I believe the main factor concerning our poor defensive play this year starts with the defensive tackles. Not one of our DT's require a double team and that is the problem. Hopefully Hansard can be that guy who demands a double team next season. If not, this defense will not be dominant. It can be good but it won't win you games. Lee was way too comfortable in the pocket today. He made some good throws because he could step up in the pocket, even when we blitzed. Hopefully we'll just outscore the opposition the next few years.
PSU will need to improve on defense in 2018....
- Thread starter 1000_OaksLion
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You expect a RS freshman to start at DT and demand double teams?
On defense, DT, LB and maybe FS are going to be potential problems next year.
On offense, TE and of course the entire OL will again be likely problems.
On ST’s kicker.
Next year I am not confident that we will be >8 wins. Team will be younger but depth will be better. Could go either way depending on coaching and new team leadership. Will be fun to watch!
Rashaun Gary is in his 2nd year and needs double most of the time. he was like that last year. 2 of the DL at Bama are similar. top teams bring in players who can play big time in their first two years.
The offense will be very good next year with Trace, Sanders, Johnson, et al. We are very deep at defensive back due to recruiting. I think next years team will be comparable to this year. With our recruiting classes aging into their positions we are getting deeper and older. Every school loses good players to graduation and we’re now in a position to replace those players with other good ones.
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anon_xdc8rmuek44eq
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Not fair to use Gary as the baseline - dude is probably one of the ten best HS prospects at any position in 15 years.
i was hoping that Ellis Brooks was going to be an elite LB and be on the field this year. given we are not very good at that position, thought we may see him.
I appreciate the optimism but have more concerns. With Barkley gone, teams will play more balanced defense against PSU rather than being so focused on just stopping Barkley.
As for defensive backs, I’m not sold at all. We've seen some pretty horrible PSU defensive back play the last 2 years, especially in the bigger games (USC, Michigan last year, OSU, MSU, Nebraska this year).
The defensive play and defensive coaching have been pretty poor since the Ohio State game.
I didn't say I expect Hansard to demand a double team. I used the word "hopefully". But why not, he is a quick 300 + lb kid with a motor. If he can get strong enough he might be good enough to be a disruptor. Face it, our DTs have been average the last 2 seasons which is why I believe we've failed defensively to put games away. I think the kids have been playing hard for Coach chaos, they just have hit their ceiling. Great defense starts with great DTs. I know they are hard to come by, perhaps Hansard can be the next AJ or Hill.
Brooks got a good review this week from Brandon Smith. He said he was very aggressive. If Manny Bowen isn't back next year we'll need Brooks big time. Can't wait to see him develop.
Did Gary Redshirt? Oh that’s right he was 2nd team and saw a ton of snaps.
Don’t be a douche
INMO we'll be ok at DT, I like what I've seen from the younger guys.
But you are right about LB and FS. LBr is my biggest concern.
On offense the OL will be better and we will miss Mike G. and yes I am concerned about place kicking too.
1. The defensive secondary is good at run support but terrible at pass coverage. That simply has to improve.
2. Hope we can get a little more pressure on opposing QB's next year. It will certainly help the secondary.
3. The offensive line has to improve. We got some pretty highly rated young offensive linemen in recruting, so I am optimistic that offensive line play will improve.
4. If we continue to run the RPO, Trace has to stop hanging onto the ball so often. He is not the runner Barkley or Sanders is, and his instinct, far too often is to keep the ball and run it himself. He is not good enough to do that so often.
2. Hope we can get a little more pressure on opposing QB's next year. It will certainly help the secondary.
3. The offensive line has to improve. We got some pretty highly rated young offensive linemen in recruting, so I am optimistic that offensive line play will improve.
4. If we continue to run the RPO, Trace has to stop hanging onto the ball so often. He is not the runner Barkley or Sanders is, and his instinct, far too often is to keep the ball and run it himself. He is not good enough to do that so often.
Generally agree, and for sure #1. I'd like to think the return of John Reid plus development of Castro-Fields and Wade will give us some better individual cover guys, but the safety pass coverage will be important also.
On Trace's RPO decisions, I think he overall has made good choices, but for some reason did not do so yesterday; a few times he kept it when #26 and also #24 had room to roam.
That is my biggest complaint with Pry.
His blitz schemes are not that creative and the delayed blitz from Boalsburg is a joke.
Maybe he can travel to some nfl teams in the off season to see what they are doing.
Ehhh. I'm not as concerned about Wade and Fields as others are.
They've done pretty well this entire season and were playing against Nebraska's best group. INMO Stanley will be playing on Sundays.
We have more of an issue with the pass rush and the fact that our blitzes almost never get to the QB.
Stanley made some great catches despite some good pass coverage.
I don’t believe the issue is necessarily with the DTs. Consider we lost 3 DEs (2 this year to injury and Sickels departing early). This forced younger “situational” DEs to play more than what they were ready for. Lack of pass rush clearly placed challenges on secondary this year.
Corners and safeties will be fine.
With the DT spot, I really like the talent in the underclass....especially when you add Mustipher and Hawkins to the mix. I don't think there's much dropoff when you have to lean on the likes of Givens, Jordan, Shelton, Windsor to pick up the slack of losing Cothren and Cothran.
Having said this, the real issue with the DL this year has not been the beef eating run stoppers, or lack thereof. It's been all about the absence of pass rush. In this respect, the DL will be GREATLY aided by the DE position being healthy with Brown and Buccholz back and having another year under the belt of Miller, Simmons, Toney and Matos.
LB will be the wildcard on the defense, but mostly center around replacing Cabinda since the unit does return Brown, Farmer (assuming he's back for his last year of eligibility) and Bowen (assuming he's out of the doghouse) for the outside.
All things considered, I'd just point to that middle LB position as having the biggest vulnerability going into next year...and probably the only position there's a real noticeable dropoff in week 1.
I like the young DT's I saw playing the last few weeks too.
INMO the biggest loss at DT will be Chavis. I thought he was our best DT and should have played more.
Unfortunately I'm not as hopeful about LB'r as you are.
I've been really hard on Farmer this year because I thought he was going to be our breakout defensive player and he just isn't very good. I think he needs to loose the weight like Cabinda did.
We will be depending on a lot of RS freshman and true Freshman.
Gary was #1 nationally according to Rivals. Hansard was #137. He could turn out to be great but I seriously doubt that he'll be an All B1G starter next year.
I look at it like this - PSU is (likely) a 10-2 team right now and top 10 finish. Are the players coming in for more time next year really a downgrade from what we currently have? From a position grouping standpoint, I only worry about the LBs because of that MLB void from losing Cabinda and Smith.
Farmer seems like a situational player to me, but can't say he's much of a weak link when the DL is doing its job better against pass.
After yesterday's game, Penn State ranks 24th in total defense giving up 4.67 yards per play, which would place them in top 15.
Penn State is tied for 6th in turnover margin (with Bama) and 15th in turnovers gained.
Penn State ranks 25th in tackles for loss and 12th in sacks.
Penn State ranks 8th in scoring defense.
Penn Sate ranks 9th in rushing defense and 51 in pass yards allowed. Also, 45th in 3rd down efficiency.
This is not a bad defense. Not great, but certainly not bad. Yes, we would all would like to see improvement, but it is not like Penn State is horrible on defense.
They completely shut down Nebraska in the second quarter forcing 6 consecutive 3 and outs and only allowed 10 points in the first half with the turnovers and short field.
Penn State is tied for 6th in turnover margin (with Bama) and 15th in turnovers gained.
Penn State ranks 25th in tackles for loss and 12th in sacks.
Penn State ranks 8th in scoring defense.
Penn Sate ranks 9th in rushing defense and 51 in pass yards allowed. Also, 45th in 3rd down efficiency.
This is not a bad defense. Not great, but certainly not bad. Yes, we would all would like to see improvement, but it is not like Penn State is horrible on defense.
They completely shut down Nebraska in the second quarter forcing 6 consecutive 3 and outs and only allowed 10 points in the first half with the turnovers and short field.
I noticed our LBs stepping up to the LOS faking blitz then backing off. The problem was they were in no mans land. Too far to apply pressure and to close to be able to cover the short pass.
I think that's Pry's scheme. Changing alignments and lots of blitzes coming from different angles. The result is lots of tackles for loss but also a lot of 3 and long conversions.
Givens is likely to slide back into the three-technique where he belongs. That will help. We do need a one-technique to eat up two blockers and keep the mlb clean. Hopefully someone steps up. With the continued development and experience of the young de's, edge pressure should improve.
I'm not concerned about the corners, especially with Reid back. Safety is another issue altogether. We're losing a lot there.
Mlb is a major concern. We need one and there isn't a clear successor to Cabinda on the roster. We have decent enough OLBs, but somebody has to man the middle.
We'll continue to score 30/game. No real concerns about the offense, especially as we should FINALLY see a talented and legitimate offensive line come of age.
I'm not concerned about the corners, especially with Reid back. Safety is another issue altogether. We're losing a lot there.
Mlb is a major concern. We need one and there isn't a clear successor to Cabinda on the roster. We have decent enough OLBs, but somebody has to man the middle.
We'll continue to score 30/game. No real concerns about the offense, especially as we should FINALLY see a talented and legitimate offensive line come of age.
