Welcome to the Hardcore Husky Forums. Folks who are well-known in Cyberland and not that dumb.
Defensive Turnover (Top 5 Seniors and Top 11 Returning Lettermen)
whatshouldicareabout
Member, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 12,949 
Top 5 Senior Defenders:
Littleton: 65 tackles, 11 TFL, 6 sacks, 2 PD
Clay: 65 tackles, 1.5 TFL, 1 PD
Feeney: 56 tackles, 17.5 TFL, 8 sacks, 2 PD, 3 FF, 1 FR
Tupou: 37 tackles, 5.5 TFL, 1 PD, 1 FF, 1 FR, 1 blocked kick
Lawyer: 22 tackles
Top 11 Returning Defensive Letterman:
Victor: 95 tackles, 9 TFL, 1.5 sacks, 7 PD, 1 INT, 2 FF, 1 FR
Bierria: 77 tackles, 7.5 TFL, 3.5 sacks, 1 FF, 1 FR
Baker: 49 tackles, 1.5 TFL, 9 PD, 2 INT
Jones: 45 tackles, 3.5 TFL, 14 PD, 4 INT, 3 FF, 2 FR
Gardenhire: 45 tackles, 9 PD, 2 INT, 1 FR
King: 39 tackles, 4.5 TFL, 8 PD, 3 INT, 1 FF, 1 FR
McIntosh: 38 tackles, 4 PD, 1 INT
BBK: 34 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack
Mathis: 30 tackles, 6 TFL, 2 sacks, 2 FF, 1 FR
Gaines: 28 tackles, 1 TFL
Qualls: 26 tackles, 4.5 TFL, 4.5 sacks
From the way it stands, we're losing 2 OLBs, a DT, and a SS.
Littleton and Feeney were behind Victor and Bierria in terms of overall tackles but accounted for 31% of our TFL and 41% of our sacks. The spots at OLB and BUCK seem to be very open as BBK was the only LB who showed up in the list of top returners and he played primarily at ILB. Perhaps we'll see Bierria slide out to OLB or BUCK and slide BBK in at ILB to maximize talent, depending on how the redshirting freshman perform in spring and fall camp. From those numbers alone, it seems like the largest question mark heading into spring camp what happens at LB given the significant loss in production from Littleton and Feeney and who they decide to transition into BUCK.
Clay totaled the most amount of tackles from the secondary but was a non-factor in the passing game, having 1 PD all season. As a backup, McIntosh was more a factor in the pass defense than Clay was as a starter. And despite being 3rd on the team in tackles, replacing his productivity doesn't seem to be much of a hurdle. His safety spot shouldn't be too much to worry about, considering that whoever wins the spot in 2016 will put up better pass defense numbers.
Tupou was our most productive DL, at 37 tackles and 5.5 TFL, but Gaines and Vea (17 tackles, 3 TFL, 1 sack, 1 FF, 1 blocked kick) combined to put up similar numbers as back-ups for most of the year. The most significant impact on the DL will not be the loss of Tupou but to see how the unit performs with the loss of Choate who was phenomenal productivity from the DL in his brief stay in Seattle. It'll be more a question of how Malloe fills in for Choate than how Gaines/Qualls/Johnson/Dissly fill in for Tupou and/or BUCK. Fortunately for the Huskies, Kwiatkowski is returning, who coached the DL for 4 years with Petersen at BSU (when Wilcox was DC), so there is some significant experience coaching that position group remaining on the staff.
TL;DR version: 2016 will be special
Littleton: 65 tackles, 11 TFL, 6 sacks, 2 PD
Clay: 65 tackles, 1.5 TFL, 1 PD
Feeney: 56 tackles, 17.5 TFL, 8 sacks, 2 PD, 3 FF, 1 FR
Tupou: 37 tackles, 5.5 TFL, 1 PD, 1 FF, 1 FR, 1 blocked kick
Lawyer: 22 tackles
Top 11 Returning Defensive Letterman:
Victor: 95 tackles, 9 TFL, 1.5 sacks, 7 PD, 1 INT, 2 FF, 1 FR
Bierria: 77 tackles, 7.5 TFL, 3.5 sacks, 1 FF, 1 FR
Baker: 49 tackles, 1.5 TFL, 9 PD, 2 INT
Jones: 45 tackles, 3.5 TFL, 14 PD, 4 INT, 3 FF, 2 FR
Gardenhire: 45 tackles, 9 PD, 2 INT, 1 FR
King: 39 tackles, 4.5 TFL, 8 PD, 3 INT, 1 FF, 1 FR
McIntosh: 38 tackles, 4 PD, 1 INT
BBK: 34 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack
Mathis: 30 tackles, 6 TFL, 2 sacks, 2 FF, 1 FR
Gaines: 28 tackles, 1 TFL
Qualls: 26 tackles, 4.5 TFL, 4.5 sacks
From the way it stands, we're losing 2 OLBs, a DT, and a SS.
Littleton and Feeney were behind Victor and Bierria in terms of overall tackles but accounted for 31% of our TFL and 41% of our sacks. The spots at OLB and BUCK seem to be very open as BBK was the only LB who showed up in the list of top returners and he played primarily at ILB. Perhaps we'll see Bierria slide out to OLB or BUCK and slide BBK in at ILB to maximize talent, depending on how the redshirting freshman perform in spring and fall camp. From those numbers alone, it seems like the largest question mark heading into spring camp what happens at LB given the significant loss in production from Littleton and Feeney and who they decide to transition into BUCK.
Clay totaled the most amount of tackles from the secondary but was a non-factor in the passing game, having 1 PD all season. As a backup, McIntosh was more a factor in the pass defense than Clay was as a starter. And despite being 3rd on the team in tackles, replacing his productivity doesn't seem to be much of a hurdle. His safety spot shouldn't be too much to worry about, considering that whoever wins the spot in 2016 will put up better pass defense numbers.
Tupou was our most productive DL, at 37 tackles and 5.5 TFL, but Gaines and Vea (17 tackles, 3 TFL, 1 sack, 1 FF, 1 blocked kick) combined to put up similar numbers as back-ups for most of the year. The most significant impact on the DL will not be the loss of Tupou but to see how the unit performs with the loss of Choate who was phenomenal productivity from the DL in his brief stay in Seattle. It'll be more a question of how Malloe fills in for Choate than how Gaines/Qualls/Johnson/Dissly fill in for Tupou and/or BUCK. Fortunately for the Huskies, Kwiatkowski is returning, who coached the DL for 4 years with Petersen at BSU (when Wilcox was DC), so there is some significant experience coaching that position group remaining on the staff.
TL;DR version: 2016 will be special
Comments