We have to get much tougher...
- Thread starter Wing-Back
- Start date
We do. I actually think War Daddy has made us stronger (physically) This is one of the areas I see that we have improved on but still have a ways to go to impose our will on the mid-level B10 teams.
The mental part is where we are at the bottom of the conference.
The mental part is where we are at the bottom of the conference.
Our defense needs to get a whole lot better in order to compete in the Big Ten. We can’t give up that many rushing yards to teams who struggled rushing the ball, and expect to win.
Our coaches have to be able to adapt when things aren’t going well.
Our coaches have to be able to adapt when things aren’t going well.
What “pieces” does he need? Is he not going to field a legit defense until he has JJ Watt and Luke Kuechly?
We clearly lack some things needs to run a good 3-4 defense like pass rushing OLB and run stuffing ILB. Problem is, next year we lose a very good NT and still haven’t upgraded our LB’s, that we know. To your point about needed big time guys like Watt to run it. He had Hughes and Griffin at UCF and was still middle of the pack nationally. I am optimistic about the long term outlook of our offense, but the defense is another story.
Fine. Then don’t run the 3-4 until you do have those pieces. If the players you inherited are better suited for a 4-3 then run the damn 4-3, recruit better, and slowly shift to the 3-4.
Something. However, I wonder how good of a D we will have, even then. Like I said he wasn’t great at UCF, even with with multiple NFL players against AAC competition. He is young and can still evolve and we did improve this year from last year. But I’m not feeling great about the outlook on D, right now.
The potential upgrades at LB are still young and unproven, but if Henrich, Hannah, Snodgrass, Reimer and Hodge can at least compete against Miller, Honas, Tannor, Domann and Nelson for starting positions, we may develop a difference-maker for the future.
And that's where the defense is lagging behind the offense — playmakers. You saw that without Epenesa disrupting everything Nebraska was trying to do, Iowa's defense is decent, but not great. We haven't had a disruptive player on D since as far back as Lavonte David, and his last season was 2012. Others that could fill that role haven't seen the field much or at all — Rogers, Robinson, Green, D. Williams, etc. Cam Taylor-Britt could be that guy in the secondary, as could Braxton Clark.
On offense, you can look at McCaffrey, Robinson, Jurgens and Martinez, and say that each of them has the potential to be a difference-maker, to make plays when others can't. It may not happen for each or all of them, but we see the potential. The potential on defense is still hidden.
You don't win championships without all-conference players. We may have one or two on the offensive side that could break through next year, but you can't point to those players yet on defense. When we do, then we can start talking about winning the division.
He's gonna get all next year at minimum. Probably more like 2-3 more years though. Hell then have a full class of "their" guys to work with. If defense still sucks, then the solution is obvious. Let's just hope the whole reason isn't lost by then as we wait to see improvement.
I know Frost was a stubborn and confident person. I honestly never thought he would let it get in the way of turning this around.
A pass rusher/Shaquim Griffin type player? We have domann but I don’t think he’s using him like we could due to being limited with our lb’s? We do not have that player that can run down a running back from the backside of a play or blitz at a whim.
