Im starting to feel real good about the talent on the defensive side. In particular, the secondary should be vastly improved. Depth is finally there and competition should fierce among many positions. I believe we were near the bottom in all D1 last year in interceptions and forced turnovers.
- The portal additions at safety/nickel look solid and certainly experienced(will they be able to adjust to the speed and physicality required in the SEC?) Castell played the most snaps of the whole defense last year as a freshman and that experience is invaluable.
-Interior D-line is in real good shape with lots of depth. Jackson is a dude. By many accounts Banks had a great Spring (I always though he was over hyped when he came in having not really played any) Slackman should be a solid roational depth guy and Lyons has showed some nice flashes. Big Dez is a wild card but at least can give us quality goal line reps.
-Line backers are at least serviceable. I like the combo of James and Pup(I dont want to over hype pup, because he is still very young and relatively inexperienced but he is a good fit) The rookie backers are special and we always got Wingo to help mentor and provide some depth.
-My only real concern is the pass rush. Still pretty unproven but there's potential. Im not counting on Boone and Pyburn to be as good as many are hoping for coming off those injuries. Sapp has lots of experience but is kinda a tweener. Collins is close to being a beast, McCray seems ready to contribute. Taylor looked decent in the spring game. Not sold on the transfer form Northern Illinois although the spring reports on him were good. Will Weston actaully be a weapon maybe on 3rd and long Nascar type packages? If our secondary really is as good as I hope it will be then we can run more of our fancy dancy blitz packages and get more pressure that way. The new Co-DC will help a lot with that I think. Maybe we will start to see some more of that creeper defense.
-Its talking season and I'm starting to get excited. Defense needs to put it all together fast and lay the smack down on Cam Ward and The Canes. Make a statement then load up on more talent in recruiting.
Whats everyone else expecting as far as our defensive improvement this year? AS many have already said, It cant be any worse. Nowhere to go but up.
- The portal additions at safety/nickel look solid and certainly experienced(will they be able to adjust to the speed and physicality required in the SEC?) Castell played the most snaps of the whole defense last year as a freshman and that experience is invaluable.
-Interior D-line is in real good shape with lots of depth. Jackson is a dude. By many accounts Banks had a great Spring (I always though he was over hyped when he came in having not really played any) Slackman should be a solid roational depth guy and Lyons has showed some nice flashes. Big Dez is a wild card but at least can give us quality goal line reps.
-Line backers are at least serviceable. I like the combo of James and Pup(I dont want to over hype pup, because he is still very young and relatively inexperienced but he is a good fit) The rookie backers are special and we always got Wingo to help mentor and provide some depth.
-My only real concern is the pass rush. Still pretty unproven but there's potential. Im not counting on Boone and Pyburn to be as good as many are hoping for coming off those injuries. Sapp has lots of experience but is kinda a tweener. Collins is close to being a beast, McCray seems ready to contribute. Taylor looked decent in the spring game. Not sold on the transfer form Northern Illinois although the spring reports on him were good. Will Weston actaully be a weapon maybe on 3rd and long Nascar type packages? If our secondary really is as good as I hope it will be then we can run more of our fancy dancy blitz packages and get more pressure that way. The new Co-DC will help a lot with that I think. Maybe we will start to see some more of that creeper defense.
-Its talking season and I'm starting to get excited. Defense needs to put it all together fast and lay the smack down on Cam Ward and The Canes. Make a statement then load up on more talent in recruiting.
Whats everyone else expecting as far as our defensive improvement this year? AS many have already said, It cant be any worse. Nowhere to go but up.
