What If...

BIG DAWG · December 18, 2007

What if...

The main problems with the 2007 defense could be attributed to the secondary?

That would be interesting because as we all have been able to see, most of the recruits we have nailed down on that side of the ball have been in the secondary.

What if these recruits that Dodge is bringing to town fix the secondary, and hence fix the defense? Good things would be in our future.

Think about it...we really only had one real starting corner, Bush. The other corner was a whole host of players. Weathers, although a good player for NT, was never much of an enforcer back there. Agbottah, who had his moments, may not be the guy we need back there. With the host of DB's we are bringing in, you have to think we are going to get better back there.

You take the Navy game for instance...many times thplayer responsible for the pictch man, who was never there it seemed, is often times a safety or a corner. Maybe it wasn't all bad schemes, but an inadequate secondary??? Maybe???

We get a defensive end, I think contrary to what many believe, we are fine at DT, we will be more athletic at LB'er even without the seniors we lost, and then you revamp the secondary, we might just have a defense that can keep up with our offense. It doesn't have to be spectacular, just servicable, and once in a while have a good game here and there.

Any thoughts???

Edited December 18, 2007 by BIG DAWG

Green Mean · December 18, 2007

I fully expect the defense to improve overall......how much? I have no idea but I am thinking it will be improved. RM will have a year of experience under his belt and after all the scrutiny he has been recieving, I am thinking we will see a motivated mofo to prove his critics wrong. With the recruiting of db's we have committed verbally so far, it really gets me excited that in addition to RM's work we will have some talented athletes come in on the defensive side to hopefully make things better.

UNTflyer · December 18, 2007

I fully expect the defense to improve overall......how much? I have no idea but I am thinking it will be improved.

Fortunately, we cannot drop to 121st in defense.

untbowler · December 18, 2007

FFR posted in another thread that Pass Defense was actually the strongest unit of the defense.

houstonmeangreen · December 18, 2007

I fully expect the defense to improve overall......how much? I have no idea but I am thinking it will be improved. RM will have a year of experience under his belt and after all the scrutiny he has been recieving, I am thinking we will see a motivated mofo to prove his critics wrong. With the recruiting of db's we have committed verbally so far, it really gets me excited that in addition to RM's work we will have some talented athletes come in on the defensive side to hopefully make things better.

Improvement? We are already the worse in the Nation on defense...Improvement.....damn sure better be alot, otherwise we sure have waisted money paying RM for "a job poorly done"....and....TD's head will be on the chopping block , I sure....he is responsible for the D as well as the offense. It really is time UNT tried to get the best if they truely want to move this program up....and FAST, quit jack'n around.

NCMeanGreen · December 18, 2007

I fully expect the defense to improve overall......how much? I have no idea but I am thinking it will be improved.

No offense, but of course it will improve...if only becuase it cannot possibly get any worse!!!

Right??? :unsure:

UNT Mean Green · December 18, 2007

What if...
The main problems with the 2007 defense could be attributed to the secondary?
That would be interesting because as we all have been able to see, most of the recruits we have nailed down on that side of the ball have been in the secondary.
What if these recruits that Dodge is bringing to town fix the secondary, and hence fix the defense? Good things would be in our future.
Think about it...we really only had one real starting corner, Bush. The other corner was a whole host of players. Weathers, although a good player for NT, was never much of an enforcer back there. Agbottah, who had his moments, may not be the guy we need back there. With the host of DB's we are bringing in, you have to think we are going to get better back there.
You take the Navy game for instance...many times thplayer responsible for the pictch man, who was never there it seemed, is often times a safety or a corner. Maybe it wasn't all bad schemes, but an inadequate secondary??? Maybe???
We get a defensive end, I think contrary to what many believe, we are fine at DT, we will be more athletic at LB'er even without the seniors we lost, and then you revamp the secondary, we might just have a defense that can keep up with our offense. It doesn't have to be spectacular, just servicable, and once in a while have a good game here and there.
Any thoughts???

Good post...and I think it all goes hand in hand. The numerous secondary recruits that we are getting obviously show that the coaching staff feels that was an area of concern that needs immediate attention. I feel they have addressed this in a big way to make an immediate impact with the Junior College guys (remember 2 of these guys are redshirt sophomores coming out of JUCO, so they already have, call it what you want, but 3 years of college ball under their belts in the secondary) and are stocking the cupboard with the high school guys like Hamilton, Phillips, Shorter, and Williams to go along with Ealey from last year coupled with transfers in Nurudeen and Garden. I think there are some guys 'hanging on' in the program who are just practice type guys and what not who will never play, and TD could very well not re-new their scholarships to free up roster space back there.

I don't think just fixing the secondary alone will completely lift our defense, but it will certainly help. I think getting the necessary athletes back there who can run, cover, support the run, and play well in space will make things much better. I think one real weakness of our defense this last year was out on the perimeter, due to the fact that we were basically slow. In the 4-3 scheme, you have to have guys who can run at LB and in the Secondary in order to compensate for the space on the outside you give up by alignment; whereas in the 3-4 you have those 'alley players' (like Demarcus Ware) who, by alignment are already in good contain position out on the edge. Therefore, I believe with the 2 wonderful athletes we are blessed to have for 3-4 more years at Outside Linebacker in Penson, and Robertson, along with the speed of these new secondary guys, I think we will be less vulnerable out on the edge where teams gashed us all year. I can specifically remember several teams who just murdered us out on the edge, be it with toss sweeps, outside zones, option pitches, or quick passes like bubble screens, and we looked completely helpless because we couldn't get anyone out there fast enough to contain and then to make a tackle. For crying out loud, OU threw a bubble screen to Gresham #18 their TE, and he turned the corner and ran up the sideline like it was nothing! That is good enough evidence that we were slow!

On the D-Line, I really like Gilmore. I think he now has his feet wet after a year, and will give us 2 more great years as a bookend defensive end here in Denton. He is an outstanding looking specimen, and from an athletic standpoint is pretty darn impressive. Gilmore is only going to be better next year. IF we can find someone or sign an immediate impact JUCO guy on the other side to compliment Gilmore, I think our defense will be SIGNIFICANTLY improved, no matter who is calling the game. From my understanding, Russo has been a slight disappointment so far. I don't get the impression that he has "turned the corner" yet and figured out the speed and intensity of the Division 1 game. I think we need to be patient with him though, as he will do some good things here. Another guy who saw a lot of time this year who is a good athlete is Sam Owusu-Heming. Coach Dodge seems to like him quite a bit and feels comfortable with him contributing. We are very strong at the DT spots. Miller, Thomas, DeSoto, and Scoggins should make up a strong 4 man rotation at DT. I think we could afford to sign 1 and only 1 more DT, but unlike some people, I don't think we need to sign an army of DT's. In my opinion, Scoggins and DeSoto are going to be forces. Miller is only going to be better, and he was solid all year long.

A big question mark for me is who is going to play Middle Linebacker? I have no idea...and a good solution doesn't ever seem to pop into my head. Unless Marquise Davis is ready, who else do we have? Padron did not participate in anything this past year as he was injured. Could Bron Hager be an option? It may sound crazy, but the guy brings the wood all the time. Very physical, downhill player. Anyone have thoughts on this position?

However, all in all, I think with the recruits we are getting who are going to make an immediate impact, along with the experience we have returning (players and coaches) that we are going to be MUCH improved as a whole on defense. Will we be as good as our offense, heck no (but wouldn't it be sweet if we were! ). Call me crazy, but we could improve as a unit by 20-30 spots in my opinion, which would be great.

BIG DAWG · December 18, 2007

We are very strong at the DT spots. Miller, Thomas, DeSoto, and Scoggins should make up a strong 4 man rotation at DT

Don't forget about Draylon Ross moving over to DT

H-towngreen · December 18, 2007

I feel they have addressed this in a big way to make an immediate impact with the Junior College guys (remember 2 of these guys are redshirt sophomores coming out of JUCO, so they already have, call it what you want, but 3 years of college ball under their belts in the secondary) and are stocking the cupboard with the high school guys like Hamilton, Phillips, Shorter, and Williams to go along with Ealey from last year coupled with transfers in Nurudeen and Garden.
On the D-Line, I really like Gilmore. I think he now has his feet wet after a year, and will give us 2 more great years as a bookend defensive end here in Denton. He is an outstanding looking specimen, and from an athletic standpoint is pretty darn impressive. Gilmore is only going to be better next year. IF we can find someone or sign an immediate impact JUCO guy on the other side to compliment Gilmore, I think our defense will be SIGNIFICANTLY improved, no matter who is calling the game. From my understanding, Russo has been a slight disappointment so far. I don't get the impression that he has "turned the corner" yet and figured out the speed and intensity of the Division 1 game. I think we need to be patient with him though, as he will do some good things here. Another guy who saw a lot of time this year who is a good athlete is Sam Owusu-Heming. Coach Dodge seems to like him quite a bit and feels comfortable with him contributing. We are very strong at the DT spots. Miller, Thomas, DeSoto, and Scoggins should make up a strong 4 man rotation at DT. I think we could afford to sign 1 and only 1 more DT, but unlike some people, I don't think we need to sign an army of DT's. In my opinion, Scoggins and DeSoto are going to be forces. Miller is only going to be better, and he was solid all year long.
A big question mark for me is who is going to play Middle Linebacker? I have no idea...and a good solution doesn't ever seem to pop into my head. Unless Marquise Davis is ready, who else do we have? Padron did not participate in anything this past year as he was injured. Could Bron Hager be an option? It may sound crazy, but the guy brings the wood all the time. Very physical, downhill player. Anyone have thoughts on this position?

I agree with you totally. TD and staff has done an exceptional job overhauling the defensive backfield. I'm on board with you in the thought that out D-line doesn't really need much help for now. We need a D-end or two. but we are good at D-tackle.

As for middle linebacker as of now my money would be on Davis. Possibly Nwigwe if he is still on the team, or allowed back, or whatever the case is. Anyone know by the way?