Defense expectations

[SnohomishRed]

There is no doubt defense is the big question mark for this team. From an inexperienced dline coached by a new assistant. To a DC many believe to be mediocre at best.

This team will go as far as the defense allows it. So what is your opinion on how they do this year. I believe we start off very rocky and settle into average by the end of the year. Teams will still pass at will on us especially early and the run defense will be spotty especially against the better teams.. Overall I suspect the dline will have some big growing pains and the pass rush will be subpar

 

[Husker Sledge]

Wow, the BTN Live boys were not impressed with the team. I sure thought I'd be hearing more about Alex Davis by now. How is he progressing? Gotta get those DE's to produce somehow this year!

 

[mpbrown27]

I think this year is going to look a lot like last year. We'll be solid against the run, but struggle mightily to put pressure on the QB. I just don't know who we have on the roster that can step up a be a real factor in the pass rush. Maybe Freedom can make the jump? Even if the secondary and linebackers play at a higher level, a lack of pass rush forces you to be near perfect in other areas and I just don't think it's realistic to expect the defense as a whole to take a big leap.

Maybe our points allowed numbers can improve by doing a better job of limiting big plays and forcing our opponents to drive the field by taking small chunks at a time? More turnovers would be awesome too. I can't remember the last time we were good at that.

Overall, anything better than a top 45 defense and I think I'm happy.

 

[OmahaSker]

i just don't see how our defense could be worse this year

 

[SnohomishRed]

i just don't see how our defense could be worse this year

losing 4 DT's makes it tough especially since two of them were drafted

 

[GretnaShawn]

I just hope we limit the big play. I know we are thin at pass rushing DEs. So that is going to hurt the DBs a lot.

If we can show improvement, true improvement, then I'll be happy.

 

[OmahaSker]

losing 4 DT's makes it tough especially since two of them were drafted

Yeah yeah. All of them I could live with losing beside Collins. The secondary and LBs will be much better and give more time for the D line to break through

 

[Husker Sledge]

Yeah yeah. All of them I could live with losing beside Collins. The secondary and LBs will be much better and give more time for the D line to break through

I'm with you on this. Even Collins underperformed last year. My biggest concern is depth. Maurice, Stoltenberg, and the twins will do just fine.

 

[GBRhuskers]

losing 4 DT's makes it tough especially since two of them were drafted

Returning the starting back 7, their key back-ups plus the addition of Jackson, should help some with what was lost up front at the DT position. We lost 3 DT's, 2 with significant time, and a starting DE. Tough to lump McMullen with inside guys when he played sparingly inside while majority of his snaps came from the edge.

And honestly, I don't see Williams as a loss. Collins and Valentine hurt, KW and GMM don't.

 

[jeans15]

I expect to see more blitzing.......a more experienced back 7 should be able to handle that.

 

[Husker.Wed.]

I think due to a year in Banker's system, him taking over the safeties, the emergence of the linebackers, Freedom's weight gain, the addition of Coach JP, the moving on of some players who hesitated to transition to this staff, and the coaches figuring out they weren't in Corvallis anymore, we will be pleasantly surprised.

 

[dockentwo]

I expect to see more blitzing.......a more experienced back 7 should be able to handle that.

I think you have hit it here again. We hear a lot about more screens and check downs on the O; blitzing packages may be the theme on the D. They will especially trying to find LB's that can break to the qb quickly - while others can fly in coverage against certain O packages . Some tidbits from practice relate; like Bando mentioning he has blitzed a lot in some practices.
..... The cb's were really improving at year end and I am guessing can handle their duties to support the effort. You may see some of the better pass coverage lb's drop in to coverage for a blitzing safety. They will follow what works and we should get the full exposure in the Oregon game. GBR

 

[shine003]

The lack of a pass rush could hurt. Hopefully the secondary is as improved as we all hope. If they are, then we can do some blitzing to help with the pass rush. The inexperience at DT is also a concern but not nearly to the level that it would be in Banker's system. Bankers system is geared to stop the run and it forces DB's to be able to play man to man. Hopefully the scheme can hide our deficiencies at DT until they get up to speed

 

[TruHusker]

Hiding a deficient D line at this level is impossible. By week three every opponent will know strengths and weaknesses of each player and how to attack them individually and collectively. Bringing more blitzes as a strategy to overcome a weakness in the D line is not what coaches want to do regularly. You live by the swoard of the blitz you also die by it. Want to limit the "big play" then limit the blitz. There is a lot that needs to get proven up front very early. Any injuries could be costly. I dont care how good your back 7 are and we dont have AA's all around and probably not many all conference players so further exposing them on a consistent basis is a fools game. The exception is if there are one or two difference makers who are truly unstoppable in the blitz game.Those guys are rare - who was the last one at Nebraska? For me this D has a lot to prove and will be the key to our season, not TA as many think. A good D takes pressure off of the O to score more points and take chances doing it. Conversely, the O controling the ball may be our best D.

 

[Pennsyhusker]

Hiding a deficient D line at this level is impossible. By week three every opponent will know strengths and weaknesses of each player and how to attack them individually and collectively. Bringing more blitzes as a strategy to overcome a weakness in the D line is not what coaches want to do regularly. You live by the swoard of the blitz you also die by it. Want to limit the "big play" then limit the blitz. There is a lot that needs to get proven up front very early. Any injuries could be costly. I dont care how good your back 7 are and we dont have AA's all around and probably not many all conference players so further exposing them on a consistent basis is a fools game. The exception is if there are one or two difference makers who are truly unstoppable in the blitz game.Those guys are rare - who was the last one at Nebraska? For me this D has a lot to prove and will be the key to our season, not TA as many think. A good D takes pressure off of the O to score more points and take chances doing it. Conversely, the O controling the ball may be our best D.

Exactly. We can spin it however we want, but if our defensive line is weak then we will be just like UCLA in the bowl game. Teams will just run it right at us and get 5-7 yards on first down consistently. That would translate into a 6-6 season. Or worse. I am confident that our offense is going to be very good. So the whole key to our season rests on the development of our defensive line. If they come through for us then this could be a special season. If they are weak, this season will get ugly real fast. And then the whole "Riley is on the hot seat" stuff will really catch fire. So A LOT is riding on those guys in the defensive trenches

 

[NikkiSixx]

Hiding a deficient D line at this level is impossible. By week three every opponent will know strengths and weaknesses of each player and how to attack them individually and collectively. Bringing more blitzes as a strategy to overcome a weakness in the D line is not what coaches want to do regularly. You live by the swoard of the blitz you also die by it. Want to limit the "big play" then limit the blitz. There is a lot that needs to get proven up front very early. Any injuries could be costly. I dont care how good your back 7 are and we dont have AA's all around and probably not many all conference players so further exposing them on a consistent basis is a fools game. The exception is if there are one or two difference makers who are truly unstoppable in the blitz game.Those guys are rare - who was the last one at Nebraska? For me this D has a lot to prove and will be the key to our season, not TA as many think. A good D takes pressure off of the O to score more points and take chances doing it. Conversely, the O controling the ball may be our best D.

Have to mostly agree with this.

The lack of pressure will stress our pass coverage. I'm also not so sure our run D will be all that either. We are going to need exceptional LB play this year just to be average on defense.

Can the offense control the ball? I've never seen that from a TA offense.. he lives and dies by the big play.

My guess is, it's going to be can Tommy outscore the competition, at least in the first half of the season. By November, the defensive line should be better.

 

[shine003]

We're not playing any elite power running teams the first half of the season. If we stack the box, have good LB play, and can play good man to man defense in the secondary, then it will minimize being deficient up front. You can hide things with schemes. And our scheme on defense works in our favor this year (assuming improved secondary play). Last year, our scheme exposed the weakness of the secondary.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

I think a little too much is made of the DT play. We will get adequate play up the middle. One thing you have to remember about Banker's defense is that it's a one gap scheme. Every LB and both safeties have a run fit and gap responsibility. That is what makes the defense good against the run.

With that said, the LBs and the Safeties have to trust their eyes and read their keys. That was a problem last year. There were instances where the LBs ID'd pass late and were late to the flat, causing a safety or a CB to be be slow because they were overcompensating or trying to cover 2 responsibilities. That allowed the opposing QB to hit his first read. Which in turn didn't provide the DLine time to get to the passer.

With the vast majority of the back 7 returning I expect a big jump in pass coverage. Which will allow out pass rush to improve as well.

 

[Pennsyhusker]

We're not playing any elite power running teams the first half of the season. If we stack the box, have good LB play, and can play good man to man defense in the secondary, then it will minimize being deficient up front. You can hide things with schemes. And our scheme on defense works in our favor this year (assuming improved secondary play). Last year, our scheme exposed the weakness of the secondary.

Teams won't have to be "elite" running teams if our line is weak. We weren't an elite running team last year but look what we did to UCLA. Oregon will shred us if our line is weak against the run. Banker's scheme might be only one gap, with the backers taking the other gaps, but if the line does not handle their gap it will kill us. Look it really is simple: you will not win many games in the B1G with a weak front four. Period.

 

[shine003]

It is really simple...7 or 8 guys in the box means more than one guy per gap. There's only 6 gaps. Numbers can make up for deficiencies. And if it's not an elite power run team, then odds are the o-line we are going against won't greatly over match us. The UCLA argument is bunk. UCLA had poor linebacker play and Nebraska was a pretty good power running team. We won't have anyone on our schedule running at us as good as we were against UCLA until late October. Oregon will try to spread us out and beat us in a track meet. Fresno and Wyoming won't have the athletes to move our dline. NW, Illinois, and Purdue again arent power teams that have the OLine to run at 8 guys in the box. Idk how you can argue that moving guys into the box and playing man to man can't help hide an inexperienced d line. It can and teams do it all the time. It leaves you exposed on the back end but it help with the run defense

 

[Pennsyhusker]

It is really simple...7 or 8 guys in the box means more than one guy per gap. There's only 6 gaps. Numbers can make up for deficiencies. And if it's not an elite power run team, then odds are the o-line we are going against won't greatly over match us. The UCLA argument is bunk. UCLA had poor linebacker play and Nebraska was a pretty good power running team. We won't have anyone on our schedule running at us as good as we were against UCLA until late October. Oregon will try to spread us out and beat us in a track meet. Fresno and Wyoming won't have the athletes to move our dline. NW, Illinois, and Purdue again arent power teams that have the OLine to run at 8 guys in the box. Idk how you can argue that moving guys into the box and playing man to man can't help hide an inexperienced d line. It can and teams do it all the time. It leaves you exposed on the back end but it help with the run defense

Good response. Thanks. You give me hope. Sure as hell hope you are right!

 

[TruHusker]

We're not playing any elite power running teams the first half of the season. If we stack the box, have good LB play, and can play good man to man defense in the secondary, then it will minimize being deficient up front. You can hide things with schemes. And our scheme on defense works in our favor this year (assuming improved secondary play). Last year, our scheme exposed the weakness of the secondary.

Sorry, you hide nothing in any level of football, especially D 1, just not all teams can take advantage of the exposed weaknesses- coaches will find every single weakness, have spent too much time in film rooms with coaches. Why "stack the box" against a passing team - that is suicide. You going to stack against a spread team? Good luck with that. Just the fact you include the "ifs" tells you there is concern. I sure wouldn't say we were an "elite" running team last year and look what we did to UCLA. To round out my concerns, our scheme enhances our weaknesses if we do not get a good push up front.

 

[Pennsyhusker]

Sorry, you hide nothing in any level of football, especially D 1, just not all teams can take advantage of the exposed weaknesses- coaches will find every single weakness, have spent too much time in film rooms with coaches. Why "stack the box" against a passing team - that is suicide. You going to stack against a spread team? Good luck with that. Just the fact you include the "ifs" tells you there is concern. I sure wouldn't say we were an "elite" running team last year and look what we did to UCLA. To round out my concerns, our scheme enhances our weaknesses if we do not get a good push up front.

Ok. So you confirmed what I was saying. Now I am pessimistic again. Damn

 

[Pennsyhusker]

But all joking aside I think TruHusker is correct.

 

[TruHusker]

This is not to say we cant be good, they just have to prove it man up. Nothing tricky, either get your assignment done or not.

 

[shine003]

I never said stack against a spread team. I just don't think Oregon has the o line or the mentality to run up the middle all game on anyone. But that's a moot point to me because I think we lose that game. We really shouldn't have to stack the box too much until Wisconsin. And I don't think Wisconsin can beat us passing. You want an example of teams stacking the box and it working? Look at what teams did to Nebraska when zac lee or Martinez were our QB. Your basically saying that the other team can't beat you with their passing game. NW might be able to do that. I dont think Fresno, Wyoming, Illinois, Purdue or Wisconsin can do that. I don't think Indiana will be able to push our dline off the ball so we won't have to stack. Oregon is going to be a problem. and we better make huge strides before Ohio state.

 

[tone1017]

If you can't get at least somewhat consistent pressure with your front four in 2016 you're in trouble. If every single thing breaks right for our d line we could be ok, but that never happens. We have limited (proven) front line talent and even worse depth. You can't out scheme d line deficiencies without exposing yourself. Talent beats scheme nearly every time and we just don't have it right now, nor do I think we have any sort of track record to show we can even out scheme smart teams. I don't think we're going 0-12 but next to qb, d line is the most important position in college football and it is our greatest weakness. That's not a good sign.

 

[HuskerNorm]

It's always amazing to me at the beginning of the season that people write off players who they have never seen play before.

Talent beats scheme nearly every time and we just don't have it right now

There is a zero percent chance that you actually know this. Could our d-line end up being horrible, absolutely. But to doom and gloom about lack of talent before we have seen these guys even play is a little absurd to me.

 

[Pennsyhusker]

I never said stack against a spread team. I just don't think Oregon has the o line or the mentality to run up the middle all game on anyone. But that's a moot point to me because I think we lose that game. We really shouldn't have to stack the box too much until Wisconsin. And I don't think Wisconsin can beat us passing. You want an example of teams stacking the box and it working? Look at what teams did to Nebraska when zac lee or Martinez were our QB. Your basically saying that the other team can't beat you with their passing game. NW might be able to do that. I dont think Fresno, Wyoming, Illinois, Purdue or Wisconsin can do that. I don't think Indiana will be able to push our dline off the ball so we won't have to stack. Oregon is going to be a problem. and we better make huge strides before Ohio state.

The trouble with your analysis, it seems to me, is that you are ignoring the fact that a weak line, no matter what the scheme, can make even mediocre running teams look like NU of 1995. So don't assume that teams like Illinois won't be able to run against us, IF our line is weak. Just look at our pass defense last year. You would think it would have been good enough, despite its weaknesses, to hold up against some of the mediocre quarterbacks we faced. But it didn't. Some of the most average of QB's looked like Dan Marino against us.

In my opinion, unless Stoltenberg and the Davis twins develop into good tackles, we are in trouble. I am also very worried that DE is still a huge weak spot.

 

[Pennsyhusker]

It's always amazing to me at the beginning of the season that people write off players who they have never seen play before.



There is a zero percent chance that you actually know this. Could our d-line end up being horrible, absolutely. But to doom and gloom about lack of talent before we have seen these guys even play is a little absurd to me.

And it is always amazing to me that some people place great faith in players they have never seen play. Especially when those players are redshirt freshmen at a position that usually requires around three years for development

 

[HuskerNorm]

And it is always amazing to me that some people place great faith in players they have never seen play. Especially when those players are redshirt freshmen at a position that usually requires around three years for development

Agreed. That's why I typically like to wait a few games before making claims about whether we are going to be good or terrible. Pretty easy to see we are inexperienced on the d-line. Everyone agrees with that. Saying we lack talent is totally pre-mature.

 

[Pennsyhusker]

Agreed. That's why I typically like to wait a few games before making claims about whether we are going to be good or terrible. Pretty easy to see we are inexperienced on the d-line. Everyone agrees with that. Saying we lack talent is totally pre-mature.

Agree 100%. I think the talent with the Davis twins is there. We just lack experience.

 

[Cornicator]

Not sure if I should QUOTE Nate Close over here or not. But I trust that guy a ton about personnel. He has viewed Nebraska's personnel up close every season for more than a decade. He has a distinct understanding of the talent or lack thereof on the roster.

He believes the interior Dline is going to be a strength, and thinks the concerns about the unit will be put to rest rather quickly.

Conversely, he doesn't mince words about Defensive End. He thinks it's a major concern and the talent there is non existent. There are no difference makers. Freedom is an Ideal Strong Side Defensive End. He's good at setting the edge and being disruptive on the Base End side. He's a more ideal athlete than McMullen. But you can't rely on the Strong Side DE to create a pass rush. That's not his skill set. Nebraska doesn't have a Weak Side guy to scare opposing offenses. That's a major concern.

But.... The hand wringing over the run defense is a bit overblown. Nebraska will be fine up the middle. On the edge though?

Gulp.

 

[GBRhuskers]

Especially when those players are redshirt freshmen at a position that usually requires around three years for development

What's interesting about your last part of the above is our most recent DT's.

Maurice - played as a true frosh.
Collins - played as a true frosh.
Valentine - played as a redshirt frosh.
Rome - played as a redshirt frosh.
Steinkuhler - played as a redshirt frosh.
Crick - played as a redshirt frosh.
Suh - played as a redshirt frosh.

Moore and Williams were in their fourth year when playing time increased. Maurice playing in 2013 looks really bad right now, hindsight though.

I'm with you though, no doubt we'll take some lumps up front this year but I also don't think it'll be as bad as it seems. Maurice is more than capable of being the anchor inside and I expect him to get drafted. He has a great frame, motor is dang good and I fully expect coach Parrella to maximize Kevin's potential.

Not landing a JUCO DT in this past class looks like a gigantic mistake. Let's hope it's minimized by the young talent and coaching by Parrella.

 

[Pennsyhusker]

What's interesting about your last part of the above is our most recent DT's.

Maurice - played as a true frosh.
Collins - played as a true frosh.
Valentine - played as a redshirt frosh.
Rome - played as a redshirt frosh.
Steinkuhler - played as a redshirt frosh.
Crick - played as a redshirt frosh.
Suh - played as a redshirt frosh.

Moore and Williams were in their fourth year when playing time increased. Maurice playing in 2013 looks really bad right now, hindsight though.

I'm with you though, no doubt we'll take some lumps up front this year but I also don't think it'll be as bad as it seems. Maurice is more than capable of being the anchor inside and I expect him to get drafted. He has a great frame, motor is dang good and I fully expect coach Parrella to maximize Kevin's potential.

Not landing a JUCO DT in this past class looks like a gigantic mistake. Let's hope it's minimized by the young talent and coaching by Parrella.

Great homework. I knew all those guys played early, but I guess my question would be "how effective were they?". I remember Suh getting owned by the USC offensive line in 2007 for example. But maybe that had more to do with Cosgrove's scheme and coaching than Suh's ability at that time. But your point is still a good one. And I agree about the Juco point

Damn I just can't wait for the season to start so some of these questions will start to get answers

 

[Pennsyhusker]

Not sure if I should QUOTE Nate Close over here or not. But I trust that guy a ton about personnel. He has viewed Nebraska's personnel up close every season for more than a decade. He has a distinct understanding of the talent or lack thereof on the roster.

He believes the interior Dline is going to be a strength, and thinks the concerns about the unit will be put to rest rather quickly.

Conversely, he doesn't mince words about Defensive End. He thinks it's a major concern and the talent there is non existent. There are no difference makers. Freedom is an Ideal Strong Side Defensive End. He's good at setting the edge and being disruptive on the Base End side. He's a more ideal athlete than McMullen. But you can't rely on the Strong Side DE to create a pass rush. That's not his skill set. Nebraska doesn't have a Weak Side guy to scare opposing offenses. That's a major concern.

But.... The hand wringing over the run defense is a bit overblown. Nebraska will be fine up the middle. On the edge though?

Gulp.

if that is true then Oregon might give us fits on the edge with their zone read game

 

[PeliniTheCrutch]

It is really simple...7 or 8 guys in the box means more than one guy per gap. There's only 6 gaps.

It's actually not quite that simple. Every back adds another gap.

 

[tone1017]

It's always amazing to me at the beginning of the season that people write off players who they have never seen play before.



There is a zero percent chance that you actually know this. Could our d-line end up being horrible, absolutely. But to doom and gloom about lack of talent before we have seen these guys even play is a little absurd to me.

Show me the last playoff team that started DEs like Dzuris and Freedom. I like Freedom, I think he can be very good and maybe even this year, my point is we need everything to hit to even be slightly above average up front. If the success of our season rests on a bunch of guys that haven't played before and guys that have played at best ok when they have, then yeah, I'm worried. I should've stuck with what I said before which was we have limited PROVEN front line talent rather than dismissing their talent. They're young and unproven and just assuming they'll be good is fine, but I'm more cautious. I hope freedom makes a leap and Maurice improves significantly and the Davis twins can translate strength into disruption immediately and Stoltenburg can play 25-30 awesome snaps a game and Dzuris can become more of a pass rush threat and another end has developed into a pass rush specialist and none of them get hurt, but I have my doubts. That's all.

 

[Pennsyhusker]

Not sure if I should QUOTE Nate Close over here or not. But I trust that guy a ton about personnel. He has viewed Nebraska's personnel up close every season for more than a decade. He has a distinct understanding of the talent or lack thereof on the roster.

He believes the interior Dline is going to be a strength, and thinks the concerns about the unit will be put to rest rather quickly.

Conversely, he doesn't mince words about Defensive End. He thinks it's a major concern and the talent there is non existent. There are no difference makers. Freedom is an Ideal Strong Side Defensive End. He's good at setting the edge and being disruptive on the Base End side. He's a more ideal athlete than McMullen. But you can't rely on the Strong Side DE to create a pass rush. That's not his skill set. Nebraska doesn't have a Weak Side guy to scare opposing offenses. That's a major concern.

But.... The hand wringing over the run defense is a bit overblown. Nebraska will be fine up the middle. On the edge though?

Gulp.

And Cornicator, in light of our weakness at DE, I have a couple questions. First, are there any of the young guys (King, Davis,Neal) who show any promise at the position or are they recruiting busts? Second, if the answer to that question is that they are all a bust, is there anyone on the roster currently at another position who could make a move to DE? I would doubt that since it would have been done already, but what the hell do I know?

 

[Pennsyhusker]

Sorry to be posting so much but I am bedridden at home recovering from hernia surgery and have nothing better to do than overthink Husker football.