2014 playoff defense

[El_Chapo]

I'm guessing you'll see a very small drop off in the 4-3 base. Travis Beck is a great player and I appreciate everything he's done for the program but DeLuca is a special, special talent and getting him on the field is a plus. Neither of the outside LBs is as good of a cover man as beck and so passing against our base set just got a little bit easier. I don't think we'll miss a beat stopping the run.

Where the big change will be is the amount of nickel that will be played. You'll see Littlejohn and DeLuca play with Dempsey, Smith, Colville, Heagle and Dudzik when other teams go to spread looks. Champion will be moved inside to the NB (his best position) and Dempsey will play to the boundary with Smith defending the field side. It's possible you might see a 3 safety look in nickel like we used last year with Heagle playing LB/S/NB but I would think that the first configuration will be the most popular.

Absolutely WRONG. Losing Beck is horrible, he was on the other team's slot receiver sometimes and he absolutely blanketed other team's Tight End's in pass coverage. He was a bad ass who stick his nose anywhere on the field.

gonna be a big big loss.

[HerdBot]

LJ is probably as fast as Beck and was a qb in high school. Very athletic. He used to play outside and moved to the middle on passing downs to replace Grant Olson. Outside backer is his natural position. I dont anticipate much drop off if any

[FFBison]

LJ is probably as fast as Beck and was a qb in high school. Very athletic. He used to play outside and moved to the middle on passing downs to replace Grant Olson. Outside backer is his natural position. I dont anticipate much drop off if any

I actually like him on the outside better anyway, but he just doesn't have the speed of Beck. But, like you said, he's probably moving back to his natural position. He's a little undersized for MLB.

You guys agree with Wolford's comments that this is the best defense, overall, that we've had in the past 5 years? Not sure that the stats prove it, but he might actually be right from top to bottom. Some of the guys are the same, but they've matured into better players.

Chad Willson was another one of my favorites. Loved watching him play.

[BisonNeil]

Probably more of a traditional nickel package with a true DB in instead of Beck. It will be Dempsey when CJ gets back or Colvin if CJ is out.
Correct me if I'm wrong but Dempsey seemed to play really well against Youngstown from my untrained eye.

I think that is a bit simplistic. There were many times in obvious passing situations, when CJ was healthy, that Tre came in as the "true DB" nickel back and Beck was still in there. Littlejohn is a very good drop back into coverage as a MLB, but I have no idea if he can be as good as Beck was at OLB.

[BisonNeil]

Tre appeared to be right on his defender every time the ball was thrown. In fact, all of the db's were. Only one play I can think of where a receiver was wide open, but the safety was over the top and we were on a DB blitz.

I think they'll do as much as they can with DeLuca in the middle. CLJ knows every position so there's no loss with him at either of them. He's very athletic. As stated before though, we'll run a lot of nickel. But this will also depend on what type of offense we face. Heavy run or balanced, I think DeLuca stays in more. He's proven he can cover the middle of the field with 2 interceptions already this year in minimal time. It took Olson until the KSU game his senior year to get his first INT. I also may be a HUGE DeLuca fan and have been waiting to see him on the field. I'm not worried about the defense. Enough leaders out there that they can help others and still get their job's done. Good to see us get the bye so the d-line can get some rest. That was a physical 8 straight weeks of football for those boys. Win the first one, but 3 more games boys, and you get another rest to rewrite the history books. LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR!

That really is the central theme for this defense. With both Heagle and Perry out for the 2012 playoffs, the defense was stellar. Last year Olson was gone. Beck was fantastic, but I don't think one person defines this defense and they have compensated for personnel losses in the past two championship playoff drives.

[BisonNeil]

I actually think talent wise Duluca in the middle is an upgrade over CLJ (less the experience). CLJ is better suited for outside LB and I think is technically better in coverage then Beck ( i know some of you disagree). However, I think Beck does have that IT factor that shows up and you cant replace that. IMHO. as a unit the TB, CLJ, ET groups was the best LB unit due to experience. I think with TB out, the weakness is dependent on someone exploiting Deluca's inexperience. With saying that he has knocked two RB out of a game for a series. so there is that...kid can hit and the two INT.


BTW, TB was/is my favorite player that kid is tough tough tough much respect!


As far as drop off is concerned, I am worried about Franloff(SP) and the rotation

Farnloff played very sparingly, usually only in blowouts. His loss is largely a non-factor.

[BadlandsBison]

Like previous playoff games, making teams one dimensional likely means NDSU will win. That and controlling the ball on offense, it's the simple formula for success. That's why I want to play the bobkittens

[HerdBot]

I actually like him on the outside better anyway, but he just doesn't have the speed of Beck. But, like you said, he's probably moving back to his natural position. He's a little undersized for MLB.

You guys agree with Wolford's comments that this is the best defense, overall, that we've had in the past 5 years? Not sure that the stats prove it, but he might actually be right from top to bottom. Some of the guys are the same, but they've matured into better players.

Chad Willson was another one of my favorites. Loved watching him play.

Tough to say if its the best. Our pass rush is deamonic but the run defense has been vulnerable at times.

[FFBison]

Beck's speed, and the defense as a whole, is what can neutralize a runner like Zenner. Fill the gaps and seal the edge on his outside runs. We may end up having to shut down Zenner one more time, but we'll see what happens when they're on the road this weekend.

What kind of offense does Jacksonville State run or what does anyone know about this team? I haven't looked at much about their team. Glad Tony filled us in on the 1989 season...nice to have a little motivation for that potential game!

[Bisonwinagn]

Beck's speed, and the defense as a whole, is what can neutralize a runner like Zenner. Fill the gaps and seal the edge on his outside runs. We may end up having to shut down Zenner one more time, but we'll see what happens when they're on the road this weekend.

What kind of offense does Jacksonville State run or what does anyone know about this team? I haven't looked at much about their team. Glad Tony filled us in on the 1989 season...nice to have a little motivation for that potential game!

JSU is mostly a physical running team.