• New here? Register here now for access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Plus, stay connected and follow BP on Instagram @buckeyeplanet and Facebook.

Defensive Dropoff for Upcoming FB Season

Jump to latest Follow Reply
plum diamonds buckeye planet
Sort by date Sort by votes
Cornerback6

Cornerback6

Optimism Lover
I was just wondering how the rest of you anticipate our defense to perform in the upcoming season after losing 8 1/2 (Jenkins gives us a 1/2) starters.

I have thought about this a lot because the #1, 2 or 3 preseason ranking is on its way...so how will a team whose D has essentially carried it for the past 5 seasons respond? I break it all down in my thoughts below. Feel free to contribute any of your own opinions or disagreements.

Defensive Line: Kudla was a beast last year. His stat line does not show how much havoc he created from his left end spot. He will be missed big time. Pitcock is our new defensive anchor. Losing Green is tough, but I'm not sure he ever played up to his potential (IMHO). Patterson is solid, but he hasn't shown the flash to become all Big-10 just yet, though I'd love to see it out of him this year. I expect Gholston to play a HUGE role this year after healing up all season and off-season. I like him and expect a quality contribution from him. I'm not sure we'll see a lot of freshmen play at D-Line like we might see in other units, but I wouldn't rule it out. Lawrence Wilson is no longer a question mark at the right end. I believe he is our next big-time DE and I feel that it's his job to lose for the next 3 years. In his short PT, he has shown a great deal of speed and an ability to push some tackles around. I feel our D-Line will be as "gelled" as any unit we have. They have good young depth
and more gametime experience than the rest of our D by a landslide. I feel that these guys will be well-shored up and much more than reliable by game 3 or so.

Linebackers: Losing the big 3 would kill any school, but if there is a university out there who might be able to plug those holes to any extent, it's ours. Of course Freeman's injury set him back and we'd have loved for D'Andrea to be healthy for just one full season, but maybe he breaks out this year. Getting Lauranaitis some big game PT was great with Carp's injury, but he's got a lot of competition coming at him. The great thing about LB for us is that there's so much talent in the pool that guys will be kicking and scratching to get starting jobs. I think JL starts, but anything can happen. I think because of experience (mostly practice), capability and promise, Freeman has his starting spot. Luckily we hauled in the best LB class in the nation this year so we'll have a lot of young depth, but you're not going to win right away with 3 5star freshmen linebackers. I like the fact that Larry Grant could bring some experience to the field and wouldn't be surprised to see him and John Kerr off the bench at any point and time but we will see. Both are big question marks in my book with Kerr getting mop-up duty at best this past year. Because of the talent at hand and SOME experience (moreso with the system than with game time), I think our LB unit will be one of the better in the Big 10 and will be solidified by mid-season. Of course we're all hoping they'll play great for the Texas game, but I don't expect to see any super great things out of these guys until mid-season. I believe they'll come together well, but it will take some time before they become a real presence to deal with. I also expect ONE of the highly touted 4 freshman coming in (Homan, Johnson, Gibson, Moeller) to breakout and contribute a bunch. In 2-3 years, I bet we have the best lb corps in the nation, AGAIN.

Defensive Backs: Thank God for Malcolm Jenkins. Of course Brandon Mitchell has played quite a bit of nickel, but Jenkins will be the saving grace of this DB unit. IMHO he played like a senior last year and as a sophomore with another season of practice and system under his belt, he will shine big time this year. Before he's done, I predict he'll be a surefire AA. Mitchell will be the frontrunner to take Salley's spot and even though he has made some big plays, I don't think he's our next great FS. Will Allen blew up in one season, but I don't think Mitchell has the tenacity that Allen did nor the tackling ability. Although there will be a battle for our other corner spot, the word is that it is Amos' to lose. None of us has seen him play, but I'm willing to bet he will do just fine. Then again, Kurt Coleman already has the frame to play CFB, but are his coverage skills ready for Big 10 ball? If anyone steals Amos' spot, IMHO it will be Coleman, but this is all speculation and of course anyone could take the job in the end. JO will most likely be our SS. I don't think he came along as quickly as some were hoping last year, but I am willing to bet he is ready to go this season. Whitner who was hyped just the same as JO, played the same positions and got just about as much PT as a frosh blew up his sophomore year and I hope to see the same out of Jamario. Youboty's sure tackling and shut down skills will be missed, Whitner's ability to rush the passer and pick up the third receiver (often, sometimes the 4th) was huge against spread teams & Salley's overall play is going to be missed too, but I think our young secondary will get it done. They will most likely get torched a few times early on and miss some tackles, but I like our youth and more than adequate depth. That seems to be the theme on this year's Buckeye D. Young & Deep. This D-Backfield luckily will be playing a freshman Texas qb, but other than that, they don't have a lot of time to gel which of all the units...this would be the one I'd hope would come together fast because I'd hate to have a tough run d and watch our young secondary get torched by some spread air attack. It might take a while for these guys to come together, but I expect them to be ready to go when the big game rolls around. (Fiesta Bowl) :)


Feel free to criticize or critique. I do not know everything, but I look forward to seeing a group of fresh faces running down opposing teams this upcoming season. GO BUCKS!
 
defensive outlook

Well said, all of it.
I think the linebackers are going to be so eager, but raw, that they will get suckered a lot. Their big challenge this fall will be "staying at home" and, as Gary Danielson says, "playing in space" against the spread. Like in hoops, the important thing is the spacing.

I think we will give up a lot of passing yards because (1.) our d line will be strong and discourage most running schemes and (2.) I'm afraid our defensive coordinators will have our young DBs playing soft, staying deep, giving up the short routes because they are scared of giving up the home run ball. So, I can see other teams, especially in first and second quarters, nickel-and-dime'ing us to death.

The key to our D the last 5 years, IMO, is the adjustments, between first series and second, between halves, etc. Go back & watch Meatchicken's first drives against us the last couple of years; look at Notre Dame's first two drives against us in the Fiesta Bowl. There is no comparison in our D between first quarter and third. I guess it's coaching.

So we might not shut any one out this year, but we will win a lot of games 38 to 14, 42 to 21, etc.

Go Bucks!
 
Upvote 0
I look for the D to reload, not rebuild.

I will give an example of why I think this. Look at Josh Houston(I know he is a kicker, but here me out), he backed up the best kicker in the land for a number of years and then when he got the chance he had a heck of a year and he has a chance to be drafted which means he must be pretty darn good. He would of started at many other universities in the country, but not here.

That is the way I see our defense with studs just waiting in the wings, and the only reason they havent been playing is b/c of the D we had last year.

Will there be a drop-off? Yes, but the guys that will be on the field are guys that would of been playing at alot of colleges across the country, but not here, b/c we had 4 first round type players on our D.

It was talked about last year that Freeman was going to be hard to keep off the field even know we had the best LB's in the country and Schlegs couldnt win the job two years ago, b/c D'Andrea took it from him, who is coming back and hopefully can stay healthy and have that breakout senior year. Then we have a mixture of guys with talent to fill in at lb. That is one place we are not hurting for talent, they just havent seen the field, b/c they have been sitting behind the AA lbs.

Then for the secondary, Jenkins, might have been our best cover guy last year, when Youbouty was fighitng that injury, and there have been rave reviews about Amos and hopefully Coleman can come in and impress.

Then safety it is time to turn over to another 5th year senior and a young guy that has just been waiting. Remember we had two NFL caliber(one first round) at safety last year.

And D-line is going to be our strong point. We should have two rush ends next year that can really get after the QB. With Patterson last year, he wasnt really that rush end. He will move inside and him and Pittcock and Penton will push the LOS and then the young studs we have at DE will come off the edge with advengence. I look for Jay Rich to have a bust out year his final season and WIlson should bust out too. Then there is Barrow and Gholston(b4 injury last year) that were getting rave reviews.

I don't look for the D to be a major problem in anyway.

Then factor in that our O' will help our D, by being able to control the clock by running the shit out of the ball with Troy, Pitt, Wells, Wells, Haw, and be able to put up points with the high attack passing game, our D should be well rested and have some sort of cushion.
 
Upvote 0
losing 9 starters hurts. nobody will say differently.

however, the dropoff may seem somewhat dramatic statistically, but last year's D was superb.

every year teams plug and play. its a natural fact of cfb.

i would also posit that osu's D is more experienced than people may think. osu could put out a starting defense that has as many as 7 guys that have started games in their careers, and 11 guys that logged substantial pt.

There were several guys that were plugged in in '03 and had a rather seamless transition. Will Allen, AJ, and Simon.

Expecting to do so with 6-7 guys this year is a much more daunting task. If nothing else, spring ball should be quite interesting.
 
Upvote 0
I would have more concern if we lost 9 offensive starters than defensive starters. I think tressle and staff can put together a defense that plays well enough with d'andrea having a breakout season. Lets not forget that tressle is maybe the best schemer in college football. In my mind he can outscheme a good offense with just a decent defense.
 
Upvote 0
crazybuckfan40 said:
Then factor in that our O' will help our D, by being able to control the clock by running the shit out of the ball with Troy, Pitt, Wells, Wells, Haw, and be able to put up points with the high attack passing game, our D should be well rested and have some sort of cushion.
Click to expand...

this is a HUGE point to make. this is something we didn't have in '02 (unless MoC was in there), in '03 or '04 at all. we only started to see the benefits of it last year.
We will be able to put a lot of pressure on defenses next year, because we not only have the quick-strike threats, but the ball control ability as well. Our D should be getting lots of rest in the 2nd halves of most games this year, and that should take alot of pressure off of them. they will have to step up big time against TX and Iowa early, though.
 
Upvote 0
UpNorthBuckeye said:
The key to our D the last 5 years, IMO, is the adjustments, between first series and second, between halves, etc. Go back & watch Meatchicken's first drives against us the last couple of years; look at Notre Dame's first two drives against us in the Fiesta Bowl. There is no comparison in our D between first quarter and third. I guess it's coaching.
Click to expand...

Another example of adjustments between first and second drives is the Northwestern game. Basanez led a great 80-yard TD drive in just 2:28. After adjusting, we held NW's high-powered offense to 131 yards and no points over the last 57 minutes of the game.
 
Upvote 0
MililaniBuckeye said:
Another example of adjustments between first and second drives is the Northwestern game. Basanez led a great 80-yard TD drive in just 2:28. After adjusting, we held NW's high-powered offense to 131 yards and no points over the last 57 minutes of the game.
Click to expand...

Same thing with Notre Dame and maybe Texas.

Tressel has to be the best coach in American at making in-game adjustments.

I expect a sizable drop-off, but we have too much talent to fall to the middle of the Big 10 defensively.
 
Upvote 0
scarletngrey77 said:
Same thing with Notre Dame and maybe Texas.

Tressel has to be the best coach in American at making in-game adjustments.

I expect a sizable drop-off, but we have too much talent to fall to the middle of the Big 10 defensively.
Click to expand...

That credit should go to Heacock. He is the D-cordinator and I think he is the best one we have had in awhile.

He is awesome and getting the guys where they need to be.
 
Upvote 0
I agree. The defensive coaching has been terrific. I am not as worried as others about the young defense. No doubt, they will be severely tested against Texas, but Texas without Vince Young will be a bit easier to defend. Ohio State, with its new offense, will certainly give the defense something tough to practice against!
 
Upvote 0
Everyone has some really good takes on the talent levels of the D coming back, and coming in. The coaches can show them the places to play, and there's enough experience to play their positions (when one LB was flying toward the ball, one or both of the others were covering the position he left).

The one aspect that no one has addressed is the leadership quality. Pitcock is clearly the veteran of the line, but he's been realatively quiet on the leadership front, just does his job (albeit superbly). Several of the new defense guys need to step up as leaders. Don't know that Kerr can, maybe D'Andrea, or ? to lead by example. One of the keys last couple of years were the upperclassmen who pushed the young-uns through spring and conditioning drills.

Then there's the lack of leadership in the defensive backfield. The 'quarterback' of the backfield. Losing Witner hurt more than we'll know, as he knew where people would be, and has the savvy to be able to help cover for a missed assignment, etc. There will probably be more td's thrown because the safeties didn't react more quickly and make the saving tackle.

Hopefully there will be one or more to step up and lead the defense, rally them, exort them on (a la Carpenter and more subtly Hawk). Proven guys that have done it, and have the respect of the team.

What say the group on this?

:osu:
 
Upvote 0
Excellent point by calibuck. Leadership and communication are two key ingredients to championship defense. Getting aligned properly is one of the first steps, especially against multiple formation teams. Throw in motion adjustments, and the resulting responsibility changes, the ability to think in a split second becomes critical. You need to know what you have to do, as well as the responsibilities of those around you. Film study and practice reps will help, but there is no substitute for game experience, especially on "critical" downs. That's why the guys who have been under fire have the edge going into spring. Thank God for Heacock. I really believe that he is one of the best around, and I am cautiously optimistic as spring approaches. I'll feel a lot better once that corner spot is filled. In terms of leaders, Pitcock, Patterson, and Mitchell will really have to step up. Makes for an interesting spring.
 
Upvote 0
calibuck said:
Everyone has some really good takes on the talent levels of the D coming back, and coming in. The coaches can show them the places to play, and there's enough experience to play their positions (when one LB was flying toward the ball, one or both of the others were covering the position he left).

The one aspect that no one has addressed is the leadership quality. Pitcock is clearly the veteran of the line, but he's been realatively quiet on the leadership front, just does his job (albeit superbly). Several of the new defense guys need to step up as leaders. Don't know that Kerr can, maybe D'Andrea, or ? to lead by example. One of the keys last couple of years were the upperclassmen who pushed the young-uns through spring and conditioning drills.

Then there's the lack of leadership in the defensive backfield. The 'quarterback' of the backfield. Losing Witner hurt more than we'll know, as he knew where people would be, and has the savvy to be able to help cover for a missed assignment, etc. There will probably be more td's thrown because the safeties didn't react more quickly and make the saving tackle.

Hopefully there will be one or more to step up and lead the defense, rally them, exort them on (a la Carpenter and more subtly Hawk). Proven guys that have done it, and have the respect of the team.

What say the group on this?

:osu:
Click to expand...

I look for Bmitch, JayRich, Patterson, Pitcock, and D'Andrea to lead with Vocal leadership, and look for a guy like Freeman and Jenkins to lead by making big plays.
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top