Interesting possibility....

[tdcat]

With Rogers leaving the DL, Deone Walker getting his first off season in a college weight program and JJ Weavor returning, we could see a big jump coming in our sack numbers.

If Deone moves to nose, his height and his ability to collapse the pocket could make it very hard for the opposing QB to step up, opening the door for Weaver and our other edge rushers to have a big year.

I believe Deone will work as hard as anyone can this off-season. The question is was he already near his ceiling or is more there.

We could really have something cooking with our DL. Might be able to get pressure bringing four. That is a game changer.

 

[K_TIME]

Unless JJ gets hot...I don't see the sack numbers increasing. You just don't rush passer a ton from interior DL...it's an edge rusher game. I think Ox if he gets back to himself could increase from the DT spot.

 

[YaketySax]

We could really have something cooking with our DL. Might be able to get pressure bringing four. That is a game changer.

I think one could make the case that pass rush is overrated a bit. UK had no pass rush this year, but was one of the best in the SEC and the country, despite the offense and special teams consistently saddling them with bad field position.

I think a good pass rush is icing on the cake. I think having a lockdown secondary, and players who keep their fits is (probably) more important.

 

[JHB4UK]

We badly need Wade and/or Fearby to have an offseason transformation into a Josh Allen left tackle torturing terror

 

[tdcat]

If

Unless JJ gets hot...I don't see the sack numbers increasing. You just don't rush passer a ton from interior DL...it's an edge rusher game. I think Ox if he gets back to himself could increase from the DT spot.

If the QB can't step up to get away from the edge rush, edge sack numbers will go up even if Weaver doesn't dramatically improve.

 

[FltDoc]

Uhhhh, we were statistically a very good defense. On game day against better teams we were “average”, and one glaring weakness was any semblance of a consistent pass rush with 4 down-linemen…

Lets not try to minimize the importance of a good rush — we werent good, here…

Conversely, having a weak pass-blocking team gets you beaten figuratively and literally…ie see our broken Qback for the year…

 

[pauled]

We badly need Wade and/or Fearby to have an offseason transformation into a Josh Allen left tackle torturing terror

Josh was a special player here! You don’t get a lot like him!!

 

[tf4fun]

Unless JJ gets hot...I don't see the sack numbers increasing. You just don't rush passer a ton from interior DL...it's an edge rusher game. I think Ox if he gets back to himself could increase from the DT spot.

As good as the defense was, this was a weak spot. If they can get more pressure, I believe the turn over number would increase considerably!

 

[satcheluk]

Unless JJ gets hot...I don't see the sack numbers increasing. You just don't rush passer a ton from interior DL...it's an edge rusher game. I think Ox if he gets back to himself could increase from the DT spot.

What happened to Ox? He was exceptional last year and we barely heard his name called this year.

 

[satcheluk]

I think one could make the case that pass rush is overrated a bit. UK had no pass rush this year, but was one of the best in the SEC and the country, despite the offense and special teams consistently saddling them with bad field position.

I think a good pass rush is icing on the cake. I think having a lockdown secondary, and players who keep their fits is (probably) more important.

I would argue that this style of defense is fine when you have good to great special teams, but when your third pillar sucks, you need havoc plays to help the offense get points on the board. We couldn't return a punt for shitte and we couldn't kick a FG, so when we held them to a punt around midfield, we had very little chance of converting that to points. DC White has been consistent, but maybe he should be willing to tweak his strategy based on what the offense and special teams are capable of?

 

[JHB4UK]

What happened to Ox? He was exceptional last year and we barely heard his name called this year.

Hurt middle of '21, lost too much weight in offseason recovery, was not much of an impact in '22. Hopefully he and the s&c crew figure it out this offseason.

 

[satcheluk]

Hurt middle of '21, lost too much weight in offseason recovery, was not much of an impact in '22. Hopefully he and the s&c crew figure it out this offseason.

I didn't realize his injury was that long lasting. Do you know what he injured?