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This defensive line will be historic

Hstokes1447 said:
2025 pressure rate 41.7%
2026 pressure rate 41.2%

The pressure is getting there, bro. The problem is the secondary just isn’t holding up its end of the deal. Way too many missed tackles in the open field, turning what should be 3–5 yard stops into 15–20 yard explosive plays. The front is doing its job getting pressure and sacks, but the secondary has to finish the play.
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I’m sold! All the haters better recognize
 
Level of competition at this point in the season isn’t the same as last year. Comparing this line to mesi and bain is laughable, we have eyes.

Even heatherman has made tweaks because he knows we can’t just live with 4 down this year.

Lightfoot has been great but yall aren’t gonna talk me into thinking wilson/blount is close to mesi or bain. I don’t think yall believe it either tbh. And im not someone who thinks the dline has been the issue this year
 
E1k said:
Level of competition at this point in the season isn’t the same as last year. Comparing this line to mesi and bain is laughable, we have eyes.

Even heatherman has made tweaks because he knows we can’t just live with 4 down this year.

Lightfoot has been great but yall aren’t gonna talk me into thinking wilson/blount is close to mesi or bain. I don’t think yall believe it either tbh. And im not someone who thinks the dline has been the issue this year
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I don’t think any DE on this team is better than Bain or Mesidor as individual players. Those two were generational talents and, in my opinion, the best DE duo in Miami history. My point isn’t that this group has better players. It’s that the overall defensive line, as a unit, has performed better than the 2025 defensive line had at this same point in the season..

Through 8 games
2025 pressure rate 41.7%
2026 pressure rate 41.2%

2025 sacks 17
2026 sacks 24

2025 run defense ranking #6
2026 run defense ranking #1

2025 QB time to pass 2.8 seconds
2026 QB time to pass 2.6 seconds
 
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Hstokes1447 said:
I don’t think any DE on this team is better than Bain or Mesidor as individual players. Those two were generational talents and, in my opinion, the best DE duo in Miami history. My point isn’t that this group has better players. It’s that the overall defensive line, as a unit, has performed better than the 2025 defensive line had at this same point in the season..

Through 8 games
2025 pressure rate 41.7%
2026 pressure rate 41.2%

2025 sacks 17
2026 sacks 24

2025 run defense ranking #6
2026 run defense ranking #1
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We have eyes. We are sacrificing more from our pass defense to keep this intact, with mesi and bain we didn’t have to as much. And they played alot of snaps

I don’t think scott has been as good as last year yet, moten is moten. I like carter as dt3, davis idk if he’s played as much as blay but he doesn’t look much different than blay, is Wilson/blount/pickett the guys who are better players? Neither of them are 3down edge players.

More players doesn’t equal better players with one unit having the best two players by far
 
E1k said:
We have eyes. We are sacrificing more from our pass defense to keep this intact, with mesi and bain we didn’t have to as much. And they played alot of snaps

I don’t think scott has been as good as last year yet, moten is moten. I like carter as dt3, davis idk if he’s played as much as blay but he doesn’t look much different than blay, is Wilson/blount/pickett the guys who are better players? Neither of them are 3down edge players.

More players doesn’t equal better players with one unit having the best two players by far
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You’re talking about individual players and I’m talking about the complete unit.

Also when you have time just go look at the games from week 1-8 of 2025 and you will notice that the blitz rate is the same. You will also notice, not as many short passing plays turning into 15 - 20 yard explosives due to missed tackles. You will also notice not many screens against turning into massive gains.
 
Hstokes1447 said:
You’re talking about individual players and I’m talking about the complete unit.

Also when you have time just go look at the games from week 1-8 of 2025 and you will notice that the blitz rate is the same. You will also notice, not as many short passing plays turning into 15 - 20 yard explosives due to missed tackles. You will also notice not many screens against turning into massive gains.
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Individual players are included into the entire unit, just looking at numbers is surface level.. The individual players dictate how you gameplan the entire defense all year, and how other teams gameplan against you

Im not talking about just blitz rate, heatherman blitzes regardless. Im talking about how we structure our defense based on the impact of mesi and bain. If Lightfoot keeps playing like this we will then see how teams will have to address him consistently or they will risk him blowing their offense up
 
E1k said:
We have eyes. We are sacrificing more from our pass defense to keep this intact, with mesi and bain we didn’t have to as much. And they played alot of snaps
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That has nothing to do with the DLine & everything to do with Nickel & Safety play.

The loss of Keionte & Jakobe have been far more impactful & irreplaceable than last year's DE's.

People just refuse to give this year's DLine any credit because they're still emotionally attached to last year's tandem, but the numbers are irrefutable.

The majority of last year DE's pairing production came in the playoffs. This year's group has already matched that in the regular season & we haven't even hit the playoff stride yet.

Lightfoot is going to finish with more than 10+ sacks & people will still be trying to downplay how good he's been this year because it just doesn't fit the narrative that the last years group was just so impossible to replace.

The Run Defense was supposed to take a swan dive because the Edge just could not be set no matter what; except for the fact the Run Defense is actually exponentially better.
 
Memnon said:
That has nothing to do with the DLine & everything to do with Nickel & Safety play.

The loss of Keionte & Jakobe have been far more impactful & irreplaceable than last year's DE's.

People just refuse to give this year's DLine any credit because they're still emotionally attached to last year's tandem, but the numbers are irrefutable.

The majority of last year DE's pairing production came in the playoffs. This year's group has already matched that in the regular season & we haven't even hit the playoff stride yet.

Lightfoot is going to finish with more than 10+ sacks & people will still be trying to downplay how good he's been this year because it just doesn't fit the narrative that the last years group was just so impossible to replace.

The Run Defense was supposed to take a swan dive because the Edge just could not be set no matter what; except for the fact the Run Defense is actually exponentially better.
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Im not taking anything away from this year's dline, i just think last year was better. Im not emotionally attached, im looking at it logically and i see the difference between having two first rounders and not having them. I see how game planning can be different with them

The numbers are good but im watching and rewatching the games, we do not win on the edge as consistently as we did last year. Thats just a fact, pull our all the numbers we have eyes

They dominated the regular season too, sacks or pressures don’t tell the entire story. Damon wilson had 9.5 sacks last year, literally nobody would say he is a better pass rusher than mesi or bain last year

Seems like you’re projecting here, i keep saying lightfoot has been great im highlighting blount/wilson

For one wilson isn’t trustworthy to play on early downs like bain/mesi, blount isn’t worthy of playing edge on 3rd downs. You don’t see the value of having two elite pass rushers being able to play on all 3 downs? Does that not make a huge difference for your defense and teams game planning against you?

And the run defense has been great but i think the attention we give there has us ranked in the 100s in passing defense. Losing keionte and jakobe hurt alot but i dont think it causes you to go from good to one of the worst.
 
E1k said:
Im not taking anything away from this year's dline, i just think last year was better. Im not emotionally attached, im looking at it logically and i see the difference between having two first rounders and not having them. I see how game planning can be different with them

The numbers are good but im watching and rewatching the games, we do not win on the edge as consistently as we did last year. Thats just a fact, pull our all the numbers we have eyes

They dominated the regular season too, sacks or pressures don’t tell the entire story. Damon wilson had 9.5 sacks last year, literally nobody would say he is a better pass rusher than mesi or bain last year

Seems like you’re projecting here, i keep saying lightfoot has been great im highlighting blount/wilson

For one wilson isn’t trustworthy to play on early downs like bain/mesi, blount isn’t worthy of playing edge on 3rd downs. You don’t see the value of having two elite pass rushers being able to play on all 3 downs? Does that not make a huge difference for your defense and teams game planning against you?

And the run defense has been great but i think the attention we give there has us ranked in the 100s in passing defense. Losing keionte and jakobe hurt alot but i dont think it causes you to go from good to one of the worst.
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This is my last response because I think we clearly see this differently, and that’s okay.

I honestly haven’t seen one instance this season where Wilson, in particular, has been a problem against the run. I agree with you on Keionte and Jakobe, and I genuinely believe those two have been the biggest losses on this defense.

Hetherman blitzed heavily last season too. The difference was that those guys got home and finished at the QB, unlike Thornton, Poyser, and Day. And when they were in coverage, they were miles better than any combination Miami has put at nickel and Boundary safety this season.

FSU tried taking deep shots last season, but Jakobe and Fitz (when he was playing FS) were there to make plays. Now go back and watch JJ and Poyser in coverage against North Carolina on the play where Moten gets pressure and misses the sack. JJ and Poyser get cooked on the backend for a TD. That's not on the defensive line.

JJ and Poyser have been absolutely terrible in coverage. We've seen multiple off target throws from opposing QBs because of pressure, but there hasn't been anyone in position to make a play on the ball. At this point last season, this team had 7 INTs. This year, they only have 3.

I've seen fewer than 10 plays this entire season where a Miami DB has actually been in position to make a play on the ball. Last year's secondary did a much better job of playing the ball and taking away easy completions.

And here's another thing to consider, in 2025, QBs had an average of 2.8 seconds to throw. This season, they're down to 2.6 seconds.

So in the same number of games, this defensive line has generated 7 more sacks, maintained the same pressure rating, forced QBs to get rid of the ball faster, and is stopping the run better than any team in the nation.

Now look at the difference in the secondary. After 8 games last season, Miami was ranked #60 nationally in passing yards allowed per game. This season, they're ranked #112.

That's the difference I'm trying to point out. The defensive line is generating pressure, getting sacks, forcing quicker throws and shutting down the run. The secondary isn't making plays on the backend.

Give this defensive line a secondary that performs at the level of last year's unit, ranked #60 in passing yards allowed, and I honestly believe Miami wins every game on this schedule so far by 35 points or more. That's how much I think the secondary has held this defense back.
 
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