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I am cautiously optimistic. My worry is that we don't have the depth on the Dline to get a consistent pass rush against the big hogs from BU and A&M. If we can't do that, our secondary will get picked apart.

Harry0569 wrote:I am cautiously optimistic. My worry is that we don't have the depth on the Dline to get a consistent pass rush against the big hogs from BU and A&M. If we can't do that, our secondary will get picked apart.

I know Ja'Gared gets lots of sacks. Is it more him winning 1 on 1's in a 4 man rush or is he typically getting past guys who don't account for him on blitz plays with more guys coming? He certainly is quick or else he wouldn't have started as a 205 pound freshman in 09 so that isn't in question.

Margus dominated Pitt for 3 sacks but they were 120 of 120 in sacks allowed and it wasn't even close. Their numbers before the bowl game were enough to do it. Other than that game he struck me as more of a run D guy although the potential for more is certainly there.

How much of a pass rusher is Grenier and who else will challenge for that DE spot?

Sanders looks promising at OLB.

I think we have a good defense but I do not think it is upper tier BCS caliber. Maybe it is lower tier BCS cailber.

WordUpBU wrote:

Harry0569 wrote:I am cautiously optimistic. My worry is that we don't have the depth on the Dline to get a consistent pass rush against the big hogs from BU and A&M. If we can't do that, our secondary will get picked apart.

I know Ja'Gared gets lots of sacks. Is it more him winning 1 on 1's in a 4 man rush or is he typically getting past guys who don't account for him on blitz plays with more guys coming? He certainly is quick or else he wouldn't have started as a 205 pound freshman in 09 so that isn't in question.

Margus dominated Pitt for 3 sacks but they were 120 of 120 in sacks allowed and it wasn't even close. Their numbers before the bowl game were enough to do it. Other than that game he struck me as more of a run D guy although the potential for more is certainly there.

How much of a pass rusher is Grenier and who else will challenge for that DE spot?

Sanders looks promising at OLB.

Ja'Gared is able to win his 1 on 1 matchups when he isn't hedged by the RB. He is too quick for the tackles, and he is able to overpower the RB's when they are left alone with him. Also, I really think Sanders will have a breakout year. When we bring 5, it will be hard to stop both of them on the edge.

WordUpBU wrote:

Harry0569 wrote:I am cautiously optimistic. My worry is that we don't have the depth on the Dline to get a consistent pass rush against the big hogs from BU and A&M. If we can't do that, our secondary will get picked apart.

I know Ja'Gared gets lots of sacks. Is it more him winning 1 on 1's in a 4 man rush or is he typically getting past guys who don't account for him on blitz plays with more guys coming? He certainly is quick or else he wouldn't have started as a 205 pound freshman in 09 so that isn't in question.

Margus dominated Pitt for 3 sacks but they were 120 of 120 in sacks allowed and it wasn't even close. Their numbers before the bowl game were enough to do it. Other than that game he struck me as more of a run D guy although the potential for more is certainly there.

How much of a pass rusher is Grenier and who else will challenge for that DE spot?

Sanders looks promising at OLB.

Pitt also did not care a lick about that game, so take the results with a grain of salt.

If our D can get a couple of stops early vs. Baylor and our O is humming, I feel good about our chances. We can't go 3 and out/throw INTs early--our D will be gassed by halftime.

I agree with Harry - the key to our defense is how the offense does. The offensive turnovers were killers last year - that includes fumbled not just interceptions. Put points on the board and give the defense a little room for error, eg TCU victory when the D started good and wore down.

As the Offense goes so does the Defense. I don't believe we can afford to get in a scoring shootout with A&M or Baylor and probably TCU. In regards to TCU, I know we did it last year but why tempt fate twice.

We will see, but when we line up against the Baylor O line we will look very puny...their O line is huge and much bigger than us. TAMU will be the same....we aren't quite big enough yet. That said we will be competitive because of our defensive schemes and strong LB cores.
We just need some take away advantage this year, as last year it didn't happen.

ponyscott wrote:We will see, but when we line up against the Baylor O line we will look very puny...their O line is huge and much bigger than us. TAMU will be the same....we aren't quite big enough yet. That said we will be competitive because of our defensive schemes and strong LB cores.
We just some take away advantage this year as last year didn't happen.

I will be very impressed if Baylor's O line makes Margus, Pittman, and Grenier look "puny". If they do that, then they will make every d-line in the country look small.

ponyscott wrote:We will see, but when we line up against the Baylor O line we will look very puny...their O line is huge and much bigger than us. TAMU will be the same....we aren't quite big enough yet. That said we will be competitive because of our defensive schemes and strong LB cores.
We just some take away advantage this year as last year didn't happen.

Margus and Pittman will hold up well. The question IMO is the other spot. How effective is Grenier/whoever else is in the mix against the run? 3-4 relies a lot on the guys up front to be strong against the run to keep the backers clean.

SMU does a good job keeping enough guys near the line in run support. They sacrifice some underneath completions to do it but overall it works well.

I do think the biggest loss from your 2011 D will be Taylor Thompson as he was a difference maker in pass rush but could hold up in the run.

The other DE opposite Hunt and our safeties are the weak link on this team IMHO. They are not BCS caliber (Grenier, etc) - pretty much every other starter on both sides is. This is why I was really pulling for Holloway and Roundtree and I continue to be surprised that Middleton isn't the other starter at CB opposite Acker. Richardson has the wheels but gives up a lot of size.

PonyPlayer4 wrote:

ponyscott wrote:We will see, but when we line up against the Baylor O line we will look very puny...their O line is huge and much bigger than us. TAMU will be the same....we aren't quite big enough yet. That said we will be competitive because of our defensive schemes and strong LB cores.
We just some take away advantage this year as last year didn't happen.

I will be very impressed if Baylor's O line makes Margus, Pittman, and Grenier look "puny". If they do that, then they will make every d-line in the country look small.

Here are the numbers for the starting OL

LT-Spencer Drango 6'6" 310
LG- Cyril Richardson 6'5" 335
C- Ivory Wade 6'4" 310
RG- Cameron Kaufhold 6'4" 310
RT- Troy Baker 6'6" 300

Your starting DL according to rivals depth chart

DE- Margus Hunt 6'8" 295
NT- Torlan Pittman 6'1" 292
DE- Kevin Grenier 6'4" 259

Obviously nobody is going to make Margus look small, but when the OL averages in the 6'5" and 315 pounds they make a lot of DL look small.

As always depth on the d-line is a huge issue. We get any injuries there and our linebackers have to make most of the tackles-but then again they do most of the time anyway. I hope our speed can make up for our shortcomings.

I Thought the D carried the team last year.They will do so again this year atleast until the O-Linen gels and garret settles into the system.

BearAssets wrote:

PonyPlayer4 wrote:

ponyscott wrote:We will see, but when we line up against the Baylor O line we will look very puny...their O line is huge and much bigger than us. TAMU will be the same....we aren't quite big enough yet. That said we will be competitive because of our defensive schemes and strong LB cores.
We just some take away advantage this year as last year didn't happen.

I will be very impressed if Baylor's O line makes Margus, Pittman, and Grenier look "puny". If they do that, then they will make every d-line in the country look small.

Here are the numbers for the starting OL

LT-Spencer Drango 6'6" 310
LG- Cyril Richardson 6'5" 335
C- Ivory Wade 6'4" 310
RG- Cameron Kaufhold 6'4" 310
RT- Troy Baker 6'6" 300

Your starting DL according to rivals depth chart

DE- Margus Hunt 6'8" 295
NT- Torlan Pittman 6'1" 292
DE- Kevin Grenier 6'4" 259

Obviously nobody is going to make Margus look small, but when the OL averages in the 6'5" and 315 pounds they make a lot of DL look small.

Thanks BearAssets for backing me up as I have seen your huge line and believe me... we will look small compared to the Bear line...good luck to you guys, but we should be competitive...we just need some takeaways from our defensive secondary this year. And the other point is the second line is just as big at Baylor and WE get smaller.....