Arkansas' 2018 Defense

[Piggfoot]

Both Chavis and Venables are good coaches but the question is does Arkansas have good enough players coming in and coming back to match up with their defensive schemes.
They have had great athletes in the past with few weak spots. Their players have been able to play Zone and Man. Many here on Hogville attributed our mediocre play to bad coaching, thinking coaching was more important than players. Can these coaches transform our relatively slow players to a capable defence? Can they get them to tackle with better technique?
I'm not sure they can. I think it will require improved players and two or three classes to build a capable defense.

[jst01]

Speed speed speed.  We lack it big time. That should be focus #1.  Bad tackling all year is b/c the majority of our D were late to the point of attack or running to catch up from a bad angle. It'll be a couple years before there is enough talent/speed on the defensive side of the ball to compliment the offense and be able to beat any big boy teams.

[LRHawg]

If it is Chavis, what is a reason that would explain why he hasn't been named yet?

[bob slydell]

Both Chavis and Venables are good coaches but the question is does Arkansas have good enough players coming in and coming back to match up with their defensive schemes.
They have had great athletes in the past with few weak spots. Their players have been able to play Zone and Man. Many here on Hogville attributed our mediocre play to bad coaching, thinking coaching was more important than players. Can these coaches transform our relatively slow players to a capable defence? Can they get them to tackle with better technique?
I'm not sure they can. I think it will require improved players and two or three classes to build a capable defense.

Not having the players is bad coaching.  Part of coaching is recruiting; so they are responsible for the players that they had.  Hopefully, a big name hire will attract more great athletes to want to play for them.

[bphi11ips]

The biggest problem has been recruiting strategy.  There are G5 quality athletes in Florida and southern Louisiana just like there are in Arkansas.  The previous coach preferred them to travel long distances from highly rated recruiting areas. 

[hogsanity]

The biggest problem has been recruiting strategy.  There are G5 quality athletes in Florida and southern Louisiana just like there are in Arkansas.  The previous coach preferred them to travel long distances from highly rated recruiting areas. 

So trying to play defense in the SEC with G5 quality athletes is a bad idea. Something we agree on.

[Hog Fan...DOH!]

The D was transitioning to a 3-4 last year, so that was an issue as far as the guys being where they're supposed to be.  It will be interesting to see what the new D-coordinator brings. 

There are some real players, though.  Agim, Scoota, Greenlaw, Santos, Pulley, Kurl, Calloway.  After that?  Ramsey?  Montaric Brown?  Hard to say.

[RME]

If it is Chavis, what is a reason that would explain why he hasn't been named yet?

Because they just wanna piss off Hogville.

[Pig in the Pokey]

The D was transitioning to a 3-4 last year, so that was an issue as far as the guys being where they're supposed to be.  It will be interesting to see what the new D-coordinator brings. 

There are some real players, though.  Agim, Scoota, Greenlaw, Santos, Pulley, Kurl, Calloway.  After that?  Ramsey?  Montaric Brown?  Hard to say.

exactly. there is way more talent there than HV gives credit for, not shockingly. Our secondary will be salty, our LBs will be good with scoota and dre. We nned some pass rushers on the edge, either OLB or DEs, yes, but other than that our defense looks stacked tbh. Should be considerably better than what we just witnessed.

[Hopeful Hog]

Not having the players is bad coaching.  Part of coaching is recruiting.

Exactly!! This is why I hate when people try to say "it's not the coaches fault just look at the talent they are trying to work with". My response is always "Well whose fault is that?"

[rickm1976]

Speed speed speed.  We lack it big time. That should be focus #1.  Bad tackling all year is b/c the majority of our D were late to the point of attack or running to catch up from a bad angle. It'll be a couple years before there is enough talent/speed on the defensive side of the ball to compliment the offense and be able to beat any big boy teams.

This.  We do not, and never have had SEC level overall speed on defense.

[elksnort]

Maybe the new strength and conditioning coach and program can help produce a little more speed from the existing players. Yes, I do realize that you either have speed or you don't but proper training and diet can help some.

[IronHog]

This.  We do not, and never have had SEC level overall speed on defense.

There's been times Arkansas has been super fast on Defense....just lacked size up front

[GalaHawg]

If it is Chavis, what is a reason that would explain why he hasn't been named yet?

Just a guess... Maybe he is waiting to hear from Tennessee and we are his second option.

[elksnort]

There's been times Arkansas has been super fast on Defense....just lacked size up front

It probably helps when you have a head coach who emphasizes speed.

[thebignasty]

Going to be all about finding a way to play fast and be disruptive up front.  Actually have a pair of decent linebackers and some players you think can be good in the secondary.


Outside of Agim, no sure bets on the d-line.  Need some guys to step up in the worst way.  I actually think it might be the weakest position on the team going into next year.

[Dark Helmet Hog]

No more Body by Herb will help our defense a lot. Speed kills.

[IronHog]

It probably helps when you have a head coach who emphasizes speed.

There's running fast then there's playing fast

Need both of those in the right direction to be really good

[Kevin]

I liked the young defensive lineman. Played a lot of sophomores, red shirt freshmen

[Con el Cerdos]

So trying to play defense in the SEC with G5 quality athletes is a bad idea. Something we agree on.

Also agree.  Bob Stoops was the last coach I heard say this.  Great players make coaches great.  If a HC doesn't have the players, winning big or consistently won't happen.

He also said a HC should hire a couple of coaches who can handle the team during practice, if that's needed.  The balance of the staff should be made up of excellent recruiters, with that being their primary job.

Can't make a silk purse from a sows ear, I read somewhere.

[LRHawg]

Just a guess... Maybe he is waiting to hear from Tennessee and we are his second option.

That's a possibility, however, with the head coach being Pruitt I would be surprised if Chavis wants to be micro-managed on coaching the defense.

[ChicoHog]

Also agree.  Bob Stoops was the last coach I heard say this.  Great players make coaches great.  If a HC doesn't have the players, winning big or consistently won't happen.

He also said a HC should hire a couple of coaches who can handle the team during practice, if that's needed.  The balance of the staff should be made up of excellent recruiters, with that being their primary job.

Can't make a silk purse from a sows ear, I read somewhere.

Absolutely.  Especially on defense.  All about the talent.  Going into last season I thought we had 2 NFL players on defense, Agim and Pulley.  Now I think we may have 3 or 4 with Harris and Curl added to the list.  We really lack quantity of talent on defense.  Also everyone talks about speed which is true but how many opponents break our arm tackles and how many times it takes more than one defender to bring down the ball carrier?  that's about strength.  You don't see guys breaking tackles against Bama's DBs.  They just don't miss tackles which limits a lot of big plays.  We need DBs like that and you have to recruit them.  it's hard to develop those skills.  I just hope Morris and his staff can recruit better defensive players than BB did.  if not, it will be another long season(s). 

[Con el Cerdos]

exactly. there is way more talent there than HV gives credit for, not shockingly. Our secondary will be salty, our LBs will be good with scoota and dre. We nned some pass rushers on the edge, either OLB or DEs, yes, but other than that our defense looks stacked tbh. Should be considerably better than what we just witnessed.

I'm not totally in on our back six or seven, depending on alignment.  But if they are as good as you think, we absolutely need run stuffers on the DL and edge rushers than can get sacks or at least pressure the QB to help them.  If we don't get those, including some depth, the DBs won't show any better than in previous years.  IMO.

Offensively, in Morris' first year I expect discipline to improve, but I'm wary of projecting more wins because of the questions at QB and OL.

I think Morris will kick around the G-5 recruiting teams in the SEC fairly soon.  And he will win the rent-a-wins; however, I think he will need at the least two full recruiting years (2019 and 2020) and maybe a third, to field a team capable of competing consistently with LSU, Auburn, A&M, and occasionally Bama.

I don't want to give in because I've been burned so, so many times believing "we will win next year."  Do have to say, however, the more I read comments from people influenced by Morris, that I find myself buying-in more and more.

[DeltaBoy]

We will see what happens.

[Hog Fan...DOH!]

I'm not totally in on our back six or seven, depending on alignment.  But if they are as good as you think, we absolutely need run stuffers on the DL and edge rushers than can get sacks or at least pressure the QB to help them.  If we don't get those, including some depth, the DBs won't show any better than in previous years.  IMO.

Offensively, in Morris' first year I expect discipline to improve, but I'm wary of projecting more wins because of the questions at QB and OL.

I think Morris will kick around the G-5 recruiting teams in the SEC fairly soon.  And he will win the rent-a-wins; however, I think he will need at the least two full recruiting years (2019 and 2020) and maybe a third, to field a team capable of competing consistently with LSU, Auburn, A&M, and occasionally Bama.

I don't want to give in because I've been burned so, so many times believing "we will win next year."  Do have to say, however, the more I read comments from people influenced by Morris, that I find myself buying-in more and more.

Get sound and get faster on D, get a player from the state of Arkansas on O that cannot be defended.  Enter Treylon Burks.

[cardinalandwhite]

Get sound and get faster on D, get a player from the state of Arkansas on O that cannot be defended.  Enter Treylon Burks.

CCM needs to go all in on recruiting a couple dominant pass rushers. They make everyone else better. Look at what Flowers and Philon did for our D.

[redleg]

I won't be surprised to see Arkansas go back to the 4-3, in fact, I'd be shocked if they didn't. Looking at who might start in a 4-3 D.....
On the Line there would be DE Agim - 5*, DT Capps - 4*, DT Smith - 3*, and DE Bell - 4*. Those rankings are pretty good!
If Jamario Bell can get healthy (and Morris hires the right DC), he has the talent to be a very good pass rusher.
At LB it might be MLB Harris - 3*, SLB Ramsey - 3*, and WLB Greenlaw - 3*. Average rankings, but there is talent there.
In the secondary it might be LCB Pulley - 3*, RCB Calloway - 4*, SS Ramirez - 3*, and FS Curl - 3*. Not bad rankings, but not great either. There is speed at the corners.
Curl was one of a number of players that Bielema and his staff either had playing out of position, or were not utilizing at all (think Hammonds). I betcha Curl moves to FS and Calloway starts opposite Pulley. Montaric Brown is going to push at FS.

[Con el Cerdos]

Not having the players is bad coaching.  Part of coaching is recruiting; so they are responsible for the players that they had.  Hopefully, a big name hire will attract more great athletes to want to play for them.

If coaches can't recruit SEC level athletes, or those that are a system fit, we will never compete, consistently with the top tier teams in the conference.

And please don't start with Petrino.  He had NFL type players at QB, WR, TE, and RB.  OL was much better than we've had the last five years.  And like the offense, the last two years Petrino had defensive players that went on to play in the NFL, as well.  Plus he was pretty damn good coach.

We haven't had that combination in a while.  So, if we truly do have the right coach he has to recruit successfully, on a basis that at the least brings in players that fit his offensive and defensive systems.

[bob slydell]

If coaches can't recruit SEC level athletes, or those that are a system fit, we will never compete, consistently with the top tier teams in the conference.

And please don't start with Petrino.  He had NFL type players at QB, WR, TE, and RB.  OL was much better than we've had the last five years.  And like the offense, that last two years Petrino had defensive players the went on to play in the NFL, as well.  Plus he was pretty damn good coach.

We haven't had that combination in a while.  So, if we truly do have the right coach he has to recruit successfully, on a basis that at the least brings in players that fit his offensive and defensive systems.

I think we are saying the same thing.

[Pig in the Pokey]

CCM needs to go all in on recruiting a couple dominant pass rushers. They make everyone else better. Look at what Flowers and Philon did for our D.

Treylon Burks is an elite pass rusher. Just saying. Agreed that should be the priority on defense. OLB/DEs with speed and length.

[redleg]

Treylon Burks is an elite pass rusher. Just saying. Agreed that should be the priority on defense. OLB/DEs with speed and length.

No way Burks plays defense. 
Dude is almost a 5* WR, and has the talent to be the best receiver Arkansas has had since Cobi Hamilton and Jarius Wright.

[cardinalandwhite]

No way Burks plays defense. 
Dude is almost a 5* WR, and has the talent to be the best receiver Arkansas has had since Cobi Hamilton and Jarius Wright.

From the sound of things he could excel in five or six positions. The question is where does he want to play and where do we need him most. I think with our staff that we're about to be loaded at WR, but they may still put him there. Who knows?

[JONAS]

The D was transitioning to a 3-4 last year, so that was an issue as far as the guys being where they're supposed to be.  It will be interesting to see what the new D-coordinator brings. 

There are some real players, though.  Agim, Scoota, Greenlaw, Santos, Pulley, Kurl, Calloway.  After that?  Ramsey?  Montaric Brown?  Hard to say.

I hope none of them transfer.

[MasterChiefHog]

I thought all the PT Curl got this year was great experience for him. He's going to be good.

[JONAS]

I thought all the PT Curl got this year was great experience for him. He's going to be good.

He should be.

[lakecityhog]

Why would any of you try to judge our players right now? Let's just go back 1 year and think about D Wise, he could hardly get on the field and now is a staple of the Patriots D.

We have SEC talent all over the field, maybe not Alabama talent in every case, but SEC talent none the less! Agim would start on most any SEC team. Same for Ryan Pulley.
Capps, Marshall and Smith would be it the 2 Deep on most teams for sure and start for a few.
Harris and Greenlaw are VERY good players and everyone wanted Brown.

Yeah, with GOOD coaching we can field an average SEC defense in year 1, with really good coaching we could be pretty salty.

[bjeffersonhog]

Everyone is saying we don't have the speed on defense, which makes a lot of sense based on some things I saw this year.  Coming out of high school I remember a lot of these kids had really good 40 times though.  A lot of people have mentioned that our weight program has put on too much muscle causing our offensive speed guys to slow down, so wouldn't it make sense that it would have the same effect on our defense?  I'm sure someone has brought that up before, but I haven't seen it mentioned in regards to the defensive side of the ball nearly as much.  Maybe they just need a spring with a S&C coach that is more focused on speed then bulk. 

[Hugo Bezdek]

I think we'll see a very different defense after everyone loses about 10-20 lbs of Body-by-Herb.

[chenalhog]

exactly. there is way more talent there than HV gives credit for, not shockingly. Our secondary will be salty, our LBs will be good with scoota and dre. We nned some pass rushers on the edge, either OLB or DEs, yes, but other than that our defense looks stacked tbh. Should be considerably better than what we just witnessed.

no depth on defense someone gets hurt no one replace them

[JONAS]

Everyone is saying we don't have the speed on defense, which makes a lot of sense based on some things I saw this year.  Coming out of high school I remember a lot of these kids had really good 40 times though.  A lot of people have mentioned that our weight program has put on too much muscle causing our offensive speed guys to slow down, so wouldn't it make sense that it would have the same effect on our defense?  I'm sure someone has brought that up before, but I haven't seen it mentioned in regards to the defensive side of the ball nearly as much.  Maybe they just need a spring with a S&C coach that is more focused on speed then bulk. 

I'm sure it has had the same effect on the defense.

[12247]

Don't we have a kid named Jackson who was all that in High school but hasn't performed for us.  If that was poor coaching and I don't know that, he could be one of the studs we are needing.

[HamGrowsOnTrees]

We will see what happens.

It will be what it will be.