re: How Do You Feel About the Defense?

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I think our defense will surprise a few folks this year.

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I agree. I know Ellis usually shoots pretty straight, but I also think he tends to overstate the negative some times and downplay the positives, and I'd much rather a coach do that than the opposite.

Our D line is deep and has a ton of experience. Outside of maybe Lawson and Adams, we may not have any game changers, but I think we'll see a pretty big improvement this year, even with the loss of Ford. We'll be able to rotate 10-12 guys on the line, and having guys like Lambert, Wright and Adams being able to move from inside to outside is huge. I think our D Line will be very solid.

LB's - The only thing holding McKinzey back was not being able to fully grasp the defense and make the calls. That's why Holland played MLB. Just having the talent that McKinzey has there instead of Holland is a big step forward. If Johnson has moved them, I think he's obviously got the confidence in him that he can do that. Getting him more reps this spring would have been great, but that's just the way it goes. Switching him and Frost will prove to be a great move. McKinzey is a true MLB and Frost an OLB, based on body type, imo. Putting Frost in space and letting him use his speed will prove that. Having Garrett back and able to move from Star to OLB is big. I think Toney will be a solid backup, and hopefully Flowers or someone else steps it up as well.

DB - I love having Moncrief being able to come in and seemingly start right away. That will boost our run stopping immediately. I think we'll end up having a pretty solid 2 deep in the secondary, however it shakes out. We've got several guys that can move around and play different positions if they need to. It won't be the best in the league, but I think it will probably be the most talent we've had, if nothing else, post-Tuberville.