I'm probably more bullish on the secondary than most. I think Barnett is going to be either first or second team all-big 12. I'm more confident in this group of CB's than I have been since, probably, 2003. Somewhere between Evans, Jackson, McDaniel, Burns, Mack, and Moore, we'll find 2-3 good guys. McDaniel and Evans are really prototypical nickel CB's that will allow us to run a very nice 4-2-5 base and have adequate size and strength in that formation. The other guys are, at worst, a push with Daily and Roberts...throughout the two deep.
Concerns with Schelly are valid. My hope is that Newlan or Green are able to step up and push him back down to back up status.
Linebacker doesn't really concern me that much because I don't think we'll be in a 4-3 base very much. Otherwise, Truman and Davis will be sure tacklers, if not incredibly athletic in space, and if we need to boost the athleticism, you can switch out Davis for Derricott or Riddle. If you want to go to a 4-3 and use the third linebacker as an extra pass rusher, Moore is a really intriguing weapon there.
I get an analysts view that, overall, we may not have NFL talent across the defense, therefore, we won't have a great one, but what we do have, in my opinion, is an outstanding pass rusher, an all-conference safety that can plug up holes and create turnover opportunities, and a slew of guys that fit specific, package based roles really well.
The question, IMO, is whether or not the coaches are able to get those guys into the right situations at the right times to maximize our success. However, given how well Hayes has done the past few years, and how really well he hid deficiencies in a very average defense last year, it makes me feel like we can force the issue on defense more this year than in years past because we have Big 12 talent in the secondary, sure tackling linebackers, and pass rushers that can cause an offense problems.
I'm with Pete; if we beat Auburn... @OU takes on a whole new meaning because the offense is going to show up this year. Snyder ALWAYS sees major offensive improvement under a second year starting QB. And, to be honest, the most talented position group on the whole team, IMO, is wide receiver.
I think we're going to win at least ten games with an outside chance at 11. If we get really, really lucky and stay injury free, I don't think a repeat of 2012 is out of the question. To me, this team is built and assembled to the point where we could be in playoff contention sometime in November.
