Coach Elko said it himself. "Y'all know what Mike Elko defense looks like." I think we do and frankly I am really looking forward to it. As said I with the other post about the offense, the first job was evaluating the staff (well, you saw what happened with the staff other than the attempts with Coach Robinson...) then the players.
- "Wow, Our Secondary..." - I remember Coach Elko is a big analytics guy from his time as a DC, very smart, looks at everything, so I can't imagine him hiring a DC without similar traits. Again, there's no getting around looking at film. An emphasis on the players, first and foremost. Sure, the scheme plays into it some. Did the player understand the concepts? Was he being asked to do too much? Could he be a better fit somewhere else in our scheme?
- Blow it all up - That ended being the answer when the staff looked at it and remember we didn't the full staff in place at that time. So, we said we going to get bigger, stronger, and hopefully faster and more instinctive.
- Throw numbers at the problem - When you've got a huge hole on defense and a not a lot of time to fix it, what do you do?! Throw numbers at it. A lot and that's what we've done. We've tried to get "older" and more talented in a very short time. Will they all work out? Nope and the coaches know that, but sorting them out is what they get paid to do. We desperately needed the infusion of talent and competition. Now it's up to the staff to coach'em up!
- D Line: New Faces to Step Up Inside - I've said it before, losing Nolen hurts, but losing Jackson hurts more, in my opinion. Jackson just gave us that nose tackle that allowed the backers to eat. Nolen did, too, at times, but I thought Jackson did more. Now it will up to Turner, Dindy, Hicks, and Regis to carry that mantle. Perhaps Samu as well, depending on his conditioning. At this point, I'll still stomp my feet for another nose. Moving on, I think we have huge talent inside, but other than Turner, they just haven't played. A lot of that was to do with Durkin's screwy substitutions. Still, I'm confident we have the dudes to wreck with some serious FOUR MAN FRONTS!
- Edgy Edges Maybe? - No doubt about it. The addition of Nic Scourton is huge for us on a lot of fronts (see what I did there?!... y'all are no fun...). He gives Coach Bateman a lot of the versatility I don't believe he would otherwise have. When we have that "Guy" other teams have to account for on the edge, it just makes the calls a lot easier. Whether it's how many to send, drop or do line stunts we may want to run, it just makes the DC's job more fun, I daresay (I would guess Durkin would have said that about Cooper last year, even as a LB...). Big Nic is going to draw attention wherever he lines up and that is going help whoever lines up next to him or way on the opposite side. Regardless, it's time we start collapsing the pocket from the outside Moore-Miller-Garrett Style!!!
- Who's next to Mr. York? - I honestly have no idea about this one. The kid from Youngstown State looks fast & is experienced but I don't believe that is going to be enough to hand a job to anyone on this team. Nope, not with Coach Elko and Coach Bateman running it. Prove it or have a seat. I think a lot of players will have a shot and being a true fish won't necessarily work against you. It didn't for 21. I like what Sanford did in limited snaps, but he's still pretty light. What I know is that in a Elko-Bateman type of defense the WILL LB is asked to do a LOT, whether it's blitzing, setting the edge, or dropping into coverage. Don't look for standards to drop even if 45 has moved on....
