Thursday, May 31, 2007
Putting the "D" Back in Defense
The 2007 Defense should be able to dominate opponents this upcoming season. It all starts with the defensive line. The spring saw some shake-ups to put the best players on the field. I am very excited to see when Quentin Groves breaks the sack record. I say when because I am certain he will do it. Sen'Derrick Marks is another player I am very interested in watching. He is very talented and was moved from DT to DE in the spring to get him more playing time. Tray Blackmon is back as we all know and he should have a breakout sophomore season if he can just stay out of trouble. The loss of Patrick Trahan is one of the disappointments of the spring but all in all the LB corps seems to be in good shape. The front seven should be very good. The secondary, to some experts, seems to be the weakness of the defense yet again. I disagree. Auburn was 16th nationally last year in pass defense and should be up there again in 2007. I do think though that in order to beat Auburn teams are going to have to pass the ball. I think the front seven will be tough to run against so any huge success for opponents will have to come through the air. If the secondary is as good as I think they are going to be it could be a great season for Auburn. Last year our defense was put into bad situations in large part because of the injuries and inconsistent play of the offense. With a healthy offense those problems should go away. However, the special teams could put Auburn's defense on a short field if they are not able to punt the ball well. Look for the defense to adjust better to Will Muschamp's schemes this year. All in all, the Defense should once again be a dominant force on the field. Speed is the key to Auburn's defensive units and this year will have plenty of speed. If Auburn can tackle well and play fundamental football this season will be a success.
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As we have seen with all great defensive teams in the past, it starts with the front 4. I would venture to say you can narrow that down to the middle 2 of your D-line. If you can stop up the middle, it forces you to go outside. The perfect counter for an outside rushing attack is EXACTLY what Auburn's strength is - SPEED! So if you can't run up the middle, can't run outside, what do you have to do? Pass the ball. Then it's on the secondary's shoulders. I'm a big advocate of the theory that "experience is more important than skill" in college. Although without Irons in our secondary, we return a host of (maybe not all-americans) skilled, and more importantly, EXPERIENCED guys. It's all about chemsitry though. Who will take the place of Will Herring on defense? The guy knew where everyone on the field was supposed to be on every play, and that is huge for a team's success.
From what I have been reading it looks like there will be as many as 5 freshman who will see significant action. Remember these names, they will soon be household names to college football. They are; Micheal McNeil(Safety, 6'3 208) Bo Harris(Ath.prob linebacker for us, 6'3 235 runs a 4.4) Lee Ziemba(OT, 6'7 305, very impressive on film and knows the game) Wes Byrum(PK,K 6'3 200, runs a 4.6, gives us some options, #2 kicker in the nation this past year) Chris Slaughter (WR, 6'3 1/2 192, top prep school receiver this past year) Kodi Burns (QB, 6'2 1/2 200, runs around a 4.5, next Jason Campbell/Dameyon Craig, will be backup to Brandon this year). Josh Bynes (LB, 6'2 228, will probably be a backup this year, hard hitter). Those are the players that will most likely see playing time this fall. Our highly touted RB recruit, Enrique Davis, will most likely redshirt but he is very very good. This class to me will be one of the better classes to have ever come through Auburn when its all said and done. You just watch!
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