C7 Have Been Quiet

[metsfan2323]

The vast majority of the time you don't replace Wilson, Gratz, Moore and Williams as well as others without some drop off. I get painted as negative yet I seem to be one who recognizes in these discussions how good those players were.

Nobody thought we could replace Reyes last year but Wirth did it.

Joseph, Stephen, and Pruitt, with Campenni and others could be a very good line. Smallwood could be the best linebacker in the Big East, Stewart has a great pedigree, and there has been plenty of positive buzz surrounding Vann and Ashiru, Adams and Tymer Brown look to be very good at safety, and excuse me if I think that Byron Jones has lock down corner written all over him.

Not to mention you have been somewhat critical of Don Brown (can't close out a game) the last two years so you should be happy about the idea of Edsall's defensive coordinator getting the job back if that happens.

 

[Adios]

Our recruiting in football has really improved. Can't deny that, at least.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

It jumped up a notch.

Whaler killed a guy with a trident.

 

[ZooCougar]

Dan is correct I should have said about the 40th best team in the country.

My viewpoint on the basketball being better in the New C7 league than the Big East going forward is based on looking at the actual quality of the teams that look to be involved. Unless you think the computers are wrong across the board. That's not a positive or negative viewpoint - That's the objective reality.

I like Ollie a lot and he's done a very nice job in his first year. Nobody has any idea if he can recruit in the new league.

As for the football team there is almost no way the defense will be as good as it was this year. The vast majority of the time you don't replace Wilson, Gratz, Moore and Williams as well as others without some drop off. I get painted as negative yet I seem to be one who recognizes in these discussions how good those players were.

The offense probably can't be worse. It may not improve more than the defense falls off and the schedule you mentioned is much tougher than 2012. Even if the team is better they might not win more games.

You don't just lose two NFL CBs and not expect to take a hit. I don't care how good the guys behind him are. Gratz and Wilson were hardly perfect when they moved up to the #1 spots. Their performance this season was the product of years of practice and many games under their belts. It's almost as if the defense is starting over.

We got behind in games with last year's offense. Just in order to compete, we had better be explosive on offense. Like, really explosive. Otherwise some of these games are going to be ugly.

Oh by the way, our two most explosive receivers were Tight Ends, and both of those guys are gone. Has anyone seen what we have left in that dept?

 

[whaler11]

You don't just lose two NFL CBs and not expect to take a hit. I don't care how good the guys behind him are. Gratz and Wilson were hardly perfect when they moved up to the #1 spots. Their performance this season was the product of years of practice and many games under their belts. It's almost as if the defense is starting over.

We got behind in games with last year's offense. Just in order to compete, we had better be explosive on offense. Like, really explosive. Otherwise some of these games are going to be ugly.

Oh by the way, our two most explosive receivers were Tight Ends, and both of those guys are gone. Has anyone seen what we have left in that dept?

Yeah and Nick Williams is gone but we ignore his loss on offense and specials. No one has shown any ability to return kicks yet.

 

[ZooCougar]

Yeah and Nick Williams is gone but we ignore his loss on offense and specials. No one has shown any ability to return kicks yet.

We'll go undefeated. Don't you worry.

 

[UConnDan97]

You don't just lose two NFL CBs and not expect to take a hit. I don't care how good the guys behind him are. Gratz and Wilson were hardly perfect when they moved up to the #1 spots. Their performance this season was the product of years of practice and many games under their belts. It's almost as if the defense is starting over.

We got behind in games with last year's offense. Just in order to compete, we had better be explosive on offense. Like, really explosive. Otherwise some of these games are going to be ugly.

Oh by the way, our two most explosive receivers were Tight Ends, and both of those guys are gone. Has anyone seen what we have left in that dept?

You're right.

Nobody should expect the defense to be as good as it was last year. Last year it was scary-good. You don't easily replace Gratz, Blidi, Sio, Trevardo, and Jory. But it doesn't mean that we shouldn't have a good defense next year. There is a great deal of anticipation for Graham Stewart to fill in one of the LB spots. Donohue is a veteran linebacker who is also expected to produce, and we also have Vann and Ashiru as well. We should have a good linebacking group, along with Yawin.

As far as the corners go, we will also be weaker. We will need Mack to step up, along with guys like Stephenson. We may even see a safety shift over to corner before the Spring Game.

As far as the ends go, losing Trevardo hurts a lot, but getting Joseph back helps a lot. Add that to the fact that Pruitt and Norris have an extra year under their belts, and we should be as good on the ends as we were last year. At DT, we may be even better (although Wirth was a good player). Myers, Campenni, and Stephen are a year bigger and better. Add to that newcomers in Fatukasi, as well as ends Holines and Jalen Stevens, and I think we are going to have a really really solid front seven.

So in summation, you're right that we may no longer be a top20 defense in the country. But we should still be really good...

 

[UConnDan97]

Oops! Sorry, Zoo and Whaler. I shouldn't have butted into the conversation you two are having. Keep hammering away, though.....always good stuff!

 

[ZooCougar]

You're right.

Nobody should expect the defense to be as good as it was last year. Last year it was scary-good. You don't easily replace Gratz, Blidi, Sio, Trevardo, and Jory. But it doesn't mean that we shouldn't have a good defense next year. There is a great deal of anticipation for Graham Stewart to fill in one of the LB spots. Donohue is a veteran linebacker who is also expected to produce, and we also have Vann and Ashiru as well. We should have a good linebacking group, along with Yawin.

As far as the corners go, we will also be weaker. We will need Mack to step up, along with guys like Stephenson. We may even see a safety shift over to corner before the Spring Game.

As far as the ends go, losing Trevardo hurts a lot, but getting Joseph back helps a lot. Add that to the fact that Pruitt and Norris have an extra year under their belts, and we should be as good on the ends as we were last year. At DT, we may be even better (although Wirth was a good player). Myers, Campenni, and Stephen are a year bigger and better. Add to that newcomers in Fatukasi, as well as ends Holines and Jalen Stevens, and I think we are going to have a really really solid front seven.

So in summation, you're right that we may no longer be a top20 defense in the country. But we should still be really good...

Honestly, I don't think you truly understand how good the defense was last year. We basically had a top flight SEC type defense. Even some SEC defenses don't have two NFL caliber corners. The drop off will be much bigger than you comprehend, there is some talent coming along, but it will take a season or two for them to mature.

And if the offensive improvement isn't commensurate with the defense's degradation then we are in for a long season.

Thank god for Smallwood.

 

[UConnDan97]

Honestly, I don't think you truly understand how good the defense was last year. We basically had a top flight SEC type defense. Even some SEC defenses don't have two NFL caliber corners. The drop off will be much bigger than you comprehend, there is some talent coming along, but it will take a season or two for them to mature.

And if the offensive improvement isn't commensurate with the defense's degradation then we are in for a long season.

Thank god for Smallwood.

How many times do I need to say that we had a top20 defense for you to believe that I understood how good the defense was??? Honestly! What did I just type to you? Didn't I just type that the defense won't be as good as they were this year?

But what I want you to admit is that this should still be a strong defensive unit, and I'm not even going to count the new recruits. Just based on what's coming back. I didn't even add Adams' name in the mix, which I should have, because he saw a lot of play last year as well. Yawin is on pace to be the best middle linebacker we've ever had, and that is saying something! And the front four are going to be really really strong.

Can you just admit that? Can you just admit that we should at the very least be a top3 defense in the Big East and maybe a top40 to top50 defense nationally? If you can't, it doesn't matter. That's my opinion, and I don't require the belief of others to have it...

 

[whaler11]

Honestly, I don't think you truly understand how good the defense was last year. We basically had a top flight SEC type defense. Even some SEC defenses don't have two NFL caliber corners. The drop off will be much bigger than you comprehend, there is some talent coming along, but it will take a season or two for them to mature.

And if the offensive improvement isn't commensurate with the defense's degradation then we are in for a long season.

Thank god for Smallwood.

I don't think the defense was a top flight SEC defense. Top flight SEC defenses don't get gashed by Western Michigan or Syracuse.

It was a very good defense that lost a ton of players and the coordinator. Maybe it doesn't fall off but that would mean a lot of player who didn't contribute in 2012 have to be very good players in 2013. It could happen, but there is probably a 90% chance the defense falls off a decent amount.

The offense will probably be better and might make up the difference. But even if the team nets out equal the schedule is much more difficult and the home road conference split is not what you'd want for a big increase in wins.

Those that truly believe things will be better will have their chance to monetize it. UConn will have an over/under of about 5 wins in Vegas. This seems like an awfully low bar based on what I read here. Hopefully the positive folks take their shot at the easy money.

 

[CL82]

8) NCAA hoops credit money
9) Exit fee money
etc.

I think that the people out there who are mad at Aresco for not yet making a tv contract happen for the Big East really have to understand how much of an absolute clusterf#$k it has been up to this point. There are so many moving parts, along with the need to cover members in a 1-year contract in order to hold them to the exit timing (Ville, Rutgers, C-7), as well as the effect that the 1-year contract pricing will have on the long-term contract pricing....who on earth would envy this guy's job???

Just one man - HuskyfanDan.