What separates the 2024 Gophers defense from the past? Versatility

[BleedGopher]

Per Tony:

"I like our depth on the defensive line on how different each player is and the ability to move each player around to different positions, we haven't necessarily had that before," Fleck said. "Our nose guard can technically play five-technique in some downs and distances, as well as our five technique can come down to three-technique and do the same thing."

What separates the 2024 Gophers defense from the past? Versatility

Defensive versatility continues to be a major talking point for P.J. Fleck and the Gophers this offseason.

www.si.com

Go Gophers!!

 

[Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0]

Having hybrid type players on D will be fun to watch. Get their best athletes out there and let them loose!

 

[forever a gopher]

If Lindenberg and Mav can stay healthy at LB, that alone would have a huge impact. The drop off when they didn’t play was stark and resulted in a ton of opponents explosive plays.

 

[MonikerSchmoniker45]

If Lindenberg and Mav can stay healthy at LB, that alone would have a huge impact. The drop off when they didn’t play was stark and resulted in a ton of opponents explosive plays.

They both need to tackle better and I think Williams starts over Mav.

 

[Gopherchase]

They both need to tackle better and I think Williams starts over Mav.

Williams wasn’t very good last year. Had only one game where he flashed. If he’s good enough to win a starting job this year he will have progressed.

 

[99Gopher]

If Lindenberg and Mav can stay healthy at LB, that alone would have a huge impact. The drop off when they didn’t play was stark and resulted in a ton of opponents explosive plays.

If they can stay healthy, I'm looking for big improvement in the LB position this year. First, you can't blame a lot of the issues on Baranowski last year as any RS freshman LB coming into the B1G is going to struggle. With that inexperience, young LBs tend to be slightly out of position which leads them to have to reach for tackles and as result leads to missed tackles. I look to see a big improvement in that this year as he has the physical talent. Then on top of that, I add the coaching. For some who don't know it, Sori-Marin has been promoted to the full-time Nickel/Asst LB coach this year. Not bad being like 25 and already a full-time coach in the B1G. He was also thrown into the exact situation Mav was when the Gophs were decimated by injuries and Sori-Marin was thrown in as a Freshman (we know how he turned out after a rough FR season), which allows him to provide valuable insight into what it takes to grow into your Soph season. Not to mention, what we saw Hetherman do with the LBs in his 2 yrs at Rutgers.

I think Cody is going to be just fine as we all know he just needs to stay on the field. In terms of tackles he had 31 total tackles last yr in just 4 games. The top tackler for the Def last yr was Jack Henderson at 57. It took Jack 13 games to get there but only took Cody 4 games to get to 31. Just project Cody's numbers out to a full season incl the bowl and he's knocking on 90-100 tackles. That's why you hear people say he could be the best player on the Def.

 

[MonikerSchmoniker45]

Williams wasn’t very good last year. Had only one game where he flashed. If he’s good enough to win a starting job this year he will have progressed.

None of them were very good, but I think all three will be solid this season. My biggest fear is the secondary, but I also think they'll be much better. Was disappointing to see Walley get picked on at times last year, but he's certainly capable of being a big time playmaker.