I’ve seen a lot of posts about how worried some are with our Defense. Specifically the LB’s. Every year, most every team loses a lot of production but it’s replaced by the players waiting in the wings. Some come out of nowhere and others improve year over year. I still remember my buddies and I in 1993 wondering who was going to replace Shade Tree. Brooks had played SS the year prior but he, K. Alexander and Rebol stepped up and helped the Defense win that team a NC. It didn’t hurt that that team had D. Alexander and McIntosh on the DL…. Abraham, Bush Sawyer and Coes in the backfield….
But who will be the men that step up this year and become the next great Seminoles? Some we may already know, like Burns and Taylor. Or maybe Christmas and Samuels. But who will move from seldom used backup to future star? Does D-Jack have the skills? Some say he was benched because of JF not because of his skill set…. What about Kaindoh or Robinson?... Wilson? Westbrook or Nasirildeen?
I don’t know who it will be but I know it will be someone… several someone’s in fact!
First a good offense takes a ton of pressure off of the defense. I, as most others, believe our offense will be light years ahead of where it’s been the last four years. The slow play…. Letting the D get set…. Wasted Time Outs… I-Formation… Predictability…. You guys know the story.
You can lump in our special teams with this too, as both will help out the defense! See a great analogy of Special teams from Seminole72 here: https://floridastate.forums.rivals.com/threads/secrets-to-improvement-in-18.223346/#post-3797126
So with that said Who do you all think will be the Impact players on this defense this year?
At DE we lost Wilkerson and Sweat. Sweat and Burns were our starters at the beginning of the season. Sweat – 56 tackles (3rd) , 5.5 sacks. Wilkerson - 19 tackles (15th) with ½ a sack. We return Burns – 48 tackles (5th), 4.5 sacks, J. Robinson – 4 tackles 1 sack , J. Kaindoh – 17 tackles, 4 sacks, Torres. We gain Aime – 18 tackles (16th), Peters, Briggs, Chatman and Lamar. With the improved coaching and move to a 4 – 3 Defense I like this rotation much better than last years.
At DL we lost Nnadi and Aime (moved to DE). Nnadi – 53 tackles (4th), 3.5 sacks, 10tfl.
We return Christmas (this was huge!) – 36 tackles (9th) 1 sack, 5tfl, Wilson – 7 tackles, 1 tfl , Fred Jones – 18 tackles, ½ sack, 2 tfl.
We add Durden, Parks and Cooper. Christmas returning was huge but another factor is Wilson losing 40 lbs. in the offseason. We have depth here, it’s just young and unproven.
At CB we lost McFadden (most will argue that isn’t a loss based on last year’s play). McFadden – 30 tackles (10th), 0 int, 10 pbu.
We return Taylor – 18 tackles(17th), 2 int, 3 pbu, Samuels III (moving to Safety but could flip back) , Becker III – 7 tackles, Meyers – 26 tackles (13th), 1 int, 3 pbu. We gain Lyton, Bolden, Asante Samuel. This group can only be better than last year because McFadden isn’t a loss, depth is improved and the coaching has vastly improved.
At Safety we lost Derwin – 84 tackles (2nd), 1 sack, 2 int, 11 pbu. Marshall – 44 tackles (7th) 1 pbu, Andrews – 18 tackles, 1 pbu and Lane – 12 tackles, 2 pbu. We return Westbrook – 40 tackles (8th), 7 pbu, Nasirildeen – 29 tackles (11th), 3 pbu, Samules (From CB) – 27 tackles (12th), 1 sack, 2 int, 5 pbu., Fagan - 6 tackles, and Brewton. We gain Woodbey who from all accounts could be in the rotation. Yes, Derwin is a big loss, but Westbrook and Nasirildeen were solid. With the new and improved coaching I don’t think this group misses a beat.
At LB we lost Pugh – 21 tackles (14th), 2 pbu., Hoskins – 45 tackles (6th), 2 pbu., and M. Thomas – 85 tackles (1st), 10 tfl, 2 sacks, 1 int, 2 pbu..
We return D. Jackson – 17 tackles, 1 sack, A. Thomas – 12 tackles, 1 tfl., Rice – 14 tackles, 1 tfl, 1 int, Brown – 3 tackles and Warner 5 tackles.
We added Brooks (RS…potential starter), White (from RB) and Gainer. I don’t believe we miss Hoskins or Pugh….not trying to be mean but most felt they were either out of position or underperformers anyhow. Thomas, in his fifth year finally lived up to his billing and will be missed… but, does D-Jack make us forget how long we waited for MT?
What do you think?
Where does this Defense finish?
Who will be the all-stars?
But who will be the men that step up this year and become the next great Seminoles? Some we may already know, like Burns and Taylor. Or maybe Christmas and Samuels. But who will move from seldom used backup to future star? Does D-Jack have the skills? Some say he was benched because of JF not because of his skill set…. What about Kaindoh or Robinson?... Wilson? Westbrook or Nasirildeen?
I don’t know who it will be but I know it will be someone… several someone’s in fact!
First a good offense takes a ton of pressure off of the defense. I, as most others, believe our offense will be light years ahead of where it’s been the last four years. The slow play…. Letting the D get set…. Wasted Time Outs… I-Formation… Predictability…. You guys know the story.
You can lump in our special teams with this too, as both will help out the defense! See a great analogy of Special teams from Seminole72 here: https://floridastate.forums.rivals.com/threads/secrets-to-improvement-in-18.223346/#post-3797126
So with that said Who do you all think will be the Impact players on this defense this year?
At DE we lost Wilkerson and Sweat. Sweat and Burns were our starters at the beginning of the season. Sweat – 56 tackles (3rd) , 5.5 sacks. Wilkerson - 19 tackles (15th) with ½ a sack. We return Burns – 48 tackles (5th), 4.5 sacks, J. Robinson – 4 tackles 1 sack , J. Kaindoh – 17 tackles, 4 sacks, Torres. We gain Aime – 18 tackles (16th), Peters, Briggs, Chatman and Lamar. With the improved coaching and move to a 4 – 3 Defense I like this rotation much better than last years.
At DL we lost Nnadi and Aime (moved to DE). Nnadi – 53 tackles (4th), 3.5 sacks, 10tfl.
We return Christmas (this was huge!) – 36 tackles (9th) 1 sack, 5tfl, Wilson – 7 tackles, 1 tfl , Fred Jones – 18 tackles, ½ sack, 2 tfl.
We add Durden, Parks and Cooper. Christmas returning was huge but another factor is Wilson losing 40 lbs. in the offseason. We have depth here, it’s just young and unproven.
At CB we lost McFadden (most will argue that isn’t a loss based on last year’s play). McFadden – 30 tackles (10th), 0 int, 10 pbu.
We return Taylor – 18 tackles(17th), 2 int, 3 pbu, Samuels III (moving to Safety but could flip back) , Becker III – 7 tackles, Meyers – 26 tackles (13th), 1 int, 3 pbu. We gain Lyton, Bolden, Asante Samuel. This group can only be better than last year because McFadden isn’t a loss, depth is improved and the coaching has vastly improved.
At Safety we lost Derwin – 84 tackles (2nd), 1 sack, 2 int, 11 pbu. Marshall – 44 tackles (7th) 1 pbu, Andrews – 18 tackles, 1 pbu and Lane – 12 tackles, 2 pbu. We return Westbrook – 40 tackles (8th), 7 pbu, Nasirildeen – 29 tackles (11th), 3 pbu, Samules (From CB) – 27 tackles (12th), 1 sack, 2 int, 5 pbu., Fagan - 6 tackles, and Brewton. We gain Woodbey who from all accounts could be in the rotation. Yes, Derwin is a big loss, but Westbrook and Nasirildeen were solid. With the new and improved coaching I don’t think this group misses a beat.
At LB we lost Pugh – 21 tackles (14th), 2 pbu., Hoskins – 45 tackles (6th), 2 pbu., and M. Thomas – 85 tackles (1st), 10 tfl, 2 sacks, 1 int, 2 pbu..
We return D. Jackson – 17 tackles, 1 sack, A. Thomas – 12 tackles, 1 tfl., Rice – 14 tackles, 1 tfl, 1 int, Brown – 3 tackles and Warner 5 tackles.
We added Brooks (RS…potential starter), White (from RB) and Gainer. I don’t believe we miss Hoskins or Pugh….not trying to be mean but most felt they were either out of position or underperformers anyhow. Thomas, in his fifth year finally lived up to his billing and will be missed… but, does D-Jack make us forget how long we waited for MT?
What do you think?
Where does this Defense finish?
Who will be the all-stars?
