Freshmen on Defense

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Kamal Martin, Carter Coughlin, Antoine Winfield, Thomas Barber, Tayon Devers...there is a lot of young talent on this defense. From where I sit, the future looks bright for this group.
 

If only the offense looked half as bright. Granted, that's why I'm excited Green is red-shirting. The unknown is probably better than the known.

If we can get some more defensive linemen, we'll be stocked on defense for several years. I like the kids playing.
 

All great players. Not sure if I should be pumped, or dejected that so many Fr. can lay siege to the starting lineup. I'm mainly bitter my original thread took so long to take.
 


I really like the young talent on defense. I think DeLattimore (sp) will be a good one as well. I like the Huff brothers. Kiante Hardin will be a good player for us. It will be interesting to see how Dior Johnson, Buford, Durr and Thomas develop in the backfield. Still have Chelstein, Pook, Richardson and Stelter for another year as well. Hopfully Croft or Green can take the next step in their development because we should have two more years of Brooks and Smith another year of Lingren, only reciever we lose is Wolitarsky. Hopfully the kid from Marshall comes back healthy next year and Philip Howard can make an impact as well
 


balds said:
All great players. Not sure if I should be pumped, or dejected that so many Fr. can lay siege to the starting lineup. I'm mainly bitter my original thread took so long to take.
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I think you should be pumped. Our defense has played pretty well in the last two games and it's full of youngsters. Our defense is in the top half of the Big 10 right now (I know that we haven't had the toughest schedule).

I am not making any excuses, but I think our defensive stats against Penn St. look a bit better with Hardin in the game.
 

Martin-Barber-Coughlin could be a really solid linebacking trio in a few years.
 

balds said:
All great players. Not sure if I should be pumped, or dejected that so many Fr. can lay siege to the starting lineup. I'm mainly bitter my original thread took so long to take.
Click to expand...

I feel the same way. We keep burning redshirts because the guys ahead of the freshman either can't stay healthy or must not be that good. I'm probably one of the few here that complains about all the burned redshirts, but you don't build a solid program if you constantly have freshmen in the line-up. It's a little different at Alabama and tOSU, because the freshmen playing there are pretty much the cream of the recruiting crop.
 

Winfield Jr. is one of the best, if not the best, tackler on the team. So many times I think to myself, "Oh he's going to get juked" and yet even by a shoestring, he tackles them. Love this guy!
 



RolGnav said:
Winfield Jr. is one of the best, if not the best, tackler on the team. So many times I think to myself, "Oh he's going to get juked" and yet even by a shoestring, he tackles them. Love this guy!
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If he doesn't get injured and replaced by Huff in the Iowa game . . .
 

RolGnav said:
Winfield Jr. is one of the best, if not the best, tackler on the team. So many times I think to myself, "Oh he's going to get juked" and yet even by a shoestring, he tackles them. Love this guy!
Click to expand...
Damarius Travis has gotta be number one. Eric Murray was number one last year.
 

I think that the performance of the defense the past two weeks should quell any discomfort about the freshman playing. If the defense was getting gashed consistently still, I think it would show a general lack of talent. D has played outstanding the past two weeks against offenses that have fared pretty well against other competition. I think that the freshman went through some growing pains earlier in the season, but have settled down and we have a really bright future ahead of us on D (at least at LB and DB).
 

Question

It seemed every year Jerry said we were just sooo young. Right? Every year wasn't it? And now here we are again, really young on defense for sure. I haven't analyzed it, taken the time to figure it out...but what happens to all these "young" guys that we seem to never have a senior laden team? Or even junior dominated? But it seems we always have freshmen we are anticipating to be really good as seniors?

We have five freshman on defense that do look encouraging..plus Durr is supposed to be good making six on D....just in the now.
I think we have at least five on offense as well. Only Tyler Johnson comes to mind as contributing now but we are anticipating we have a few good offensive lineman, couple quarterbacks, couple wide receivers, a tight end etc
all highly touted.

The incoming class has solid people too, just not the numbers more than lack of talent...or no?

Just curious how it works that we are "young" every year? When do we transition to experienced, veteran, really good as a label?
 



The Defense has come to play the last 2 weeks. Very encouraging to see so many Freshman stepping up. Winfield has looked awesome.
 

60's Guy said:
Just curious how it works that we are "young" every year? When do we transition to experienced, veteran, really good as a label?
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Injuries, transfers and holes in recruiting lead to always being young.

Maxx Williams should be a senior. Wouldn't Eric Murray be a redshirt senior if he didn't play as a freshmen?

None of our WR recruits panned out except Wolitarski.

OL has been a mess.





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

I remember some guys when Kill showed up, they started a few guys on D who got burned every damn time they were in on a play, but a few years later they were awesome.

This group has their derps now and then but yeah they show a lot of promise too.
 

RolGnav said:
Winfield Jr. is one of the best, if not the best, tackler on the team. So many times I think to myself, "Oh he's going to get juked" and yet even by a shoestring, he tackles them. Love this guy!
Click to expand...

I suspect his father is really on the field at times!
 

50PoundHead said:
I feel the same way. We keep burning redshirts because the guys ahead of the freshman either can't stay healthy or must not be that good. I'm probably one of the few here that complains about all the burned redshirts, but you don't build a solid program if you constantly have freshmen in the line-up. It's a little different at Alabama and tOSU, because the freshmen playing there are pretty much the cream of the recruiting crop.
Click to expand...

I would understand where you are coming from if our defense was really struggling, but they have played REALLY well the past couple of weeks. Isn't that proof enough that they are ready? They are BIG pieces of an above average Big 10 defense. Some of the other pieces are guys who got some run last year (Hardin, Huffs, Shenault).

This isn't a situation like Ryan Collado and Kyle Theret getting run and giving up 40 points per game. These freshman are playing and playing well, get them on the field.
 

I'll state the obvious: the improvement of the defense the past 2 weeks just happened to coincide with the return of KiAnte Hardin and the emergence of Winfield. I think it's that simple.
 

The reason we start freshmen every year is because the recruiting classes improve every year. Our D is playing freshmen because they are that good.
 

John Galt said:
I'll state the obvious: the improvement of the defense the past 2 weeks just happened to coincide with the return of KiAnte Hardin and the emergence of Winfield. I think it's that simple.
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Absolutely.

That is a true freshman (Winfield) and a true SO (Hardin, who I am glad got time last year).
 

I see so much promise in this defense. But maybe it's because I still remember so clearly the Mason era D. So bad. I still have Trumaine Banks nightmares.
 

balds said:
All great players. Not sure if I should be pumped, or dejected that so many Fr. can lay siege to the starting lineup. I'm mainly bitter my original thread took so long to take.
Click to expand...

Who cares if they are freshman, they can play. Period.
 

60's Guy said:
It seemed every year Jerry said we were just sooo young. Right? Every year wasn't it? And now here we are again, really young on defense for sure. I haven't analyzed it, taken the time to figure it out...but what happens to all these "young" guys that we seem to never have a senior laden team? Or even junior dominated? But it seems we always have freshmen we are anticipating to be really good as seniors?

We have five freshman on defense that do look encouraging..plus Durr is supposed to be good making six on D....just in the now.
I think we have at least five on offense as well. Only Tyler Johnson comes to mind as contributing now but we are anticipating we have a few good offensive lineman, couple quarterbacks, couple wide receivers, a tight end etc
all highly touted.

The incoming class has solid people too, just not the numbers more than lack of talent...or no?

Just curious how it works that we are "young" every year? When do we transition to experienced, veteran, really good as a label?
Click to expand...
I think you're exaggerating. I don't remember Kill saying we were young the past two years or Claeys saying it this year. Young guys playing doesn't mean we're only young.

There's always attrition I college football. We lost a few "old" guys to the NFL last year. Yet, we still have a bunch of upper classmen on the offensive line, QB, defensive line, linebackers, and two senior DBs. And, yes, five or six younger guys on defense and four or five on offense who are playing a lot because they're good. This is a good thing.
 

diehard said:
The reason we start freshmen every year is because the recruiting classes improve every year. Our D is playing freshmen because they are that good.
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Same was said under Brewster.
 


John Galt said:
I'll state the obvious: the improvement of the defense the past 2 weeks just happened to coincide with the return of KiAnte Hardin and the emergence of Winfield. I think it's that simple.
Click to expand...

And the Cody Poock injury. Whaaat?
 

John Galt said:
I'll state the obvious: the improvement of the defense the past 2 weeks just happened to coincide with the return of KiAnte Hardin and the emergence of Winfield. I think it's that simple.
Click to expand...

Those two players have made a big difference.

I'll also state the obvious: Iowa ranks 102nd in total offense and is missing their best WR. Maryland is ranked 70th and started a true freshman QB.
 

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