2018 Season Expectations and Predictions

[UWMandSDSU]

Re: 2018 Season Expectations and Predictions

From twitter: @gradygarrett Another note from the 1st day of practice story: Former Yuma Catholic defensive end Daniel Callender has transferred to AWC after one season at South Dakota State

Arizona Western College Runner Up Finish in NJCAA Championship last season.

[goon]

Re: 2018 Season Expectations and Predictions

Never gets old!

https://youtu.be/IV84ha3uEGg

**sorry for injecting basketball into football thread

As Jon lovitz would say. That's the ticket.

[JackJD]

Re: 2018 Season Expectations and Predictions

Dad of a young football fan who has battled cancer, writes of his respect for Brandon Snyder, the incoming Iowa transfer:
https://www.powerforparker.com/blog/...h-my-sons-eyes

[Southeast]

Re: 2018 Season Expectations and Predictions

Dad of a young football fan who has battled cancer, writes of his respect for Brandon Snyder, the incoming Iowa transfer:
https://www.powerforparker.com/blog/...h-my-sons-eyes

Wow. I’m glad to him in Brookings.

[NWHSUandSDSU]

Re: 2018 Season Expectations and Predictions

Chase Kern retirement due to injury per zimmer tweet

[goon]

Re: 2018 Season Expectations and Predictions

Chase Kern retirement due to injury per zimmer tweet

What a bummer. I thought he was expecting to have a big year. Best of luck to him and is that 3 this year who had to walk away due to injuries?

[Hareofthedog]

Re: 2018 Season Expectations and Predictions

Time to start praying for the Defensive line to stay health all year, find some LBs to fill the DE depth or incoming Freshmen that might add depth at DE. The questionable defensive line just keeps losing players and that spells trouble in MVFC.

[KUlawJack]

Re: 2018 Season Expectations and Predictions

Time to start praying for the Defensive line to stay health all year, find some LBs to fill the DE depth or incoming Freshmen that might add depth at DE. The questionable defensive line just keeps losing players and that spells trouble in MVFC.

We haven’t even played a down yet but you describe the D line as questionable? I am usually one of the first here to criticize but I will at least wait until we kick off the first game before I declare the sky to be falling.

[Jackedforlife]

Re: 2018 Season Expectations and Predictions

We haven’t even played a down yet but you describe the D line as questionable? I am usually one of the first here to criticize but I will at least wait until we kick off the first game before I declare the sky to be falling.

Agreed, we return 3 players who logged considerable time at DT and a rs FR who Stig singled out as having one of the best springs out of all the players. I realize we lost Soulek but the sky isn't falling yet. Regarding DE we return Earith who at the end of the season was performing at an all conference level and plays both the run and pass equally well. Who starts opposite? Sure losing Kern stinks but at 220# and a bad back I don't think he was the answer anyway. I think among Wilson, Smenda and Ogunrinde it is covered but it would be nice to see one of them step up. Also heard that Winkelman had a great off season and if Malachi can see the field with a little productivity even better. While I'm not ready to call DL a strength of ours I do not think the cupboard is bare, I think it is about finding the right combination of guys. The team is as deep as it has ever been, hopefully now we begin to see the fruits of the facilities.

[Gojacks2487]

Re: 2018 Season Expectations and Predictions

We haven’t even played a down yet but you describe the D line as questionable? I am usually one of the first here to criticize but I will at least wait until we kick off the first game before I declare the sky to be falling.

Did something happen tp DT Austin Barret #50 I didn’t see his name in the DT previews?

[Rabbit74]

Re: 2018 Season Expectations and Predictions

Did something happen tp DT Austin Barret #50 I didn’t see his name in the DT previews?

on the roster he is listed as OL

[Mr_Tibbs]

Re: 2018 Season Expectations and Predictions

I also agree that it's too early to call the DL a weakness until we've seen them against a conference team or two. The first games in September might be needed to gel/grow etc. If they are a liability in October, then I think we can confidently say that.

However, I am sick of this being a story line each August. It's been wash, rinse, repeat with the D Line/D ends since 2012, in my opinion. We've had good single stars, like Soulek, but we haven't had a solid and consistent unit in 6 years it seems. Other Valley teams seem to reload well at the D line, and for some reason, we seem to be missing that mark. We've been blessed by really strong LB play this decade, which has maybe taken some pressure off of the D line. But it feels like we're always talking about it being a question mark, and full of young bodies. The one year where it seemed like it might be a strength (2016), it ended up being very average. I don't know if we need better recruiting in this area, better schemes, or better coaching, but something seems to be missing when we've consistently been one of the worst pass rushing teams in the Valley for the past 4 years, the coaches acknowledge that and supposedly emphasize correcting that, and we are still a weak pass rush team with very young players or thin depth.

Edit: Looking back at the valley archives, we finished in the top half of "sacks by" in league in 12, 13, and 16. In 14, 15, and 17, we were bottom half. Our rush defense has also been trending down consistently since 2012, with the exception of 2015, which had fantastic back 7.

[SDSUAlum08]

Re: 2018 Season Expectations and Predictions

I also agree that it's too early to call the DL a weakness until we've seen them against a conference team or two. The first games in September might be needed to gel/grow etc. If they are a liability in October, then I think we can confidently say that.

However, I am sick of this being a story line each August. It's been wash, rinse, repeat with the D Line/D ends since 2012, in my opinion. We've had good single stars, like Soulek, but we haven't had a solid and consistent unit in 6 years it seems. Other Valley teams seem to reload well at the D line, and for some reason, we seem to be missing that mark. We've been blessed by really strong LB play this decade, which has maybe taken some pressure off of the D line. But it feels like we're always talking about it being a question mark, and full of young bodies. The one year where it seemed like it might be a strength (2016), it ended up being very average. I don't know if we need better recruiting in this area, better schemes, or better coaching, but something seems to be missing when we've consistently been one of the worst pass rushing teams in the Valley for the past 4 years, the coaches acknowledge that and supposedly emphasize correcting that, and we are still a weak pass rush team with very young players or thin depth.

Edit: Looking back at the valley archives, we finished in the top half of "sacks by" in league in 12, 13, and 16. In 14, 15, and 17, we were bottom half. Our rush defense has also been trending down consistently since 2012, with the exception of 2015, which had fantastic back 7.

SDSU plays a bend, but don’t break defense. They give up a lot of yards. The aggressiveness hasn’t been there much since I’ve been a fan.

[CappinHard]

Re: 2018 Season Expectations and Predictions

SDSU plays a bend, but don’t break defense. They give up a lot of yards. The aggressiveness hasn’t been there much since I’ve been a fan.

Which is completely frustrating. If you're going to break, which we have done on far too many 3rd and longs, I would much rather have it be due to an aggressive call instead of sitting back and letting what is usually an average quarterback sit comfortably in the pocket until one of his receivers breaks free for a first down. I blame the lack of sacks and poor rush defense on play calling/scheme. There are some teams that you can't afford to take chances on defense against, I get that. But I would like to see much more aggressive play calls in terms of more blitzes and more press coverage. It's so painful to see our DBs playing 10 yards off the ball on 3rd and 7, basically giving up a 5 yd pass and hoping they can make the tackle before the first down marker. Good defensive teams get off the field on 3rd and long by forcing a rushed decision by the QB and an incompletion. More often than not our defense is getting off the field by giving up an easy completion and making a good tackle and barely preventing them from getting a 1st down.

Rant over.

But seriously. Let's see some blitzing this year.

[Mr_Tibbs]

Re: 2018 Season Expectations and Predictions

Which is completely frustrating. If you're going to break, which we have done on far too many 3rd and longs, I would much rather have it be due to an aggressive call instead of sitting back and letting what is usually an average quarterback sit comfortably in the pocket until one of his receivers breaks free for a first down. I blame the lack of sacks and poor rush defense on play calling/scheme. There are some teams that you can't afford to take chances on defense against, I get that. But I would like to see much more aggressive play calls in terms of more blitzes and more press coverage. It's so painful to see our DBs playing 10 yards off the ball on 3rd and 7, basically giving up a 5 yd pass and hoping they can make the tackle before the first down marker. Good defensive teams get off the field on 3rd and long by forcing a rushed decision by the QB and an incompletion. More often than not our defense is getting off the field by giving up an easy completion and making a good tackle and barely preventing them from getting a 1st down.

Rant over.

But seriously. Let's see some blitzing this year.

Agree with this. It's 100% scheme. I also don't necessarily agree with the poster that said SDSU has always played a bend/don't break D. 2012 and prior, Jay Bubak was Co DC, and I think the style of play was noticibly different then. I won't go down that road too far, but I do think that's part of the impact we see in 2018.