Defensive 2 deeps for 08

snowcraig2.0

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Nov 2, 2007
12,560
10,365
113
47
Cedar Rapids, IA
Okay, here is my amateur look at the defense:

RE- Parker, Lyle
NG- Black, Frere, Tate
DT- Johnson, Weir, Alburtis
DE- Taylor, Kellman

I listed allot of people here because allot of people are going to play. This is the one area, above all others, that I hope we can add a JUCO or even true freshman difference maker to play immediately, especially on the interior. Black is going to have to step in right away and be the man in the middle, Frere looked better this year than his freshman year, but I am not sold on him being a starter. I feel good about Taylor with Kellman as his understudy at DE. The rush end spot needs to get a more consistent pass rush, I am not sold on Lyle or Parker being able to get it done. Taylor was the most consistent at pressuring the QB from his DE spot, which is not a good thing as the rush needs to come from the other side. Johnson has some talent at the DT spot, but desperately needs to add size for next year, and Weir didn't show much in his first year with the program. This position group next year will determine whether or not we go to a bowl. The secondary was made to look much worse than they actually were due to the lack of a pass rush.

SAM- Bibbs, Mathis
MIKE- Smith, C Bell
WILL- Raven, Garrin

This is an intriguing group of young talent, not a senior in the bunch. With the exception of Smith, who is a MIKE all the way, the rest of the group could play any of the three spots, which is going to make for an interesting battle. Bell and Mathis give us a couple of guys with not only speed, but size to go with it. We have had some good backers recently, but we haven't had a 'full sized' backer since Tim Dobbins. Bibbs is a freakish athlete, and was playing as well as if not better than Banks was before he got dinged up. Raven is another guy who can fly and showed a real mean streak towards the end of the year. Smith is very solid, and great against the run. It is going to be fun watching these guys fly to the ball next year. Garrin brings experience plus speed, and needs to make a statement in 08. Expect to see all 6 of them on the field to keep them fresh, as there is minimal drop off from first to second team. The good thing is that is a result of an abundance of talent, not a lack of it.

CB- Bell, Sandvig
SS- Smith, Matthews
FS- Brown, Johnson
CB- Singleton, McDowell

This is a group that took allot of heat this year, much of which was undeserved. Given enough time, WR will always get open vs a DB. That was too often the case this year as a lack of a pass rush lead to DB's being stuck on islands vs WR's. I've said it before, and will say it again, Bell and Singleton next year will be the best set of corners we have had since Hobbs and Jackson. and have the potential to be better than that. Bell is a burner with great size, and Singleton is the big hitter. McDowell and Sandvig are both solid back-ups, provided Sandvig can get back from the knee injury. Smith and Brown are undersized at safety, but make up for it with big time hitting ability. Both need work on pass coverage though. Depth at safety is a big concern. Matthews bring great size to the position, but can he cover the pass? Safety is number 2 as far as JUCO need, IMO. However, if this group can stay relatively healthy, they will be great at corner, and solid at safety. Expect to see Sandvig cross-trained between safety and corner. A solid group, but depth is shaky.
 

cloneu

Well-Known Member
Jul 26, 2007
4,674
293
83
Urbandale
www.golfdsm.com
CB- Bell, Sandvig
SS- Smith, Matthews
FS- Brown, Johnson
CB- Singleton, McDowell

I've said it before, and will say it again, Bell and Singleton next year will be the best set of corners we have had since Hobbs and Jackson. and have the potential to be better than that.

I don't think that they were a set togther, I believe you are thinking of Hobbs and Hicks. Either way it will be nice to have a secondary with a good deal of expierence that should only get better.
 

ISUFan22

Well-Known Member
Apr 11, 2006
33,922
904
113
Denver, CO
I'm not sure the heat the secondary took was undeserved. Early in the season, I liked Bell. As it wore on, I felt he was not playing up to his potential or at least up to what he had been hyped up to be.

Safeties I felt got much better. I love Chris Brown and Smith did well in his first full year of playing back there. Singleton was Singleton - not too flashy but mostly consistent.
 

snowcraig2.0

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Nov 2, 2007
12,560
10,365
113
47
Cedar Rapids, IA
In 04, Jackson was the Nickel Back and the Hobbs and Hicks were teh everydown Tandum.

No, they were not. Hicks was his first year in the program from JUCO ball, and was the nickel back. Jackson and Hobbs were the starters.
 

Nedrick

Active Member
Mar 21, 2006
1,267
24
38
Carroll, IA
www.jdesignllc.com
However, if this group (DBs)can stay relatively healthy, they will be great at corner, and solid at safety. A solid group, but depth is shaky.

Exactly. If there's a serious injury here, the defense will be in a world of hurt (unless a newcomer can step up)

Also hope a DT can try to fill Tuba's big shoes to plug some holes.
 

cloneu

Well-Known Member
Jul 26, 2007
4,674
293
83
Urbandale
www.golfdsm.com
No, they were not. Hicks was his first year in the program from JUCO ball, and was the nickel back. Jackson and Hobbs were the starters.

This appears to be correct. I saw one place that he started at CB, but after looking at it again that game we started with 5 CB's. I always liked Hicks though, espically in whatever senior bowl he was in he and got that INT and I believe he is on the Detroit practice squad.

Did Deandre ever get a chance at another level, or was his knee to messed up?
 

isucy86

Well-Known Member
Apr 13, 2006
9,175
7,769
113
Dubuque
DL will be the Key

I like our LB & DB corps. Seem to have a lot of kids that played some this year and pretty good quickness.

I like 2 see a major improvement at 2 positions:
1) We need to find a stud pass rusher from the DE position. I thought Taylor showed some flashes this year, but I was a bit disappointed in Parker. He just doesn't seem to make enough big plays for an undersized DE.

2) A shut down cornerback. Singleton made some big plays, but it appeared he also had trouble in coverage at time. The same can be said for Bell, but I can't remember many big plays from a guy who was pretty highly touted from the JUCO ranks.
 

Steve

Well-Known Member
Apr 11, 2006
4,211
778
113
I see some decent returning starters as well as some good possibilities for filling the open spots.

What I would really like to see are 2 or 3 surprise starters from next year's class who are too good to keep off the field. I like Chizik's goal of recruiting over existing players and making each class better than the previous one.
 

KMAC_ATTACK

Well-Known Member
Feb 20, 2007
2,482
212
63
Waterloo
Personally, i felt the heat the secondary took was warranted. If you watch the game closely, it seemed as if both cb's played very tentative and soft. In the tampa two, our corners were exposed for what they are, average at best. I don't care if you have all the speed in the world, if your technique stinks, so will your coverage. I realize additional pressure could change a lot of things just like good coverage creates more pressures. But, i saw neither, and i'm not hatin...I agree our pass rush minus rubin will be takin a serious hit, and taylor in my opinion was the only player that actually applied pressure without a blitz. That's where we were exposed, we blitzed a lot, which by the way, i'm a fan of, but, if your gonna blitz, you better be able to cover for at least 10 yards we couldnt. Did you realize in the Kansas game that they only completed two balls thrown more then 15 yards in the air? those long plays came out of short routes and athletes that took it the distance.

In their defense, i thought the defense played very well considering the field position and sometimes the time of position they faced. How many 3 and outs did our offense get that eventually put our defense in a position where they werent even rested...

On a very positive note:
Shep did wonders with our team - i could see a difference in stamina and strength and that will only improve as our team is built through the program.

Our teams penaltys were reduced greatly, thats a sure sign of discipline and coaching and helps on both sides of the ball with field position.

Our defense will be very fun to watch in the upcoming years as Chiz and staffs guys are worked through the system...remember, this was a complete shift in philosophy and we didnt have senior leadership within the program that could help the young guys...they were learning the system at the same time!!!!

I'm so excited for Feb 6th first day of signing period for HS players....2008 spring game like 138 days away!!!!!!
 
Last edited:

tim_redd

Well-Known Member
Mar 29, 2006
13,888
8,887
113
42
Ankeny
Speaking of Lamarcus Hicks, he's been getting some playing time for the Lions the past few weeks. I spotted him on Thanksgiving. Never gonna forget the one he took to the house against Iowa.
 

kccyclone

Member
Oct 23, 2006
148
1
18
Olathe, KS
Whatever happened to Kris Means? Wasn't he supposed to be a stud linebacker out of Grand Junction? I think he redshirted his first year so this past season would have been his red shirt freshman year. Any update would be appreciated.
 

besserheimerphat

Well-Known Member
Apr 11, 2006
11,487
15,329
113
Mount Vernon, WA
Our teams penaltys were reduced greatly, thats a sure sign of discipline and coaching and helps on both sides of the ball with field position.

I kinda thought it was the other way around. McCarney's teams were usually pretty disciplined when it came to penalties, they just didn't have the fortitude to overcome even a single penalty during the course of a game.

This year's team played very cleanly early in the season, but there was a stretch of 2 - 3 games where they were called more than normal - I want to say the K-State and Colorado games where the ones where I noticed the hankies flying more often.

I do agree though that this team doesn't get flagged very often compared to most, and if penalties should increase a little bit due to more aggressive play, then I'm okay with that.

On Edit: Okay, you were right KMAC. Overall penatlies have declined each year from 2002 - present (highest was 72 flags for ~600 yards in 2002, lowest was 56 flags for ~500 yards in both 2006 and 2007). However, over those years we have always had fewer penalties and fewer penalty yards than our opponents. I didn't think to look if our opponents penalties have also decreased over that time period.
 
Last edited: