What I would change about the defense

After spending way too much time watching breakdowns and replays of our games this season, I have come up some simple personnel adjustments I would make to help the defense. Many may not agree. This is ignoring the obvious change of tackling and pursuit drills until everyone pukes everyday.

1) Move Harold Perkins back inside. I may catch heat for this, but House and Kelly were right to move him to ILB. I didn’t like the way they utilized him vs FSU but moving him completely outside was an overreaction IMO. We still need him on the edge situationally, but he needs to be primarily in the middle. I’m going to show you two plays, a few weeks apart. This is the same exact play: GH counter. Both times it was correctly identified and filled by the LB, with very different results. I’ll let you figure out what’s different.





2) Less Saivion Jones at edge, more Maason Smith. Saivion Jones has been repeatedly victimized as the primary edge defender. Many people have called for Womack here, and on passing downs I would agree, but I want to see Maason smith outside. Smith has been double teamed and basically washed out of almost every play inside. Move him outside, get him some space, and run some twists, stunts, and scrapes with the LB over his outside to steal gaps in the run game.

3) Less Oghufo, more Swinson and Womack. I don’t know why Swinson disappeared. I thought he was far and away better than Oghufo. He and Womack should be the only guys getting snaps at Jack, with Perk subbing in here situationally.

4) Weeks over Speights. Shouldn’t have to explain this one. I think most of TD would agree.

5) Duce Chestnut back in the game. He was hated on early in the season and I get it. He’s undersized and struggles in man against bigger WRs. But he plays well downhill and most importantly he fricking tackles. I’d rather a guy give up a catch and make a tackle than a guy give up a catch and completely whiff giving them 30 more yards.

This obviously doesn’t solve everything, but it stops some of the bleeding. We don’t need to be elite defensively, and obviously we won’t be, but we absolutely can be better. It starts this weekend.