We can all agree that we are not were we want to be. We can discuss and argue on why, but there is no simple answer. However, there is a few things that when you add them together is a reason for concern. We can all agree that our OL have showed signs of weakness against pass rush. The same can be said for our DL on the opposite side of the ball. We also have seen deficiencies in our defensive backfield against the pass. On the other hand we have been fairly successful running the ball and also defending against the run (dual threat QBs being the exception). We can say it's Stoops fault, it's Dawson's fault, Eliot should go, Towles sucks and our receivers cannot catch etc. Personally I think these are just sideffects of our main problem.
Our biggest problem this year is the quality of our DTs and OLBs. That's were it starts and that's why we cannot create any passrush or can defend against dual QBs. They just aren't athletic enough. These are the same guys our OL is going up against in practice. Off course we aren't were we need to be on OL, but how can we expect them to improve if the only quality passrush they face is on gameday? With better DTs and OLBs our D will improve, our DBs will look better, our OL will look better and with that Towles will get more time and our receivers will get time to get open. This in turn will help our running game. Football is a game that's won and lost in the trenches. Improve that and everything looks better.
I don't see any immediate solution to this and it may take 2 more years to get this fixed.
Our biggest problem this year is the quality of our DTs and OLBs. That's were it starts and that's why we cannot create any passrush or can defend against dual QBs. They just aren't athletic enough. These are the same guys our OL is going up against in practice. Off course we aren't were we need to be on OL, but how can we expect them to improve if the only quality passrush they face is on gameday? With better DTs and OLBs our D will improve, our DBs will look better, our OL will look better and with that Towles will get more time and our receivers will get time to get open. This in turn will help our running game. Football is a game that's won and lost in the trenches. Improve that and everything looks better.
I don't see any immediate solution to this and it may take 2 more years to get this fixed.
