Oklahoma Sooners: Camp Update and Personnel Review (Defense)

Let's look at the Sooners on Defense.

DE:  Easily the strength of the defense.  I don’t have to explain Beal.  Alexander has the measureables and the physical skill set to be a 10-sack DE if he puts it together.  He’s been seen wearing a protective boot on campus as recently as today, so stay tuned.  If he doesn’t, he’s still Second or Third team All Big 12. 

Pryce Macon was making a very serious move to be the No. 3 DE and first off of the sidelines, but he’s now in Stoops’ doghouse for reasons unknown.  The second team now consists of RJ Washington and David King.  David King played very well in the Sun Bowl, but he’s not going to terrify anyone.  Washington is, from all accounts, the most physically gifted DE on the roster, and he’s stepped up his work ethic this summer.  But he’s still a work in progress. 

Geneo Grissom is on the third team and is pushing for early time in blowouts.  

You’re not going to beat the defense via this group.

DT:  Dammit.  This position went from being a plus to being a potential liability.  Adrian Taylor’s progress and rehab have significantly jumped back from previous expectations.  He’s not expected to be 100 percent until conference play, if then. 

The coaches think Casey Walker has had the best camp of any of the DT’s.  About a week or two ago, the “light came on” so to speak and he put it all together.  With a guy who squats 625 (tied with Stephen Good for team best), this bodes well.  Shipp doesn’t give praise to the unworthy, and he’s been praising Walker.  Thus, he’s likely a two-gap run stuffer, but he’s not going to get any pressure or penetration on passing downs. 

Stacy McGee has been improving in terms of technique and consistency. He’s a very lean 275 (10.7 percent body fat according to the most recent conditioning charts), so he’ll have to stay as a 3-tech, preferably on Jeremy Beal’s side of the line. 

McFarland is still inconsistent, but any moment could be his light bulb moment.

Unlike last year, we’re going to have to rotate our DT’s as a matter of necessity this year.  As for the freshmen, Daniel Noble has started pulling away as the candidate to get immediate time in the rotation.  Everyone else is looking at a redshirt season.

LB:  The front seven will run through Travis Lewis this year.  Box was fighting back pain from the first week of practice, so it wasn’t much of a surprise when the bottom fell out. 

Tom Wort has impressed from the beginning, but he’s light for a MLB in OU’s 4-3.  He’s an aggressive hitter and technically sound, but he’s not as experienced in the scheme. 

As is the case with many OU MLB’s, adjustments will need to be made to protect the middle of the field from the Triple S (Shipley Seven yard Slant).  Ronnell Lewis seems more physically natural for the position (240 and a 4.56 40? Yes, please), but the coaches apparently want to use Ronnell in the “spinner” LB/DE role they originally created for Dan Cody to help create pressure on the edge.  If Casey Walker can be a two-gap anchor against the running game, a 3-4 could work. 

If not, this is a bad idea.

Corey Nelson has been incredibly impressive in camp.  He will not be redshirting as he has already made it onto the two-deep behind Travis Lewis.  Nelson has been picking up the defense very fast, and Lewis himself has already said he expects Nelson to be better than Lewis was.

DB: I’m surprisingly not worried about these positions.  They’ll have busts from time to time, but they’re not going to be easily picked on. 

Hurst was good enough to get time at nickel CB last year as a true freshman, but he can be beat by a big, physical NFL prototype WR like Jeff Fuller on go routes and fade routes.  Fleming has got very serious wheels (4.48) and isn’t going to get outrun by anyone. 

I think the way teams will get him is on double moves and short timing routes.  Jonathon Nelson has a CB’s cover skills and the 4.4-flat 40 to match, so I don’t think teams are going to be beating us over the top. Again, there’s a freshman making serious noise.  Owasso product Aaron Colvin has been getting raves from Stoops and Martinez and is already second on the depth chart.

P:  Tress Way is going to be a huge factor in at least two or three games this year by changing the field with long punts.  I’ll go ahead and call Ray Guy finalist.

So, how will teams be coming at us?  Well, this looks a lot like the 2004 defense.  That group was expected in the preseason to be heavily reliant on Dusty Dvoracek and Lance Mitchell.  Mitchell tore his ACL, Dusty decided to drink and put a guy in a coma.  So we ended up with Moe Dampeer at DT and Gayron Allen at MLB. 

This was less than ideal. 

Also in 2004, we had an exceptional athlete that we rotated at LB/DE to help take pressure off of the interior.  Fortunately, in 2004 there wasn’t anyone on our schedule who could capitalize on that.  There was a semi-pro team out in California, however, that gave us a few fits in 2004.  FSU will have something to say about capitalizing on our weakened DT this year.

I expect a similar approach to this defense to capitalize on the known weaknesses.  Attack the interior DL, get the new CB’s on an island and go over the top with play action.  Jonathon Nelson is going to be a busy man, and he’s going to need to be extremely disciplined to make sure his focus is run support second.  Let Quentin Carter go up and hit people.  How much and how well we use the 3-4 may be a huge factor in our ability to win road games against good offenses (A&M, Mizzou).

Now that I’ve put all that work in, tell me where I’m wrong.

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