line as no one bothered to block him right up the middle. Still I think he is a guy with major upside if he can put it all together. He has had some academic issues in the past, hopefully he has all that straightened out for the future.

Cooper was kind of disappointing this year overall as he didn't show up nearly as much as I expected him to. He is another guy that can be key. If they can find enough LB's (which is no guarantee) I would not be shocked to see them toy with the possibility of moving him back to SS. He is still on the small side at LB but the only way that happens is if Beal is healthy and they have other guys like Hill and Rallis that they feel will make a strong trio. Otherwise Cooper has to stay put at LB.

DB hinges a ton on Stoudermire. If he gets his year they might be able to shift someone like Carter to free safety and go with Vereen and Stoudermire at corner. There are some young guys that have not shown much and some redshirts that can hopefully pan out. Always a crap shoot on what you get out of JC guys so tough to know what if any help we will get there. I think the secondary is going to be a concern next season which will put more pressure on the guys up front to do well in order to cover up the weakness on the back end.

Overall I think there is potential on the D but there are also a number of key guys to replace and there are not obvious replacements waiting in the wings, that isn't to say those guys aren't on the roster just that we haven't seen it from any of them yet.
 


It seemed like Cooper was battling an injury(wrist or arm) for most of the year, he improved as he became healthy.
 

I agree that we might see some position changes next year. Cooper to SS is a possibility, but I also think you might see Gregory-McGhee at DT next year. With Wilhite back - along with Perry, Amafauela, Cochran and Garin - at DE, KGM could easily move inside, given that he already has DT size.
 

Hageman is a huge piece of next years defense. He has made nice strides late in the year, had some good reps against Nebraska, and now Illinois. Illinois had no answer for him. They were at first surprised at his burst, then disorganized in double teaming him, and when then finally got the double team, Tinsley blew in there. And the quick pressure up the middle is a QB nightmare. There is no room to step up and throw. And it also play havoc with Offensive tackles set. There is a crease created by the push. Cooper found it set the edge and had a sack or three. Mr. Hageman has the winter conditioning and spring to find yet another gear. If you have Hageman and say Legania at the DT and Beal is finally ready that could be a pretty solid middle of the defense. Defense must be strong up the middle and strong at each level. Since Coach Kill has got hear he has preached finding a DE to rush the passer and two shutdown corners. I don't think he was blowing smoke, he is looking for those players for his system. In the mean time having Hageman is a nice piece for two more years.
 

Legania and Jaques both had injury issues that hampered them. If they stay healthy they'll be much better.
 



Rallis is the most overrated player on this team and perhaps the big ten, he completly wiffs on tackles and when he does make the tackle he never makes a clean hit and stops the ball, the runner usually falls forward for a yard or two extra. Not a big fan of his.
 

I think Manuel is ready to step up and be a starter, and if that's the case, it makes no sense to move Cooper to SS as Manuel is an in-the-box, physical strong safety.

I think we'll be ok if Troy gets his 5th year. We'll return both of our starting cornerbacks, we'll add at least two JUCOs, we'll bring back guys with some experience (Manuel, Haviland, Carter), and some additional young guys who have played special teams or were redshirted (Watkins, Levine, Thompson, Montgomery).

It's a big question mark, but our secondary was already awful this year, so it really can't get much worse.
 


DE: Perry / Cockran / Garin
DT: Hageman / Delaney
DT: Botticelli / Jacques
DE: Amaefula / Wilhite / KGM
OLB: Cooper / Edwards
MLB: Hill /Grant / Matilus
OLB: Rallis / Westerhaus
CB: Stoudermire / Carter
CB: Vereen / Wells
FS: Thompson / Montgomery / Haviland
SS: Baltazar / Manuel / Levine

-There are a bunch of question marks with certain players.

Beal...health?
Spencer Reeves, D. Mitchell, Singleton...haven't seen much of them.
Watkins and Bouie status?
Stoudermire....another season?
How many JuCo DBs?
Possibly JuCo DT?
KGM's position?
How good are Matilus and Montgomery?
 



The 2-deeps are huge for us with the current staff. It's a full-on rotation, so you have to be 2-deep at every spot for the D to work the way the coaches want.

That DT rotation is going to be huge. Can we find 4 guys to hold their own?

I'd love to see Edwards on the field a ton next year. Athletically he's light-years ahead of Rallis. Rallis gets a lot of love here because he's the hometown boy and a former walk-on, but he's not very good. He works hard and makes a play here and there, but he misses as many as he makes and he's exposed in space.

I'm excited about our DE and LB groups for next season. Very athletic and a year stronger.
 

tpbeight said:
I'd love to see Edwards on the field a ton next year. Athletically he's light-years ahead of Rallis. Rallis gets a lot of love here because he's the hometown boy and a former walk-on, but he's not very good. He works hard and makes a play here and there, but he misses as many as he makes and he's exposed in space.
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They are both hometown guys.

I think you'll see both guys playing quite a bit. I have a feeling that Rallis will be our MLB next season (all depending on Beal). But we play a lot of defensive players, so even if Edwards doesn't "start", he will see the field a lot.
 

I know they're both hometown kids, i just feel like Rallis gets a lot of "hometown" love on here that might be a little undeserved based on his on-field results. Just saying.

Do you think Rallis is big enough to move inside? I think his skills are better suited there, but i'm not sold on him being a guy that can take on & shed blocks inside against Big Ten OL.
 

Hageman's improvement gives me a lot more confidence for next year. Seeing him toss an off lineman aside at least a couple of times against Illinois was awesome!
 

I agree with Rallis moving to MLB and Edwards starting at OLB. I've thought that for a while and wondered if I was the only one. I don't think Rallis is the ideal Big Ten MLB, but I don't think Aaron Hill is either, and I'm only crossing my fingers at this point for Beal to be healthy and ready (when is the last time he played in an actual game? I have no idea).
 

tpbeight said:
I know they're both hometown kids, i just feel like Rallis gets a lot of "hometown" love on here that might be a little undeserved based on his on-field results. Just saying.

Do you think Rallis is big enough to move inside? I think his skills are better suited there, but i'm not sold on him being a guy that can take on & shed blocks inside against Big Ten OL.
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Rallis is big enough. He is the same size as Tinsley. He doesn't play with the same kind of attitude and toughness that Tinsley did. I think out of all of our players, we will miss Tinsley the most.

Hill isn't an ideal MLB, but he is good on passing downs. Ryan Grant will also log some minutes there.

Matilus is a guy to watch out for. He was practice team player of the year on D, he already has the size to play in the middle. I think MLB will be manned by a combo of Rallis, Hill and Matilus.
 

Gopherprof said:
I agree with Rallis moving to MLB and Edwards starting at OLB. I've thought that for a while and wondered if I was the only one. I don't think Rallis is the ideal Big Ten MLB, but I don't think Aaron Hill is either, and I'm only crossing my fingers at this point for Beal to be healthy and ready (when is the last time he played in an actual game? I have no idea).
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Edwards is a freak show (in a good way). He is sort of a wild card. He is like the LB version of Hageman. They, now, have him in his correct position (like Hageman moving from TE, to DE, to DT), and it might take a year for him to get used to it. If he catches on with everything right away, look out.
 

Gopherprof said:
I'm only crossing my fingers at this point for Beal to be healthy and ready (when is the last time he played in an actual game? I have no idea).
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I don't know for certain, but I'm pretty sure it had to have been his senior year of HS, which would've been fall of 2007.
 

Hill was really good against Illinois, active all over the field and had a very nice tackle on special teams, as well.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
DE: Perry / Cockran / Garin
DT: Hageman / Delaney
DT: Botticelli / Jacques
DE: Amaefula / Wilhite / KGM
OLB: Cooper / Edwards
MLB: Hill /Grant / Matilus
OLB: Rallis / Westerhaus
CB: Stoudermire / Carter
CB: Vereen / Wells
FS: Thompson / Montgomery / Haviland
SS: Baltazar / Manuel / Levine

-There are a bunch of question marks with certain players.

Beal...health?
Spencer Reeves, D. Mitchell, Singleton...haven't seen much of them.
Watkins and Bouie status?
Stoudermire....another season?
How many JuCo DBs?
Possibly JuCo DT?
KGM's position?
How good are Matilus and Montgomery?
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I've heard good things about Matilus and he was scout team defensive player of the year, so that tells me he's at least a hard worker. Is Montgomery a safety, I thought he would be a corner since Levine and Thompson are safeties? Assuming Stoudemire gets a 5th year, safety and MLB appear to be the biggest question marks. Tinsley made a lot of tackles for us.
 

John Galt said:
I've heard good things about Matilus and he was scout team defensive player of the year, so that tells me he's at least a hard worker. Is Montgomery a safety, I thought he would be a corner since Levine and Thompson are safeties? Assuming Stoudemire gets a 5th year, safety and MLB appear to be the biggest question marks. Tinsley made a lot of tackles for us.
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I thought Montgomery was a safety, I could certainly be wrong.
 

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