Defense........How thin are we?

[WYOBISONMAN]

With the Westphal deal going sour this Bison fan is sure wondering what is going to happen on defense this year. When I look at the roster and who is available we seem damn thin and a few injuries could leave us with not much left at all on D. We all know what happens in the Mo Valley when your Defense is sub par. I hope I am reading this wrong......but this fan is nervous.

[Bison"FANatic"]

To thin. To early to sound the panic alarm but I am looking to make sure I know where it is at. Some RFR are going to have to step up and hopefully we don't get hit by the injuries like the last few years. If there was ever a year that we need to keep the injury bug away this is it.

:banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

[BisonNeil]

With the Westphal deal going sour this Bison fan is sure wondering what is going to happen on defense this year. When I look at the roster and who is available we seem damn thin and a few injuries could leave us with not much left at all on D. We all know what happens in the Mo Valley when your Defense is sub par. I hope I am reading this wrong......but this fan is nervous.

As my Danish grandmother would so, "you look so tin, so tin, so tin". The defense does look thin. I think there are some RFr that will be lining up on the DL, they will make mistakes, but this will make them better for 2011 and beyond.

But, yes, my guess is that the DB situation is probably less 'tin' the the LB or DL situation. It is what it is, we'll be all right.

[westnodak93bison]

imho, the D-roster is far more solid than last year. We have more options at corner. More experience at safety. More depth at LB. Interior line is more experienced with more depth. DEs are more experienced with highly touted RFr coming in to help. IMHO, we should be greatly improved.

[DjKyRo]

We return Boyer and Gratzek who were two crucial elements of the D-line last year and giving up yards rushing wasn't a huge issue last season - with our added depth and skill at the DBs I think our defense has the potential to be much improved this year even without Westpahl. He would've been an awesome get but even without him I'm not too worried.

[HandoEX]

We return Boyer and Gratzek who were two crucial elements of the D-line last year and giving up yards rushing wasn't a huge issue last season - with our added depth and skill at the DBs I think our defense has the potential to be much improved this year even without Westpahl. He would've been an awesome get but even without him I'm not too worried.

We have added depth at DB? We lost Horner, Belmont, Bowman, and Jackson and added a Juco, one rFr, Marcus Williams, and our true freshmen. If anything, we're more thin at defensive back positions, especially safety.

[Bison bison]

Dammit man, I need my illusions.

Thank GOD for tailgating.

[BisonNeil]

Interior line is more experienced with more depth.

I think you were largely correct except with this point.

Interior lineman last year were Fairbairn, Gratzek, Taufetee and Phillips. We graduated two Sr on the interior, Fairbairn a four year starter and Taufetee who was a very solid backup for two years. We also lost Reid who was poised to see a lot of playing time as a Soph after playing sparingly last year.

We return Gratzek, a four year starter, and Phillips, a senior who played last year and sparingly as a Fr and So. BUT, Fairbairn (4 yrs playing experience), Taufatee (2 yrs), and Reid (1 yr) are being replaced by Gimmestad (0), Perry (0) and Juckem (0). How do you get more experience out of that? I would actually argue that we know nothing about the depth since none of these three have played a down of college football and we have no idea how good any of them will be.

[westnodak93bison]

I think you were largely correct except with this point.

Interior lineman last year were Fairbairn, Gratzek, Taufetee and Phillips. We graduated two Sr on the interior, Fairbairn a four year starter and Taufetee who was a very solid backup for two years. We also lost Reid who was poised to see a lot of playing time as a Soph after playing sparingly last year.

We return Gratzek, a four year starter, and Phillips, a senior who played last year and sparingly as a Fr and So. BUT, Fairbairn (4 yrs playing experience), Taufatee (2 yrs), and Reid (1 yr) are being replaced by Gimmestad (0), Perry (0) and Juckem (0). How do you get more experience out of that? I would actually argue that we know nothing about the depth since none of these three have played a down of college football and we have no idea how good any of them will be.

yeah you are right. I think maybe I'm giving too much weight(hope) in the RFr potential.

[IzzyFlexion]

I think you were largely correct except with this point.

Interior lineman last year were Fairbairn, Gratzek, Taufetee and Phillips. We graduated two Sr on the interior, Fairbairn a four year starter and Taufetee who was a very solid backup for two years. We also lost Reid who was poised to see a lot of playing time as a Soph after playing sparingly last year.

We return Gratzek, a four year starter, and Phillips, a senior who played last year and sparingly as a Fr and So. BUT, Fairbairn (4 yrs playing experience), Taufatee (2 yrs), and Reid (1 yr) are being replaced by Gimmestad (0), Perry (0) and Juckem (0). How do you get more experience out of that? I would actually argue that we know nothing about the depth since none of these three have played a down of college football and we have no idea how good any of them will be.

I'm a big Phillips fan. I focused on his play quite a lot last year and was very impressed.

[Scooter1]

I'm a big Phillips fan. I focused on his play quite a lot last year and was very impressed.



Actually, if you look at the numbers, the biggest bust last year was Fairbairn.

Statistically, Phillips had a better year that Fairbairn, Yuen and Reid combined.

Phillips
28 tackles
12 solo
16 assists
3.5 TFL
2.5 sacks for losses of 16 yards.

Fairbairn
20 tackles
6 solo
14 assists
0.5 TFL
0.5 sacks for losses of 2 yards.


Fairbairn, Reid and Yuen combined
31 tackles
11 solo and
20 assists
0.5 TFL and
0.5 sacks for a loss of 2 yards.

[BisonNeil]

Actually, if you look at the numbers, the biggest bust last year was Fairbairn.

Statistically, Phillips had a better year that Fairbairn, Yuen and Reid combined.

Phillips
28 tackles
12 solo
16 assists
3.5 TFL
2.5 sacks for losses of 16 yards.

Fairbairn
20 tackles
6 solo
14 assists
0.5 TFL
0.5 sacks for losses of 2 yards.


Fairbairn, Reid and Yuen combined
31 tackles
11 solo and
20 assists
0.5 TFL and
0.5 sacks for a loss of 2 yards.

Good point.

However, I think Phillips backed up Gratzek last year at DT and Yuen backed up Fairbairn at NG. Phillips is moving over to NG this year. Someone correct me if I am wrong. The point is the NG role is to largely force the OL to use two guys to block him freeing up the DT. In the Bison system the DT is supposed to get tackles and be disruptive. Regardless, your point is well taken.

Back on topic, according to the Forum today the Bison are so thin they don't even have a FS :)

[ndsubison1]

I think with Gratzek and Phillips manning the middle it will help us tremendously. IMO the most important part of a defense is the interior line, especially when going against spread teams. Lets hope they can stuff the inside run and let Boyer and Co. get some pressure on the outside