Monday with Mike: Defensive Issues

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Nebraska secondary: The Huskers lost three starters off what had been a sterling unit, including star CB Prince Amukamara. Returning starter Alfonzo Dennard is a good one at cornerback, and SS Austin Cassidy emerged as a starter and solid contributor during the second half of last season. FS Courtney Osborne played a lot down the stretch last season as the extra defensive back, and he gets first crack at a starting job this spring. P.J. Smith also will be in the mix at safety, as will Corey Cooper and touted JC transfer Daimion Stafford. CB Ciante Evans, who played as a true freshman last season, should be first in line for the starting job opposite Dennard. Converted WR Antonio Bell and Anthony Blue, who is coming back from a knee injury, are others who will get a shot. While there is work to do in the secondary, one thing to be considered is that the Huskers aren't going to see as many sophisticated passing attacks in the Big Ten as they saw in the Big 12, their old home.
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Nebula said:
Nice aspeedlin. Love that pic of Dennard, looking super athletic. Who are we playing there, Kansas?
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Yea, that was Kansas. The most boring game I have ever been to in my life, not to mention it was about 20 degrees at kick-off.

 
While there is work to do in the secondary, one thing to be considered is that the Huskers aren't going to see as many sophisticated passing attacks in the Big Ten as they saw in the Big 12, their old home.
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This is an interesting point. It's quite likely that we'll feature a more sophisticated secondary package than most teams' passing offenses this year. I can see that giving the B1G fits.

 
Nebula said:
aspeedlin4589 said:
saunders45 said:
We only have to replace 1 starter.... I don't get it.
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Dejon Gomes says hello.
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Yup. Hagg had a lot of coverage duty as well.
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I know how much they played and their experience is invaluable, but our base D is changing. We aren't playing a 4-1-6 anymore.

CB's: Dennard and Evans

Safety: Cassidy and Osborne

LB: David, Compton, Fisher

Everyone but Evans has at least half a season of starting experience.

 
I think we're going to see some 4-3-4, but I think we will see a lot of 4-2-5, and some 3-3-5 as well with Meredith lining up as a DE/LB off the side and crick moving out, leaving Steinkuhler and the other DE... Like we did some last year. The defense is going to mix these 3 styles up... I do agree in that we won't see much 4-1-6 anymore though.

I Aldo think that Chase Rome is going to surprise some people with just how good he is. And I think Joseph Carter is going to beat some people out for a starting spot at DE. Also, the staff isn't just bringing in Daimion Stafford to sit the bench either, we've got a lot of depth of players with his size, but don't think the staff didn't go after him with a plan to get him on the field.

 
girlknowsfootball said:
I think we're going to see some 4-3-4, but I think we will see a lot of 4-2-5, and some 3-3-5 as well with Meredith lining up as a DE/LB off the side and crick moving out, leaving Steinkuhler and the other DE... Like we did some last year. The defense is going to mix these 3 styles up... I do agree in that we won't see much 4-1-6 anymore though.

I Aldo think that Chase Rome is going to surprise some people with just how good he is. And I think Joseph Carter is going to beat some people out for a starting spot at DE. Also, the staff isn't just bringing in Daimion Stafford to sit the bench either, we've got a lot of depth of players with his size, but don't think the staff didn't go after him with a plan to get him on the field.
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I agree we will some some lighter sets, but not nearly as much as we have the last 2 years. I also agree on Rome. The kid was on the 2-deep before getting hurt last year.

 
girlknowsfootball said:
Also, the staff isn't just bringing in Daimion Stafford to sit the bench either, we've got a lot of depth of players with his size, but don't think the staff didn't go after him with a plan to get him on the field.
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I figure he'll get worked into the system just like Gomes. He'll see action in bits early, then he'll have a chance to take over the starting gig somewhere in the middle third of the season.

 
Compton and Fisher's experience don't count for much at this point. They were unknowns to begin with. Fisher was promising last year, but so were guys like Sirles, who ended up just being average. Our defense has been great the past two years playing mostly 5/6 DB, because they were the best players we could put on the field.

Once Fisher went down we essentially replaced him with a DB because that gave us our best 11 (even with the shoddy safety play at the start of the year).

I think it's hard to say we don't have a lot to replace on defense. But improving safety play would be huge for us. If safeties and DL have a resurgence, it's gonna be a show.

 
Both Fisher and Sirles were redshirt freshman when they first started. How can someone says that they didn't live up to expectations when they were only FRESHMAN. Why don't we give them another year or two before we start saying that they don't live up to it.

Compton can fall into this also.

 
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I know that they are unfinished books at this point, but we aren't talking about whether they will live up to their potential as individual players. We are talking about whether the defense has a lot to replace, or not. To suggest that we don't because we have all this skill/experience/talent stepping in, is a bit speculative in my opinion, if it involves Fisher or Compton.

Defenses don't get a pass for starting young players. The rankings books or opposing offenses won't say "Well, they had a young linebacker, bump them up 5 spots."

 
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