Rockne's Roundtable

In the spring 2013 thread about offense, the consensus belief was that we should expect significant improvement in the unit, as a whole. With a returning starter at QB, 2 WRs, 3 OL, and a deep and talented pool of RBs and TEs, this wasn’t too much of a debate. A more interesting debate should be whether the defense will take a step back, maintain, or improve in 2013.

With 8 returning starters, this typically wouldn’t be much of a debate. However, the three losses were all impact players. Te’o was arguably the greatest LB to ever play at ND. Motta nearly single-handedly held together a secondary, in the early part of the season, with literally zero experience. And KLM was not only the leader of the DL, but perhaps the most vocal leader on the entire defense.

I am of the belief that we will field a better, more talented defense in 2013. However, I do not expect to repeat the numbers (e.g. PPG) of 2012.

1. Coaches speak highly of Jarrett Grace, and I’m hopeful he will be a great player for ND. However, he is not Te’o. Te’o was/is special. Some lucky NFL team will soon find that out. He was asked to do (and did) a lot for our defense. Fortunately, I do not think the staff will ask Grace to take-on all of Te’o’s responsibilities. I think other players, at different positions, will each chip-in, in different ways to help replace Te’o contributions. Typically, I do not think ILB is a hard position to replace (much like RB on offense). Te’o was much more than just an ILB, though. So, he will be missed. But his tackles will likely be replaced by the collective effort of others.
2. Our depth at DL has improved and should allow for more consistent domination. Our DL asserted itself, at times, in 2012. In fact, I would say the majority of times our DL had its way. However, there were times where it seemed like we could not get a push or get to the QB, especially down the stretch of the season. I have a hunch that this was largely due to fatigue. Tuitt, KLM and Nix all logged a TON of minutes. Tuitt and Nix should again get their fair share, but I hope we can curtail them some and get more from others and new faces. Day should step into more of a feature role. Jones and Hounshell should be able to contribute, after sitting out a year ago. Schwenke and Springmann have another year of experience under their belt. Heck, even Stockton might return given the new scholarships that have opened up (Nichols, Kiel, and Slaughter). And this doesn’t even consider the new blood arriving in the fall, of which we might have two additional contributors (at least one).
3. The edge of our defense should be stronger. With every significant contributor returning from 2012, it’s exciting to think about the edge of our defense. Shembo, Spond, Williams, Councell, and Okwara at Dog & Cat. Jackson, Russell, and Shumate at Corner. Then you consider that Wood returns from injury at CB and new players (including Jaylon Smith) arrive in the fall. The boundaries of our defense should be stronger than they have been in a long, long time.
4. We need a solution at safety. One of the biggest takeaways (for me) from the national championship game was that we needed better pass defending safeties. Adding Redfield should help, but I think the solution might already be on campus. I would be in favor of giving Shumate first crack at the other safety spot. He made plays in limited action, last year. Also, we should get a boost from Baratti having a year of experience and Collinsworth returning from injury. Additionally, I would expect Farley to make a big jump entering his second year as a safety and as a starter. Bottom line, though, this position still scares me more than any other (which doesn’t really say a ton).
5. This one is hard to predict, but I have a hunch we will be facing much tougher competition in 2013. Our defense was unquestionably great in 2012, but we did play some pretty bad offensive teams. Stanford should be improved with increased experience on their OL and Hogan returning as QB. BYU had a dynamic frosh QB who tore his ACL prior to our game, and Riley Nelson was one of the worst starting QBs in all of college football, IMO. They should be better on offense. USC is a wildcard because they still have dynamic playmakers (see Lee, Marqise) and some untapped talent. Michigan might actually be better with a more traditional QB under center. I do not have any specific reason for MSU to be better, but it’s hard to imagine they could get worse. OU is a toss-up, but they same to produce similar numbers regardless of their personnel turnover. Arizona State will be a real dynamo offensively. That game actually scares me, a little. At the end of the day, there isn’t really anything that I can definitively point to and say that’s why our schedule will be tougher in 2013, but let’s just call it a hunch.

I do not expect much to shake out this spring, but we could potentially see if any players are shifted around to fill holes. The competition will not be complete until a complete group of talented freshmen arrive for fall camp; however, we should be able to establish a leaderboard for certain spots.