Miami’s Defense
I have seen posts on various message boards discussing how Miami's defense may be young and talented and that they are also fast and athletic. Instead of just accepting this as gospel, I decided to look into it, and this is what I found.
I looked at Miami's stating front 7 and speed is not what jumps out at me. If anything size does. They are a bigger group than the traditional Miami defenses which were defined by speed. This is what I found on their list of starters. All 40's are based upon HS times, since that is all that I have. I listed their weights at the time they supposedly ran those times. I also listed their star ranking. I do think some of those speed numbers are overrated based upon how the older speed numbers used to be compiled (site admins for individual sites used to take coaches word for it). I think they do a better job of getting confirmed times from combines now. Regardless, this group just does not scare me at all. I think our speed on offense is ridiculous compared to what this group can do to defend against them.
DE 94 Eric Moncur | 6-2, 250, Jr., 3V 4* 4.6 40 @ 230 lbs.
DE 57 Allen Bailey | 6-4, 285, Fr., HS 4* LB 4.95 40 @ 255 lbs.
DT 96 Antonio Dixon | 6-3, 322, Sr., 3V 3* 5.2 40 @ 328 lbs.
DT 91 Joe Joseph | 6-3, 300, Sr., 2V 3* 4.9 40 @ 270 lbs.
LB 44 Colin McCarthy | 6-3, 235, Jr., 2V 3* 4.53 40 @ 210 lbs.
LB 50 Darryl Sharpton | 5-11, 235, Sr., 2V 3* 4.55 40 @ 210 lbs.
LB 3 Glenn Cook | 6-0, 228, Sr., 3V 3* 4.6 40 @ 218 lbs.
As a whole, Miami only returns 4 starters on defense from last year, and they are missing 4 of their top 5 biggest impact players from that group by far. Of the 4 returning starters, DVD's spot is in question and he may lose it. I see nobody on this defense that is a shoe in to pick up for what they lost in Campbell, Phillips, and Gooden, this year, and that is from a defense that was not that great last year anyway. Maybe some of their young guys emerge as the year progresses, but it would be a lot to expect them to come in this year and as a rule become big contributors.
Presented below is a list of all of Miami's starters and what they contributed last year as part of a team that finished 54th in scoring defense (we were 41st with a much younger defense that is returning much more this year). Keep in mind this is based upon the depth chart from another site. I would imagine that starters could change and there will also be some rotation of the younger players into the scheme. Bottom line is this is very pedestrian group. A lot of their returning experience is comprised of guys who are recovering from season ending injuries, and in some case that was not the first time they were lost for an extended length of time.
Moncur started eight of 10 games at left defensive end. Posted 48 tackles and 11.5 tackles for loss … Tied for second on the team with six sacks.
Bailey has never played a game at DE, and came into college as a LB.
Dixon played in nine games and made four starts. Finished with career highs in every statistical category … 21 tackles (eight solo), 3.5 tackles for loss, three QB pressures, 1.5 sacks and a pass breakup
Joseph played in 10 games, making five starts…Totaled 25 tackles (15th on the team), with two tackles for loss, six QB pressure and a half sack
McCarthy started at strongside linebacker and ranked fifth on the team with 74 tackles (50 solo)...Led the team with 12 tackles for loss…Added two sacks, three QB pressures, one interception, one fumble recovery for a touchdown, one forced fumble and five pass breakups.
Sharpton DNP in 2007 due to injury. In 2006 he totaled 41 tackles (10th on the team), with four tackles for loss, four QB pressures, one sack and three pass breakups.
Cook DNP in 2007 due to injury. In 2006 he started 11 of 12 games played. Ranked fifth on the team with a career-high 64 tackles (32 solo), four tackles for loss, seven QB pressures and two pass deflections.
Chavez Grant played as the nickel back all season…Started five games, playing in all 12 contests. Set season highs with 26 tackles (21 solo), adding 1 INT.
Bruce Johnson started eight games at cornerback, tied for the most on the team … Totaled 28 tackles (21 solo), with a team-leading six pass breakups … Made one interception.
Anthony Reddick missed 2007 due to 2nd ACL tear in 2 years. In 2006 appeared in only six games (no starts), mostly on special teams…Made one tackle.
JoJo Nicolas played in 11 games for the Hurricanes, mainly on special teams… Picked off first career interception in first game of the season vs. Marshall
As far as the entire defense is concerned, they were ranked 10 out of 12 on defense in the entire ACC. I like to actually look at a teams experience and base it on the percent of returning plays as opposed to just starters returning as I think it gives a more accurate picture of the teams overall experience and how they rotate players, since not only starters play in a game. That being said, here is what Miami returns.
(percents represent the percentage of plays made last year by players on this current squad. Actual numbers in parenthesis)
Tackles 51% (411)
Tackles for Loss 51% (45)
Sacks 39% (12)
Int's 61% (8)
Pass Break Up's 55% (22)
Forced Fumbles 31% (4)
As you can see from the data, Miami is returning a little more experience than their 4 starters would indicate, but they are also losing 4 of their top 5 contributors from last year, which is a lot to make up for (Gooden, Phillips, Cooper, Campbell). Believe it or not, we are much younger than Miami on defense, but we are also more experienced.
In general, I just think Miami combines talent and experience, but unfortunately for them their talent is too young to come in and make an impact across the board, while their experience is just not talented or fast enough to hang with our players. They are at least a year away on defense, and we should have our way with them even if they blitz us to death. Tebow should be able to get out of the pocket and wreak havoc on the ends or dump the ball off to one of our stable of speedsters. I also think that while Miami is big up front, our RB's should be able to find holes, and if they are not running through the line, they will just run around it. I just think we have too much speed and experience on O for them to hang with us for very long unless we make big mental mistakes.
-In the totally random department, here is also something very interesting about last years team although who knows if it still applies. Look at the scoring in the 4th quarter. That usually tells me that they were not in condition late in the games or that they were not mentally tough. Neither is a stretch to believe given what we all witnessed last year.
SCORE BY QUARTERS 1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT Total
Miami…........................61…54..71..61…0…247
Opponents…...............65…72..60.112…3..31
Written by GC Blogs Blip Page on September 3rd, 2008 with
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