2020 Previews: Athlon - Early Big Ten Football Predictions

Husker in WI said:
I'm not disagreeing honestly, but it is sad.

I'm actually pretty optimistic at the DE spots. Stille didn't get the sacks Khalil did, but there's no drop off from the Davises to Stille. Deontre Thomas is in the same tier. Then throw in the young guys with upside and now a little experience and a lot of S&C (Robinson, Casey Rogers, Wildeman, Keem Green) and  I think we're at worst the same as last year, with a lot more potential.

NT is a different story. I'm of the opinion that Darrion was very underrated last year, and there's not a clear stud to replace him. Damion always looks good out there, but there's a reason he's never out there for the whole game. Can he get himself to a point where he can play most of the game? And who's behind him? If it's Robinson great, but he still seems more like an End - I know he played nose against Wisconsin. Jordan Riley? Hutmacher? It's quite possible Damion steps up and has a phenomenal year, and is spelled effectively by any of those other 3. But it's also possible he's still a part time player, and none of the other 3 are ready to be the war daddy in the middle.
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There is no doubt that Damion has more upside than his brother did. Just needs to get into shape which he should be by now. 

 
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Husker in WI said:
I'm not disagreeing honestly, but it is sad.

I'm actually pretty optimistic at the DE spots. Stille didn't get the sacks Khalil did, but there's no drop off from the Davises to Stille. Deontre Thomas is in the same tier. Then throw in the young guys with upside and now a little experience and a lot of S&C (Robinson, Casey Rogers, Wildeman, Keem Green) and  I think we're at worst the same as last year, with a lot more potential.

NT is a different story. I'm of the opinion that Darrion was very underrated last year, and there's not a clear stud to replace him. Damion always looks good out there, but there's a reason he's never out there for the whole game. Can he get himself to a point where he can play most of the game? And who's behind him? If it's Robinson great, but he still seems more like an End - I know he played nose against Wisconsin. Jordan Riley? Hutmacher? It's quite possible Damion steps up and has a phenomenal year, and is spelled effectively by any of those other 3. But it's also possible he's still a part time player, and none of the other 3 are ready to be the war daddy in the middle.
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I tend to feel we will rotate lots of guys in the D line and maybe use 4 more often vs heavy run power teams.  But not many on the schedule that will just try to crush us up front.  Speed helps on defense and LBs gotta plug holes.  

 
First down D will tell the tale.  we will be tough in those 2nd and mediums and 3rd and 5 plus.  Sacks and some TFLs early downs will make things alot harder for most teams we face.  And if the offense is humming better we will put teams behind on the scoreboard and theyll have to throw more.  Will need to guess right sometimes but will have the chances to make big plays more.  

 
tmfr15 said:
Nebraska should be the second best team in the west. Iowa's wins over Nebraska should have been dominant but were instead nail-biters. A solid season with an upset over Wisky might be enough to propel the Big Red to Indy and then NU would have to be fortunate to play an uninterested or uninspired Buckeye team in order to have a shot.
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I don't mean any offense by this, but your comments are a microcosm of showing the difference between where we actually are and where we think we should have easily been.

In reality, we are so far out of Wisconsin's league when you take into account the past three dumpster fire seasons; our two programs are in two completely different area codes. I see no silver linings or caveats that indicate we're closer than the results have shown.

 
Undone said:
I don't mean any offense by this, but your comments are a microcosm of showing the difference between where we actually are and where we think we should have easily been.

In reality, we are so far out of Wisconsin's league when you take into account the past three dumpster fire seasons; our two programs are in two completely different area codes. I see no silver linings or caveats that indicate we're closer than the results have shown.
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I know yards aren't everything, but we've put up the most yards against them both of the last 2 years.  At some point we've got to turn it into points/wins, but I'd say this shows something. 8.4 yards per play is absurd against a top defense.

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Husker in WI said:
I know yards aren't everything, but we've put up the most yards against them both of the last 2 years.  At some point we've got to turn it into points/wins, but I'd say this shows something. 8.4 yards per play is absurd against a top defense.
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My comments weren't about looking at having been sort of close to beating them a few times over the last few years in specific games.

I'm talking about zooming out and looking at things like the way we turn the ball over, our terrible special teams play, etc. and seeing just how big the gap is between our two programs that result in us having three straight losing seasons and them being a legitimate Top 25 (and sometimes Top 10) team.

 
Undone said:
My comments weren't about looking at having been sort of close to beating them a few times over the last few years in specific games.

I'm talking about zooming out and looking at things like the way we turn the ball over, our terrible special teams play, etc. and seeing just how big the gap is between our two programs that result in us having three straight losing seasons and them being a legitimate Top 25 (and sometimes Top 10) team.
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Ah fair enough. Yeah I don't have any examples of us starting to show any consistency, unfortunately.

 
BigRedBuster said:
Isn't 315 lbs pretty big for a DE?  If he were going to play DE, I would think they would try to have him below 300.
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He played nose tackle against Wisconsin last year. In my opinion it's hard to say where he'll be used for sure and also what Chinander wants the two ends to be built like exactly.

But, with what he has to-date, it looks like Chinander is going for three massive bodies and then to have the OLBs try to get to the passer on passing down situations.

 
Undone said:
He played nose tackle against Wisconsin last year. In my opinion it's hard to say where he'll be used for sure and also what Chinander wants the two ends to be built like exactly.

But, with what he has to-date, it looks like Chinander is going for three massive bodies and then to have the OLBs try to get to the passer on passing down situations.
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The part that makes me think it's possible he plays DE is that he's 6'6".  That's a big body with a long reach.

 
If he can keep some athleticism, I think they'll let him play end at whatever weight they can get him to. I have no idea if they see him as a big piece at nose or not, but I think Chins wants at least a couple guys who can play both, and Robinson seems ideal in that sense. Green / Daniels / Robinson looks pretty stout, but you can also go Stille / Robinson / Thomas and get some pass rush and still have enough size to hold up in the run game. Heck, depending on the OLBs you could throw Green / Robinson out there in a sub package with only 2 down lineman - definitely have more options than the last 2 years.

 
bugeater17 said:
The D line is the biggest question mark for me. We have some talent coming in but not much experience outside of Stille. If the D line gets pushed around come Big 10 play it could make for a long season on the defensive side. 
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Yeah, the D-line has me most worried too.  Especially the interior D-line.  We have pretty decent edge rushers in Stille and Deontre Thomas.  And even a bit of depth with some of the younger DEs.  But I think the loss of Darrion Daniels will be felt on the inside.  Little brother Damion Daniels is solid, and might even live up to what we had in Darrion.  But the interior line is one of those spots where it helps to have a couple guys to rotate in and out.  Ty Robinson could step up.  But, you know, redshirt freshman.  It's tough for a young guy to step in and compete against Big Ten O-linemen.   Another guy that could really help us out is Keem Green.  He has a bit more bulk than Robinson and a couple more years of college football.  In any case, someone's gonna have to step up.  

 
I'm definitely more concerned about the Defense heading into 2020.  Too bad we couldn't fast forward with a lot of these guys especially with this year's recruiting class.  Except for Omar Manning.  I'm pretty sure he's already a beast.

 
NUance said:
Especially the interior D-line.  We have pretty decent edge rushers in Stille and Deontre Thomas.
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There isn't much "edge rushing" done by the defensive linemen in a 3-4. Especially not in Chinander's 3-4. It's 3 guys lined up against 5 offensive linemen.

The outside linebackers do that mostly in Chinander's scheme.

 
Undone said:
There isn't much "edge rushing" done by the defensive linemen in a 3-4. Especially not in Chinander's 3-4. It's 3 guys lined up against 5 offensive linemen.

The outside linebackers do that mostly in Chinander's scheme.
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This is my understanding too.  The D line is mostly just trying to semi hold the line push and plug things a tad and mostly occupy O linemen.   Tackles or sacks are bonus.   The LBs and safeties are the primary tacklers in a 3-4.  If u have a Suiuuh caliber guy (rare) then you may get more from a 3 man front.  5-2 and 4-3 tend to get more TFl and sacks etc.  Still u got to blitz frequently enough to force the opponent to keep extra TE or RB in for pass pro.  

 
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