Defense Defense Defense

[vs540husker]

Chins fielded a top 30 defense at UCF in year two through November. Then the Memphis rematch and USF games killed them stat wise.
Against Auburn the UCF defense controlled the line of scrimmage and held Auburn to 2 yards per rush on 44 attempts.

So unless that was a fluke, I would think he can get it done. But we’ll see what another year of S&C, learning the plays, and buy-in can do.
Lamar and DiCaprio both made big strides in the 2nd half of the season. Mo Barry was the clearcut best player on defense and at times, the d-line looked decent, but not consistent. Safety is a huge question as we lose 3 of them. But hopefully Gates can contribute and hopefully Deonte can continue to improve as he showed flashes.

 

[dinglefritz]

I don't think we will see 50's. I believe we were 94th in total D this year. Maybe if we can get into the 70s? I could be wrong but I don't think Frost main focus is going to be a top 20 D. I am guessing our D under Chin will be in that 60-80 range.

Of course Frost's "main" focus isn't going to be a top 20 D. That's on Chinander. Frost no doubt plays a role but he has said that he leaves the D up to Chinander. I have no question that Frost has a goal to have a top defense to go with an explosive offense. One problem statistically for NU and Chinander is the number of plays that opposing teams get to run because of our pace of play. That creates more opportunities for opposing offenses to rack up yards and score.

 

[TruHusker]

I don't think we will see 50's. I believe we were 94th in total D this year. Maybe if we can get into the 70s? I could be wrong but I don't think Frost main focus is going to be a top 20 D. I am guessing our D under Chin will be in that 60-80 range.

Thanks "main focus" maybe but explain why he would want it? I hear this and it makes absolutely no sense. What offensive minded person would not want a D that keeps giving the ball back to them.

 

[Ewooc]

Thanks "main focus" maybe but explain why he would want it? I hear this and it makes absolutely no sense. What offensive minded person would not want a D that keeps giving the ball back to them.

He is an offensive minded coach. That is his expertise and what he knows. His main recruiting focus is getting top offensive talent. Every HC has their "expertise" BO was D, although it didn't work out. That was is main goal, to have a top D.
Never said Frost doesn't want a good D, I just don't think it is at the top of his list. Also go take a peak at Chins D at UCF and last year. Nothing great. Granted he has only had 2 years to put a D together, which isn't much. So he very well could turn into a D genius the next few year and have a top 10 D. Frost has said many time, he doesn't do much with the D he leaves that to the D coaches.

 

[Hard4Corn]

I remember when I heard that Callahan was hiring Coz. His defenses were ranked in the 50s for the most part and I was livid about it. 15 years later I’d be excited to be in the 50s. **** I miss having a top d.

 

[RealTucoSalamanca]

This might be a dumb observation, or one so obvious that I shouldn't bother sharing it, but I think because of the style of defense we run, we need to recruit better in terms of stars and ratings on that side of the ball than we do on offense.

It seems like Wisconsin, MSU, Northwestern and Iowa can field really solid defenses made up of tough, heady players with a few NFL guys sprinkled in. Their scheme and coaching allows this. I could be really wrong about this, so feel free to tell me if I'm way off base here, but our scheme seems to require a lot of elite athletes to complete at the highest level. If I understand our basic strategy correctly, we take a lot of big risks with the idea that if they pay off a few times a game, we'll have enough possessions for our offense to win the game. It seems to me that if you're going up against the Buckeyes, or the Sooners, or Clemson or Alabama, you have to have some amazing players for these risks to pay off. While on offense, if we have playmakers at a couple of positions and a solid O-line we can scheme our way into a lot of points, though obviously the more talent the better there as well.

I think you are on to something. I have said similar things in the past. But I don't think it is the defense that they play but the offense that they play. Their offenses are designed to eat clock, limit possessions and do their best not to put their defense in bad spots.

Unless you have the athletes to match up, I agree that when you play offenses with elite skill position athletes, and you have a gambling defense, you either need to hit home on the pass rush as well as stop the run, or get lucky and have a huge game in the secondary.

That is why I have said since Frost was hired, that Nebraska can't recruit defense like they did in the past. Like Iowa and Wisconsin, Nebraska offense of yore was designed to eat clock, limit possessions and do their best to not put the defense in bad spots.

 

[oldjar07]

I don't think we will see 50's. I believe we were 94th in total D this year. Maybe if we can get into the 70s? I could be wrong but I don't think Frost main focus is going to be a top 20 D. I am guessing our D under Chin will be in that 60-80 range.

Setting the bar real high there. If that's all the better Chinander can do, he needs to be get his bags packed. We had a historically bad defense this year. The only thing that can compare is 2007, 2015, and 2017. We're never going to win anything with a defense like that.

 

[TruHusker]

He is an offensive minded coach. That is his expertise and what he knows. His main recruiting focus is getting top offensive talent. Every HC has their "expertise" BO was D, although it didn't work out. That was is main goal, to have a top D.
Never said Frost doesn't want a good D, I just don't think it is at the top of his list. Also go take a peak at Chins D at UCF and last year. Nothing great. Granted he has only had 2 years to put a D together, which isn't much. So he very well could turn into a D genius the next few year and have a top 10 D. Frost has said many time, he doesn't do much with the D he leaves that to the D coaches.

Frost played D in the pros and coached LB's and was a CO-D coordinator. It's not like the D side of the game is foreign territority for him.

If the D continues with little improvement, is anyone going to settle for the explanation that he is an offensive minded coach? That is why he gets paid $5 mill a year.

 

[oldjar07]

Frost played D in the pros and coached LB's and was a CO-D coordinator. It's not like the D side of the game is foreign territority for him.

If the D continues with little improvement, is anyone going to settle for the explanation that he is an offensive minded coach? That is why he gets paid $5 mill a year.

There have been plenty of times where an offensive minded coach has had better defenses than offenses. It's laughable that a coach who's more comfortable calling plays on the offensive side should be willing to accept a 70th ranked defense at a place like Nebraska.

 

[bshirt73]

We are incredibly slow up front. We don’t have explosive guys off the edge either. We should be improved. We need players to step up. We have recruited decent. But not enough to field a dominant defense. However we should be average with a chance to be decent. That’s about the best you can hope for.

Yes, I think you're probably right. But for me, if we could just improve on giving up about 80,000 3rd & longs....that would work for me on year two.

 

[Huskerwisdom]

Will we be able to reach the 50' s in overall defensive rankings next year? It doesn't sound great, but it basically means your "D" was basically a neutral factor in the outcome of the games throughout the season.

I think the Huskers will score an avg. of at least 35ppg. A 50th ranked defense would be a big step forward. Will we better on D?
Will we reach the 50's in total defense?

Second year in and second year with Ellis/Duval makes me think that we can get to be that good. Not only does it give the players a year to get stronger, etc.,. but the coaches know more where they want (need) players and can tailor them to the positions.

Daniels brothers at the NT position can take up more and more snaps allowing others to play at more natural positions

Personally, I thought the LB and Safety play was a big problem in the run last year (excepting Barry and Gifford) especially in the first half of the year. I thought they did improve as the year went on, though, so I'm hopeful that some tough competition will help along with that extra year in the system (thought I heard Honas was missing the spring, which is unfortunate, though)

Big question for me will be how many of the young guys will take a big step this spring. I think the talent level will be up along with experience.. so yes, I think top 50 is doable

 

[H8FULLGR8]

Givens:
1. Wisconsin, northwestern, Purdue and Minnesota will have unknowns at QB.

2. Iowa will lose 4-5 games minimum

The West should be fun next season, if Nebraska can field a decent defense and can avoid injuries at key positions, Nebraska has as good a shot as anyone.

 

[Ewooc]

Frost played D in the pros and coached LB's and was a CO-D coordinator. It's not like the D side of the game is foreign territority for him.

If the D continues with little improvement, is anyone going to settle for the explanation that he is an offensive minded coach? That is why he gets paid $5 mill a year.

Agreed, if this thing is going to work. A Defense ranked in the 70s-90s probably isn't going to get the job done. I would hope Frost knows this. Can Chin produce a D that is better than that? So far in his career no. Will Frost be able to fire his best friend if he can't? That will be the true test on how important a good D is.

 

[HominidHusker]

I don't think we will see 50's. I believe we were 94th in total D this year. Maybe if we can get into the 70s? I could be wrong but I don't think Frost main focus is going to be a top 20 D. I am guessing our D under Chin will be in that 60-80 range.

Without looking up the numbers, we’d also need to analyze how much separation there is between, for example, 40 and 70 ranked defense. Sometimes it’s not a huge difference, and if we’re giving opponents more possessions then I understand the argument about offensive style. HOWEVER, I agree with others that it’s no excuse to not be good on defense. It’s Nebraska.
Other note is that a ton of our leaky yardage was from poor assignment play from various spots (including Barry by the way). I expect a lot of that to get cleaned up with another year of coaching. That alone will make a difference.
Although we’re losing some experience at safety (mentioned above) which matters, I think upcoming talent is potentially an upgrade so I’m less worried.
Coaches no doubt will be working all off season to figure out the pass rush and how to improve there with the pieces they got to work with.
Can Caleb Tannor make a huge jump? I sure hope so. I think we’ll see more Domann off the edge also.

 

[inWV]

tOSU was 68th in defensive yds/game and 55th in ppg allowed. Based on 2018 numbers, if NU can limit on average 1 fewer TD per game and a possession drive of 60-70 yards by opposing teams, it will rank between 40 and 50 in yards and points allowed per game. Given the 2018 schedule, that should correspond with a lot of wins, if not a division title.

 

[vs540husker]

Givens:
1. Wisconsin, northwestern,

That wiscy QB is a top 5 QB recruit in the nation and lit it up at the All American game over the weekend and was named the game MVP. He'll be the best QB they've had since Russel Wilson.
The NW QB is a 5 star Clemson transfer.

They certainly haven't proven anything in FBS football yet, but they both have a load of potential.

 

[mmunso7]

He is a young head coach. Chins is a young D coordinator. Too small a sample size for Chins. I know at least our offense will be good.

We've had good teams since Dr Tom retired, but they were lopsided. We didn't have complete teams, and that was because of ego or friendships. I hope we're past that.

2nd paragraph--YUP. Play the best--sit the rest.

 

[Red Burns Brighter]

Yes, I think you're probably right. But for me, if we could just improve on giving up about 80,000 3rd & longs....that would work for me on year two.

That’s why you need consistency from your main rushers. And a edge rusher. Like I said, we are slow up front. In 3rd and long it’s pretty much a pass. If you can’t get to the QB inside 2-3 seconds they will convert. Need a fast edge rushing LB and more consistency from our 3 main rushers. We should still see an improvement. But will it be enough?

 

[TruHusker]

We are incredibly slow up front. We don’t have explosive guys off the edge either. We should be improved. We need players to step up. We have recruited decent. But not enough to field a dominant defense. However we should be average with a chance to be decent. That’s about the best you can hope for.

See, I keep reading this “we should be improved” like it is a natural phenomenon. I have asked and no one has said, where this improvement will come from. Who is better/improved? What positions lost players and now have to retool? Doman had a couple of nice plays now he is all league but his total body of work was far from dominating. Is the lie going to be greatly improved? Then who? How about LB’s? Are they going to be better? Where is all this good improvement going to come from?

 

[RealTucoSalamanca]

3rd and long (7+) was bad at 38% .....however 3rd and less than 7, was right at 50%.

It didn't matter if it was 3rd and 1-3 or 3rd and 4-6, it right at 50% for both. Run or pass both right about 50%

 

[huskernorm]

See, I keep reading this “we should be improved” like it is a natural phenomenon. I have asked and no one has said, where this improvement will come from. Who is better/improved? What positions lost players and now have to retool? Doman had a couple of nice plays now he is all league but his total body of work was far from dominating. Is the lie going to be greatly improved? Then who? How about LB’s? Are they going to be better? Where is all this good improvement going to come from?

I guess I can take a stab at this. First, I think we will see improvement from just about everyone from a strength and conditioning standpoint. That alone should mark some improvement. As far as personnel:

Corner: We return both our top corners (Bootle and Jackson). They improved as the year progressed and I think both could take a jump this season. I also think Cam Taylor becomes a star before his career is over. Plus we will have depth with Braxton Clark and Eric Lee.

Safety: At safety we lost 3 of our top contributors. Probably the defensive position where we lost the most. Deontai Williams will be one starter and I think Domann will be the other if he doesn't move to LB permanently. Domann has higher upside than any of our 2018 safeties. Cam'Ron Jones was injured as a Freshman and redshirted. He will be a wildcard here. Room for a newcomer to contribute. Paging....Noa Pola-Gates?

Inside LB: Dedrick Young likely won't be missed. Mo Barry and Will Honas could both be studs if Honas is healthy enough. We will see some young guys play at LB this year. Heinrich, Jackson Hannah, Nelson, Snodgrass, Jamin Grant. Not sure if they fit inside or outside (or if all stay at LB) but I bet we see one or two of them in the 2 deep at some LB position.

Outside LB: Lost Gifford. Caleb Tannor, Tyrin Ferguson, Alex Davis return. All seem serviceable, none seem great. Jury is still out for me on Tannor. Need a pass rusher here, badly. One of the above freshman LBs could make an impact. Also need Breon Dixon to live up to the billing. That kid could be a REAL wildcard. Finally, look for another freshman recruit or juco to be added at this position before February.

Defensive tackle: Stoltenberg was playing d-end by years end and was hurt all year so we lost very little here. Likely the position that will improve the most on defense. Expect Damion Daniels to be in better shape and ready to contribute more and his brother, transfer, Darrion Daniels to be the starter. Two legitimate guys with the body to play Nose...We haven't had that in awhile.

Defensive end: Lost Freedom and the injured Stoltenberg. Carlos Davis gets to slide back over here from tackle because of Daniels transfer. Khalil Davis and Ben Stille are our other returners..... Really a pretty solid group with depth being provided by Daishon Neal and Deontre Thomas. Casey Rogers and Tate Wildeman red shirted. Maybe one of them make an impact.

So I see a possible step back at safety, especially if we have injuries. DT should improve because of added personnel. Corner, and D-end seem like they will improve because we have the same guys with an extra year in the weight room and system. Both LB positions are the big question marks. Middle linebacker could be great if Honas is healthy. Very little depth there though. OLB needs something from a newcomer in my opinion. Unless Dixon can step up. Maybe Domann stays at OLB but where does that put us at safety?

 

[oldjar07]

I guess I can take a stab at this. First, I think we will see improvement from just about everyone from a strength and conditioning standpoint. That alone should mark some improvement. As far as personnel:

Corner: We return both our top corners (Bootle and Jackson). They improved as the year progressed and I think both could take a jump this season. I also think Cam Taylor becomes a star before his career is over. Plus we will have depth with Braxton Clark and Eric Lee.

Safety: At safety we lost 3 of our top contributors. Probably the defensive position where we lost the most. Deontai Williams will be one starter and I think Domann will be the other if he doesn't move to LB permanently. Domann has higher upside than any of our 2018 safeties. Cam'Ron Jones was injured as a Freshman and redshirted. He will be a wildcard here. Room for a newcomer to contribute. Paging....Noa Pola-Gates?

Inside LB: Dedrick Young likely won't be missed. Mo Barry and Will Honas could both be studs if Honas is healthy enough. We will see some young guys play at LB this year. Heinrich, Jackson Hannah, Nelson, Snodgrass, Jamin Grant. Not sure if they fit inside or outside (or if all stay at LB) but I bet we see one or two of them in the 2 deep at some LB position.

Outside LB: Lost Gifford. Caleb Tannor, Tyrin Ferguson, Alex Davis return. All seem serviceable, none seem great. Jury is still out for me on Tannor. Need a pass rusher here, badly. One of the above freshman LBs could make an impact. Also need Breon Dixon to live up to the billing. That kid could be a REAL wildcard. Finally, look for another freshman recruit or juco to be added at this position before February.

Defensive tackle: Stoltenberg was playing d-end by years end and was hurt all year so we lost very little here. Likely the position that will improve the most on defense. Expect Damion Daniels to be in better shape and ready to contribute more and his brother, transfer, Darrion Daniels to be the starter. Two legitimate guys with the body to play Nose...We haven't had that in awhile.

Defensive end: Lost Freedom and the injured Stoltenberg. Carlos Davis gets to slide back over here from tackle because of Daniels transfer. Khalil Davis and Ben Stille are our other returners..... Really a pretty solid group with depth being provided by Daishon Neal and Deontre Thomas. Casey Rogers and Tate Wildeman red shirted. Maybe one of them make an impact.

So I see a possible step back at safety, especially if we have injuries. DT should improve because of added personnel. Corner, and D-end seem like they will improve because we have the same guys with an extra year in the weight room and system. Both LB positions are the big question marks. Middle linebacker could be great if Honas is healthy. Very little depth there though. OLB needs something from a newcomer in my opinion. Unless Dixon can step up. Maybe Domann stays at OLB but where does that put us at safety?

I think safety will be the position where we see the biggest upgrade. Lose 3 very mediocre players, and bring in Deontai who I think can be a special player. Dismuke would be the safe choice for the other spot, but we have recruited very well at this position under Frost. I will be surprised if one of the younger guys doesn't step up and earn the other spot.

At outside linebacker I think Tyrin Ferguson can become a very good player. Heck I think when healthy he may have been our best linebacker this year and that's including Gifford and Barry. He has one spot locked down for sure. The other side is a crap shoot. Domann has a lot of work to do getting adjusted to the position. Guys like Dixon and Tannor need a lot of work as well. The one guy I hope we don't see is Alex Davis. I hope it doesn't turn into another Dedrick Young situation where the guy with the most experience plays.

As far as the linebacker position goes, I don't think we will see any newcomers be contributors next year. Honas and Miller will fight it out for the other ILB spot and should have a good player to go along with Barry there.

For defensive line, Stoltenberg is a big loss. If the Daniels brothers can solidify the NT position, I think we can show a ton of improvement along the Dline. However if one of them gets injured, we can be in the same predicament we were this year, having to rely on a DE to play NT which will be a disaster for the defense.

We have the potential to be a good defense in 2019. Better than most would expect. Are we going to get there is the question. I could see things going either way, either improving a lot and becoming a top 30 defense, but I could also see us not improving much at all from last year and remaining a bottom feeder on defense.

 

[blackbones]

If we can improve on 3rd and long next season I think we will see a big difference going forward.... Last year that was a constant problem.. I think we could be somewhere in the 70's next year which would be a major shot in the arm with how many points we will put up..

 

[red scowl]

I'm interested in seeing what Dixon brings to the table this year. Domann played well, too. I think D. Williams at safety could be a playmakers for us, he has the athleticism. We already know Barry is a hell of a LB.

We need him and Tannor to step up. Sounds like Dixon has a me first attitude, but evidently he has alot of talent. I haven't seen it so I'll reserve judgment .

 

[red scowl]

I think safety will be the position where we see the biggest upgrade. Lose 3 very mediocre players, and bring in Deontai who I think can be a special player. Dismuke would be the safe choice for the other spot, but we have recruited very well at this position under Frost. I will be surprised if one of the younger guys doesn't step up and earn the other spot.

At outside linebacker I think Tyrin Ferguson can become a very good player. Heck I think when healthy he may have been our best linebacker this year and that's including Gifford and Barry. He has one spot locked down for sure. The other side is a crap shoot. Domann has a lot of work to do getting adjusted to the position. Guys like Dixon and Tannor need a lot of work as well. The one guy I hope we don't see is Alex Davis. I hope it doesn't turn into another Dedrick Young situation where the guy with the most experience plays.

As far as the linebacker position goes, I don't think we will see any newcomers be contributors next year. Honas and Miller will fight it out for the other ILB spot and should have a good player to go along with Barry there.

For defensive line, Stoltenberg is a big loss. If the Daniels brothers can solidify the NT position, I think we can show a ton of improvement along the Dline. However if one of them gets injured, we can be in the same predicament we were this year, having to rely on a DE to play NT which will be a disaster for the defense.

We have the potential to be a good defense in 2019. Better than most would expect. Are we going to get there is the question. I could see things going either way, either improving a lot and becoming a top 30 defense, but I could also see us not improving much at all from last year and remaining a bottom feeder on defense.

Williams is an NFL safety. Coaches have to give him a new attitude. Not worried about safety.

Have to stop the run. Our d-lineman have been better in their assignments than our slow linebackers.

I think we will be better on defense, but it will be vague. I mean it wont be clear because the offense will be faster. More plays.