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Safeties and DTs -- Are we a complete team for what Hetherman plans to do?

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Hstokes1447 said:
No he will not.

In Hetherman’s first season as the DC at Minnesota he had the #9 rushing defense in the Nation with a bunch of no name 3 stars. He basically had a defensive line full of Daylen Russell’s and they balled every week. The combination of Hetherman scheme and the talent on this team is going to be insane.

Penn State returns the #1 backfield and had the 17th ranked rushing attack in 2024. Notre Dame returns the #2 backfield and had the 19th ranked rushing attack in 2024.

Hetherman faced Penn State in 2024 and held them to 117 yards on 33 attempts for an average of 3.5 per carry. For the season Penn State averaged 202 yards rushing per game and 5.3 yards per carry

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Me hopes you right!
 
Combo said:
Exactly. If our top 5 guys stay relatively healthy, we should be solid. But how likely is that? Injuries happen.
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Unfortunately, game is a contact sport and injuries often crop up. Quality depth is critical. The notion of sliding DEs inside if we have to other than obvious passing situations, isn’t a solution. OCs aren’t stupid and will find ways to expose.
 
grover said:
Problem Statement: From a traditional defense perspective, we are too thin at Safety and DT. Our expected classic Safety rotation at this point includes Poyser and Thomas as starters, and "possibly" Williams and Day as first in. At DT, we have Blay, Moten and Scott (looking in the 280-300 range) with Jones as the expected rotational player After that, you have true freshmen who may contribute at some point. Classically, that looks too thin to be a playoff contender much less winner. Along with place kicker, those two spots are my biggest concern going into summer/fall camp.

Emerging Solution: @Peter Ariz and @DMoney confirmed in their podcasts today and over the past week that the staff is settling on Lucas and Blount as the two players you move if you need help out at DT and Safety. Meanwhile, @Lance Roffers and @Hstokes1447 are firm believers Hetherman's 4i base scheme, and primary passing down schemes favors leaner, faster guys like these two (along with guys like Bobby Pruitt at LB, Lightfoot at Jack, etc.).

Expected Outcome: ?

The Wilforks and Sapps being the exception (and Sapp was "only" 300 at Miami, and both had generational burst), SPEED was a Miami brand during the championship decades. Ironically, it's Big 10 Hetherman who seems to be bringing us back to a speed-first philosophy. When we were great, we could hold the line against the Nebraskas and Oklahomas and Notre Dames, if needed, with only 4 guys. Do we have the dudes to do so in 2025? Can we stop the run with Hetherman's 4i and fast packages? Can we make it through 13+ games into the playoffs with this roster?
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You know you lose all credibility when you say our tackles look like they’re in the 280 to 300 range. That’s complete BS and if you don’t know that, there’s a problem with your evaluations on anything. All three of them are well over 300 pounds and that is a fact. So before you put a statement on here, get your facts straight on their weights, they’re all over 300 pounds, not 280. All that does is push an agenda that isn’t true. SMH
 
bacane said:
Unfortunately, game is a contact sport and injuries often crop up. Quality depth is critical. The notion of sliding DEs inside if we have to other than obvious passing situations, isn’t a solution. OCs aren’t stupid and will find ways to expose.
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TrumpyCane wants to know if you've forgotten about Patrick Nix, Josh Gattis, and Dan Enos?
 
bacane said:
Unfortunately, game is a contact sport and injuries often crop up. Quality depth is critical. The notion of sliding DEs inside if we have to other than obvious passing situations, isn’t a solution. OCs aren’t stupid and will find ways to expose.
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You are giving OCs too much credit
 
252cane said:
Minnesota starting d-line last year was 285, 290, 310, 254. Miami will be 265, 305, 305, 265. So what’s the big difference?
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In a "positionless" philosophy shouldnt we be trying to piece together what skill sets he tried to balance on the field rather than looking at total mass?
 
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HardCane said:
I also have little faith in our ability to take proper angles × tackle x hit. Until this D can be labeled truly tough and physical we will be vulnerable to less talented teams scoring on this D consistently.
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Until this particular D plays a few games we won’t know.
 
NicKane said:
You know you lose all credibility when you say our tackles look like they’re in the 280 to 300 range. That’s complete BS and if you don’t know that, there’s a problem with your evaluations on anything. All three of them are well over 300 pounds and that is a fact. So before you put a statement on here, get your facts straight on their weights, they’re all over 300 pounds, not 280. All that does is push an agenda that isn’t true. SMH
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I can see how you could read it that way. Here is the sentence that annoyed you: "At DT, we have Blay, Moten and Scott (looking in the 280-300 range) with Jones as the expected rotational player". It's arguably bad sentence structure. But I made wrote the parenthetical next to Scott to indicate I meant him only, whereas a comma would have included Blay and Moten.

TLDR: I knew Blay and Moten are above 300. To me, Scott, specifically, looked below 300, closer to 280 from that stadium stair photo. I don't know where Jones is weightwise, but I understand he's hovering right at or just below 300.

As far as my agenda, I literally have none. I wrote this thread because it was my belief after Spring portal we didn't have enough big bodies at DT, then I read the posts by @Lance Roffers and @Hstokes1447 on Hetherman's defense, and it started to change my mind. Not wanting to be either a homer or a slurper, I created this thread to ask other people's opinions to help better inform mine.
 
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Jakobe Thomas will wear number 8

 
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Mario has added a new coach and 5 new safeties to that room this offseason, and only kept 3 guys with one being JTs son lol.

FS / Field Safety
Zechariah Poyser RSO 6-2 190
Markeith Williams RJR 6-2 190 (he looks closer to 6-4 in the photo next to Poyser)
Isaiah Taylor RSR 5-11 200
Amari Wallace FR 5-10 175

SS / Boundary Safety
Jakobe Thomas RSR 6-2 202
Dylan Day SO 6-2 200
Briton Allen RSR 6-0 195
Chris Ewald FR 6-1 175

Taylor and Allen gives this staff the flexibility to redshirt Amari Wallace, and Chris Ewald.

Still a very long way to go, but the room is starting to look good. I am really excited about Wallace can become in this defense.
 
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