AZGrizFan said:bgbigdog said:You've also got guys like Genatone & Wegener. Wegener has already redshirted at Iowa, so he's got some kind of pedigree that would indicate some ability. Genatone, an athlete on the order of Gillman, was a wrestling & sprints champion, and he's through the redshirt process. Wondering if he's a guy like O'Connell? A D-line guy that might be pressed into service is Ramos. There's not much in terms of girth on the roster behind Cubs.
I am perfectly fine with the DL pipeline and the LB pipeline. CB is a concern, given that we lose both starting corners this year. And I still don't believe Graves is the answer at safety, yet we lose both Cotton and Hauck there...
Cotton is a JR and may need to be switched back to CB. Graves comment is strange due to he had most INTs and passes defended by all safeties also had one kick return and that went for 77 yards so he has speed and has least amount of time at Safety and performed well. I wouldn’t assume a regression. He is a bright spot returning on defense. His tackles were in low 30’s that was on par for the rest of the safeties and more than CBs and had more PDs than starting CBs and 2 INTs was a team high in 2022. Opposed to Robby having 1 INT in 53 starts and that was as freshman. Speaking of freshmen Cooper Walton would be a great replacement for Robby. He had an offer from Colo. St. and is bigger and faster and a tackling machine with good coverage skills, close to 400 tackles and 5 INTs in HS. Robby is proof that the defense can have a frosh or redshirt frosh as with Walton in 2023 can hold up fine and with his ceiling Walton could really make this defense work more consistent without the defensive holding and late hits out of bounds calls. 3-3-5 first requirement of players is speed and that wasn’t Robby’s strong suite, he had desire, heart, drive, work ethic, smarts, but you can’t teach speed and length or allow undisciplined behavior to go unchecked.