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our defense will take a step back, but so will the offenses we face

I fully expect our offense to be one of the best in the nation. Our defense doesn’t need to totally shut teams down like last year. We were very average offense last year and really struggled to make explosive plays. The ball control/dump off offense we played last year made us overly reliant on the defense. With our offense looking more like the 2024 one, we’ll be in much better shaoe.
 
The defense is going to be BETTER.

We already replaced Mez with maybe a better pure pass rusher. We will miss Bain.

The defense will be better everywhere else.

The most important improvement will be the 2nd year under our serial killer DC. He kept things simple last year. We will be throwing more at teams this year. There is more to come via scheme from Hetherman.
 
Memnon said:
Damon Wilson
Marquise Lightfoot
Ahmad Moten
Justin Scott
Hayden Lowe
Booker Pickett Jr
Keona Davis
Jarquez Carter
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Lol… i love the talent we have now too but depth doesn’t replicate the impact of two superstar edges who played like 80% of the snaps in alot of games
 
E1k said:
Lol… i love the talent we have now too but depth doesn’t replicate the impact of two superstar edges who played like 80% of the snaps in alot of games
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i didn't mean for this to turn into a measure of bain and mesidors greatness ... but alot of people are selling them short, particularly their ability to defend the run and pass equally
 
ShadowSpring said:
The defense is going to be BETTER.

We already replaced Mez with maybe a better pure pass rusher. We will miss Bain.

The defense will be better everywhere else.

The most important improvement will be the 2nd year under our serial killer DC. He kept things simple last year. We will be throwing more at teams this year. There is more to come via scheme from Hetherman.
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lol replaced Mesidor. Yall wild man.
 
Memnon said:
I think our current DLine is better than last years.

The only real drop-off IMO is Nickel & Rover Safety spots. Keionte Scott & Jakobe Thomas will be difficult to replace from last season.

I am a big believer in JJ Dunnigan though, so we'll see how he maturates into his role.

There's questions marks about LB too; Toure & Chase are both old guys, so from an experience standpoint they'll have that covered. There are movement concerns with both of them in open space, but we'll see what they do with the rotations.

But otherwise, I think the Defense overall will be just as good if not better than last year.

As long as they play Ja'Boree more this season. He's the Key.
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I think Thorton will thrive in this scheme.
 
FuriousStyles said:
DE drop off some
DTs improve with experience
LB may be a push
CBs improve with experience which will make the DL look a little bit better than maybe they are… goes both ways
Safeties… I expect a little worse on run downs but better on passing downs so push there.

Outside of Carr being better with experience I don’t think ND offense is better overall enough to worry beyond regular respect of them being above average

I think we mop everyone else. Should anyway.
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I agree, 100% about Notre Dame. You don’t lose two first round draft picks at the running back position and expect to be better than next year on offense. Plus, we know exactly what Carr wants to do back there at quarterback, he wants to run that draw. also for us at defensive end, yes, it will be a drop off but I agree with you, it will only be slightly, and I think it will mainly be at setting the edge because Wilson, as a pure pass rusher, I would say is actually better doing that part of the job than the guys we had last year. The superpower we had last year was our defensive ends setting the edge.
 
E1k said:
Memnon said:
Damon Wilson
Marquise Lightfoot
Ahmad Moten
Justin Scott
Hayden Lowe
Booker Pickett Jr
Keona Davis
Jarquez Carter
Click to expand...
Lol… i love the talent we have now too but depth doesn’t replicate the impact of two superstar edges who played like 80% of the snaps in alot of games
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Did anyone call Mesidor a “superstar” edge before the season? Bain was coming off a year he didn’t play much and Mesi was moving to DE after we fattened him up like Chickilo and played him inside. While I absolutely agree you can expect a slight drop off from last year, let’s not pretend like anyone saw the dominance off the edge coming last year.
 
Handsome Squidbum said:
I expect DB, interior DL, and LB will be better in 2026. So the one position that might take a slight step back is DE, but when 3 of the 4 position groups on defense will be deeper and more experienced next season, I don't quite see how that adds up to the defense overall taking a step back.
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Add Hetherman in year 2.
 
It probably takes a step back talent wise. But Heatherman having a second year, and a second year with most of the players on this defense, will compensate for it some.
 
I’m not worried about the schedule. If we win the acc, I’m worried about the run for a natty and someone will present Miami with an offense that was similar to ole miss and Indiana.
 
ageezy said:
20-25ish ... we were #11 in total defense last season
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I have to disagree.
That would be Hetherman's worst year in his last 5 years as a DC.
A fair comparison with your total D range from '25 would be UVA (#20) and Wake (#26).

We were 5th in scoring D in '25.
I can see us in the mid/low-teens with some teams in the BIG being ahead of us due to the slog play in that conference.
That would be worst case IMO.

Something that may come into play is second half defense.
If our offense is as good as we think it is, I can see our 2nd/3rd teamers giving up some meaningless 4th quarter yards/points which will skew the rankings.
 
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Memnon said:
I think our current DLine is better than last years.

The only real drop-off IMO is Nickel & Rover Safety spots. Keionte Scott & Jakobe Thomas will be difficult to replace from last season.

I am a big believer in JJ Dunnigan though, so we'll see how he maturates into his role.

There's questions marks about LB too; Toure & Chase are both old guys, so from an experience standpoint they'll have that covered. There are movement concerns with both of them in open space, but we'll see what they do with the rotations.

But otherwise, I think the Defense overall will be just as good if not better than last year.

As long as they play Ja'Boree more this season. He's the Key.
Click to expand...
Why is Ja'Boree the key?
 
NJshoreCane said:
ageezy said:
20-25ish ... we were #11 in total defense last season
Click to expand...
I have to disagree.
That would be Hetherman's worst year in his last 5 years as a DC.
A fair comparison with your total D range from '25 would be UVA (#20) and Wake (#26).

We were 5th in scoring D in '25.
I can see us in the mid-teens with some teams in the BIG being ahead of us due to the slog play in that conference.
That would be worst case IMO.

Something that may come into play is second half defense.
If our offense is as good as we think it is, I can see our 2nd/3rd teamers giving up some meaningless 4th quarter yards/points which will skew the rankings.
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Yea 20-25 seems wild to me but to each their own. We can play the total D stuff but there’s not 11 other Defenses I’d have taken over ours last year. I expect another top unit
 
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