Kickoff is less than 48 hours away.
To gain some perspective and insight, I talked to the good folks at The Birddog about the Navy squad appearing in Ohio Stadium on Saturday. They let us know the players we need to watch and gave us some additional information on the Commander-in-Chief Trophy holder for the last six years.
Where does this year’s Navy team rank in the last five years?
Defensively, it’s probably going to be the best. A few of these guys will be starting for their third straight year. They came on strong in 2008, with back-to-back shutouts to end the regular season. Offensively, nobody knows. On one hand, not having to juggle three quarterbacks like last season is a plus. On the other hand, they lost a lot of proven performers to graduation. I think most people are confident in the offense’s ability, but it’s one of those things you don’t really know until they play actual games.
Give us the positions of strength/weakness?
Strength—Linebacker, without a doubt. They’re all seniors, they’ve all played a ton, and they all have ability. Ross Pospisil was the team’s leading tackler a year ago. Clint Sovie was moved from inside to outside LB to take advantage of his speed; he’ll be the team’s main pass rusher.
Weakness—I don’t know if I’d call it a weakness quite yet, but some last-minute shuffling on the offensive line depth chart isn’t exactly good for the nerves.
Best/worst-case scenario for this season?
The goal of every Navy football team is to 1) win the Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy, and 2) get to a bowl game. Anything above and beyond that is gravy; anything less is a disappointment. With Navy’s schedule and a lot of unproven talent on offense, it’s going to be a challenge.
Who is Navy’s best player?
DE Jabaree Tuani. He was the ECAC Rookie of the Year last year, and led the team in tackles for loss as a freshman. It’s very unusual for any lineman to play much as a freshman at the Naval Academy; the first year at the school tends to lead to tired legs and weight loss. As good as Tuani was last year, it’s exciting to think of how good he can be without plebe burdens weighing him down.
Nate Frazier’s loss is huge for the Midshipmen but Navy still returns the other key defensive lineman, including Jabaree Tuani. Can the line, and defense overall, absorb the loss of Frazier?
I think so. Chase Burge, the nose guard stepping in for Frazier, had played well enough in practice that the coaches had already planned on giving him more playing time anyway. That doesn’t mean that losing Nate doesn’t hurt; Nate is a special kind of player that we don’t usually see at the Naval Academy. But it probably means the defensive line just goes from being elite (by Navy standards) to really, really good.
Navy played three quarterbacks last season, but two have now departed leaving junior Ricky Dobbs to run the show. At times last season, he looked like Navy’s best QB. Is the position in better hands now that he is not sharing the job?
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