Improved pass rush?

[leodisflowers]

Damion needs to embrace the now and get in shape. He is a RS Junior and needs to be ready to start. We lose a ton of starter's snap, but Ben has been playing since he RS freshman year and Deontre played as a true freshman. Green was hyped but got to Lincoln late and wasn't going to be in the mix his first year. As Corn said, all of the guys on the roster were recruited into a 3-4. At some point, familiarity with the scheme has to be a plus.

That's all fine, but everything you just mentioned is an unknown. That is why there is reason for concern. That concern could go away in a hurry if they all play how they should, but we lost a ton of production.

 

[oldjar07]

The hand wringing about the Defensive Line is overblown in my opinion. I think people are discounting the value of position coaching and scheme consistency. There is also added value in the fact that every player in the 3-deep was actually targeted and recruited to play in the 3-4. That hasn't happened to a full group of defensive linemen at Nebraska since the 2016 season.

Nebraska's defense will continue to ride or die based on the play of the linebacking corp. That position group has been a mess for the last 5 seasons. Bo's focus on the Peso lessened the importance of that position. It meant the roster numbers for that positions grouping were very low when Riley arrived. Riley's staff then focused on 2 seasons of recruiting 4-3 backers with no outside pass rush emphasis. This became further problematic when they decided on the scheme shift to the 3-4.

This left Frost and staff with a whole lot of shit at the backer position. Now, Nebraska's biggest issue relates to the lack of versatility for the linebackers.

OLB - Caleb Tannor is still undersized and really struggles vs. the run or in pursuit. He's really a one trick pony who needs to gain a ton of strength to fight off blocks.

ILB - Honas is pretty good in pursuit, and even a decent blitzer, but he's asked to cover in this scheme and is often overmatched.

ILB - Colin Miller is decent in coverage, but really struggles as a tackler in the open field.

OLB - Domann is your best pass rusher off the edge. This is problematic though because he's also your best coverage option vs. a Tight end or running back. The Huskers are a bit damned if they do or damned if they don't with him.

I expect the secondary to be even better in 2020, and I think the Defensive line will be much better than people anticipate. But in order for Nebraska to see noticeable and stark improvement defensively, the Linebackers need to completely overhaul everything.


On a side note, dudes like Mo Barry and Alex Davis are simply NOT athletic enough to be impactful starters in the Big Ten. I do honestly believe Frost and staff has raised the bar from an athleticism standpoint in their last two recruiting cycles.

There's already been plenty of blame put on the linebackers. The D line deserves some blame too. Yes the linebackers were bad. The defensive line was below average too.

 

[oldjar07]

If the linebackers are really as bad as people say they are, why wasn't Ruud looking for a new job after the season? Frost replaced other underperformers on the staff in the last couple months. If Ruud's unit is so bad, why isn't he looked at in getting replaced?

 

[NorthwoodHusker]

If the linebackers are really as bad as people say they are, why wasn't Ruud looking for a new job after the season? Frost replaced other underperformers on the staff in the last couple months. If Ruud's unit is so bad, why isn't he looked at in getting replaced?

Here's my problem with blaming the line. It wont get much better than this, two guys likely getting drafted, a third,or the other third, a potential free agent and gets picked up.
K Davis in the top twenty in sacks nationwide, including true D ends in a 4-3, where its a whole different animal there, speed speed speed.
While the twins were fast, they werent 270 blazing fast fast, but are some of if not the fastest tackles, period.
In a 4-3, they could play at 275 and be even faster at end, and would have more sacks and be closer to a typical D end.
They were square pegs, but good enough to likely be drafted, even playing out of position.
So, we get those 6'4"-6'7" guys that can carry three bills plus easily, our D line will look better, but only slightly.
Yes, our backers were that bad. One could cover, but was awful in space in tackling, the other could tackle but couldnt cover the head of a pin with a gallon of paint, and our opponents knew it too.