Expectations for the 2012 Husky Defense

to me I want to see some stops – more three and outs – slobber knocking hits – better tackling – a defense that can win a game for us against a quality opponent – a defense that plays with a swagger an attitude and swarms to the ball.

A 60th ranking would probably not “thrill” me but it would be a start. A lot would depend on how they finish the year – if they improve to the kind of defense that I would like to see. I want to see improvement from game 1 to game 13 (bowl game). And yes I do expect us to be in a bowl game and be competitive.

You the man for calling the defense.

if we can get our defense in the top 60. That of course also depends on our kicking game being at least average (with a freshman punter and JC transfer kicker).

If nothing else, it will be a good year to see if the new staff can put it all together! Thanks for the writeup and good poll question Lear!

Our defense didn’t do one particular thing well last season. That’s where it starts. What are you best at? And if you are best at something, you can then focus on bringing other phases of defense up a notch. I think their is good talent on the defensive side of the ball. One thing I would like to see is our kids become tough as nails. When coaches gameplan, they don’t expect to take everything away- it’s impossible. But when game planning you find something that you can exploit, take away, and burry it. No more mental lapses, self guessing, and no excuses. Husky fans want a defense that plays a big role in who wins ball games.

I do not think it makes sense to have any expectations at this point. Ask me in August.

If our defense would’ve been at least average, how many more games do we have won last season? With an average defense I think we beat Oregon state and Baylor, totalling a 9 win season. My point is we won 7 games with the worst statistical defense in the history of the program. What does that say about the offense? Arik, Shaq, Beaver if you are out there, your commitment would push this defense back to the upper level that Husky fans have grown accustom to over the last century.

Will require bigger players on the edge. Getting a kid like Arik Armstead out there would be ideal. I see Shriley playing more at 2nd level. Does Hudson play on the edge in the 3-4? He has put on some good football weight and has filled out nicely for an under classmen. I’m not sure he’s big enough to handle the edge in a 3-4 base scheme. I am visualizing Jamora on one side and Armstead on the other side, with Danny anchoring.

We do have kids that fit a 3-4, I’m just wondering where tweeners like Shirley and Hudson play in that scheme.

When posting a poll let’s leave the extremes out of it. The above poll indicates that 7 voters voted for a Husky defense to be ranked 101st to 120th. This has troll written all over it. Don’t give duck or coug fans the opportunity to troll.

…if Arik chooses Oregon, Cal fans will still blame Sark

That is all.

For those asking if Shaq Thomson was at the Armstead presser, he’s on an unofficial visit to #Washington right now"

There are other posts specifically about recruiting – let’s try to keep this one on topic.

I am in Playa with an I Pad …can you put together a quick recruiting thread?

My feelings on the defense… can’t be any worse, right? I would like to think not. Then i think about the LB’s, ugh. Then i think about the D-line, hopefull. I’m like most and will wait until I see some spring stuff to make any judgement. If I see the D able to slow down out O I will be a little excited. One thing for sure, I will not get my hopes up based on what’s said about them. I will judge with my eyes only.

Chris Young committed today to ASU per DevilsDigest. We could use a Chris Young on D – oh well – Chris would rather have all those PE credits.

anything better would be great, but unreasonable to expect. Even with an average defense, we could do some real damage with our offense.

While we can hope or wish to be a top defense in the PAC or the nation next year, it’s not really a reasonable expectation to place on a new coaching staff or on a team that may have to “unlearn” some bad habits.

On the other hand, it is a totally reasonable expectation that we see significant improvement over last year simply because it was obvious that the system employed was not getting the most out of the talent we had on the field.

I will never be anything less than optomistic when it comes to believing that our players are capable of being great, both individually and as a team. So while it may not be entirely fair, I do place the responsibility of maximizing that talent wholly on the coaches. Great coaches do more with less and we might never be a recruiting powerhouse. Give me Cal’s last few recruiting classes and my expectations would have been higher. Sark not only had to overcome the Willingham legacy in terms of recruiting, but our out-of-sync defenses too. A prospect pays attention to that. That’s why I wasn’t very heartbroken over the loss of Demetrius Martin.

So I’m not really sure what a reasonable expectation is for next season. The nationwide rankings don’t really take into account the caliber of our oponents. Does anybody really think that the offenses in the Big East or ACC are as good as the PAC opponents we have to play? We may have been ranked 106th last year, but something like 98 of the “better” teams didn’t have to play both Oregon and Stanford.

For the 2012 season (and any other season), any ranking over 100th is not acceptable. We simply have too much talent and a good enough offense, that we should never be that bad. I’d be more than satisfied if most of our defensive stats were in the 75th-80th range. If I were a coach setting a goal for the defense, I’d aim for the top half of the rankings. In other words, I’d be thrilled if we could be ranked 60th or best in most stats.

I agree completely with the above analysis, but won’t care a hoot about the ranking of the defense or the offense if we finish in the top 10 or win a BCS bowl (add a serious run at the Heismann for KP to my wish list too). :)