Plenty of returnees for new UConn defensive coordinator to work with (Fuller) | The Boneyard

Plenty of returnees for new UConn defensive coordinator to work with (Fuller)

I agree with Fuller here. Crocker may have to modify his defense a little for the first year or two but he has a lot of good pieces to work with. I think we should be a top 50 defense at worst and maybe ~30 at best. The last three years, our S&P rankings were:

2014: 78
2015: 32
2016: 87
 
I see the defense from two varying perspectives.

First, the offense has been so bad that the defense is constantly on the field and often in tough spots. So, in that light, they have performed well.

On the other side of the coin I just don't see the athletes especially at LB and DE. We just don't seem to make plays from those positions.
 
These guys are going from a passive scheme to an aggressive scheme. If the corners can't hold the fort down in press coverage, if the LB and DE can't pressure, then the defense will struggle. My feelings are that if we are injury free- it could be a good year defensively, If there are injuries - all bets are off.
 
Quite frankly, I am skeptical. My eye test last year was that we lacked overall team speed on defense and we don't close to the ball well. I do like Foley and actually Diggs, who ironically wasn't mentioned.
 
The front seven lacked speed and athleticism last year. Foley is a future NFL 3-4 DE, but outside of him there wasn't much. LB play was especially poor. Too many mental mistakes as well.
 
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huskysupporter said:
The front seven lacked speed and athleticism last year. Foley is a future NFL 3-4 DE, but outside of him there wasn't much. LB play was especially poor. Too many mental mistakes as well.
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Luke is good and with the right coaching this year I bet he gets drafted or at least ends up on a roster.
 
JMick said:
Luke is good and with the right coaching this year I bet he gets drafted or at least ends up on a roster.
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Luke is a 120% effort guy. Reminds me a ton of Dan Davis, one of my all time favorite Huskies. His non stop motor allowed him to get him sacks. However, I see him as more of an edge setter in the run game as an olb. He lacks the speed of a true edge rusher but can hold the point in the run game.
 
huskysupporter said:
Luke is a 120% effort guy. Reminds me a ton of Dan Davis, one of my all time favorite Huskies. His non stop motor allowed him to get him sacks. However, I see him as more of an edge setter in the run game as an olb. He lacks the speed of a true edge rusher but can hold the point in the run game.
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If he drops 10 lbs I thin he can be a DE or strong side standing LB in this defense.
 
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uconnphil2016 said:
Safeties may be our Achilles heel
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I would not be surprised if Summers ends up at safety. Also two young guys who I expect to see the back field are the very athletic Tyler Coyle and the hard hitting Omar Fortt who could be a stud in this system.

as far as speed at LB goes Chris Britton is a guy who has speed and probably appreciates a clean slate and an aggressive system and IMO the LB from Windsor we flipped from BC is an enormous talent, if he can learn quickly he could play as a Frosh.
 
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metsfan2323 said:
I would not be surprised if Summers ends up at safety. Also two young guys who I expect to see the back field are the very athletic Tyler Coyle and the hard hitting Omar Fortt who could be a stud in this system.

as far as speed at LB goes Chris Britton is a guy who has speed and probably appreciates a clean slate and an aggressive system and IMO the LB from Windsor we flipped from BC is an enormous talent, if he can learn quickly he could play as a Frosh.
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It is interesting how the secondary is categorized on the roster. They're listed as defensive backs, not CB's or S's. Looking at Nova D roster from past season, appears to be the same. That makes me think that we're moving toward a multipurpose role where the DB's can cover, play centerfield, support the run etc.
 
huskypantz said:
It is interesting how the secondary is categorized on the roster. They're listed as defensive backs, not CB's or S's. Looking at Nova D roster from past season, appears to be the same. That makes me think that we're moving toward a multipurpose role where the DB's can cover, play centerfield, support the run etc.
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The #1 need for DB's in the 3-3-5 is versatility. At times we're going to look like a 4-3 where an OLB drops to the line and a S comes into the box and acts as an OLB. Other times it will look like a 3-4 or 3-5 with the safeties up. They're all going to be asked to do a lot.
 
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metsfan2323 said:
I would not be surprised if Summers ends up at safety. Also two young guys who I expect to see the back field are the very athletic Tyler Coyle and the hard hitting Omar Fortt who could be a stud in this system.

as far as speed at LB goes Chris Britton is a guy who has speed and probably appreciates a clean slate and an aggressive system and IMO the LB from Windsor we flipped from BC is an enormous talent, if he can learn quickly he could play as a Frosh.
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Very true, although I wouldn't want to spoil Summers' talent and give up on him at CB given what we saw two years ago. He was very much in conversation to be an eventual first/second round draft pick, and I'm not sure how much stock we should put in his performance last year under a terrible staff and when he looked mentally shot. Still, it may make sense to drop him to safety because of his clear ball hawking skills. In any case, I'm interested to see how the back of the D plays out. I imagine Tre Bell will take one CB spot, Summers somehere else in there, and then two positions that should be up for grabs. Hahn somewhere? He could flourish in this system with his size--sort of a hybrid LB/DB
 
uconnphil2016 said:
Very true, although I wouldn't want to spoil Summers' talent and give up on him at CB given what we saw two years ago. He was very much in conversation to be an eventual first/second round draft pick, and I'm not sure how much stock we should put in his performance last year under a terrible staff and when he looked mentally shot. Still, it may make sense to drop him to safety because of his clear ball hawking skills. In any case, I'm interested to see how the back of the D plays out. I imagine Tre Bell will take one CB spot, Summers somehere else in there, and then two positions that should be up for grabs. Hahn somewhere? He could flourish in this system with his size--sort of a hybrid LB/DB
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Hahn may flourish in Crocker's system with his size, athleticism and speed. He definitely can play that S position that drops down to LB.
 
huskysupporter said:
The front seven lacked speed and athleticism last year. Foley is a future NFL 3-4 DE, but outside of him there wasn't much. LB play was especially poor. Too many mental mistakes as well.
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I think the mental mistakes come from the inability t0 handle speed, especially at contain and LB positions. The margin for error on taking angles and/or getting leverage drops to nil if your adversary is much faster. This leads to overcompensating by taking too shallow angles for cushion or too deep angles taking risks. Our LBs and DEs were generally a mess. The only plays we could stop consistently were north- south between the tackles.
 
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I think the defense will be fine if they don't have to carry the offense all year. May not be this year but if the offense is scoring at a reasonable clip then the key metric on defense becomes forcing empty possessions for the opponent. Get 5 or 6 stops or turnovers when the other team gets 3 or 4. That's the difference between trying to win by 13-10 and trying to win by 34-30. Playing aggressive may get you burned occasionally but it's better than the slow death of 'bend, don't break' or last years variant, 'bend until you break'.
 
I know the perception that we lack play-makers is based on valid observation; I would just temper it with the thought that we weren't schematically putting people in place to make big plays, especially at the corners. Everything was contain and keep it in front - we spent a whole season killing clock on defense, I don't know that I've ever seen that anywhere, at any level.
 
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