Spring Game Grades: Defense
April 17, 2011
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Photos by Alex Trautwig
By Paul Sulzer
Here’s part two of our Spring Game grades, a position-by-position breakdown of the defense. Part one is here.
Defensive line: B+
The offensive line pushed around the front four a bit in the first half, creating gaps for Tahj Kimble and Mike Javorski to scamper through. The D-line generated great pass rush, though. Early enrollee Mehdi Abdesmad blew up many plays with the second team, recording a sack and a deflection that led to Will Thompson’s interception.
The first team line of Kasim Edibali, Dillon Quinn, Conor O’Neal, and Max Holloway got stronger as the game wore on. Quinn started despite his ejection from the previous scrimmage. Edibali tackled Kimble in the open field for a five-yard loss on a checkdown that had a lot of potential. He also deflected a third down pass by Chase Rettig when he read the quarterbacks eyes and stuck his arm up to get a piece of the ball.
Linebackers: B-
The 1s didn’t have much of a chance to stand out. They made their tackles and swarmed to the ball. Kevin Pierre-Louis recorded 12 stops and teamed with Luke Kuechly (five tackles) to wrap up several short passes short of the marker. Steele Divitto split reps at outside linebacker with Nick Clancy and played with a similar motor to KPL and Kuechly.
Thompson had the lone pick of the day on an interception that fell right into his lap. The rest of the second team linebackers whiffed on some easy tackles that would have cost the Eagles in a real game.
Defensive backs: B+
The DBs had a solid day. They played their usual bend-but-don’t-break Cover 2 with man underneath. Rettig and the backups picked them apart with short routes but couldn’t really find any space up top. The only chance the offense really had for a huge play was on a post to Ifeanyi Momah that split the safeties. Rettig underthrew his wide-open receiver by five yards, though.
Jim Noel played the first half with the 1s at boundary corner and was near the ball throughout. He covered his man tightly and actually got his hand on the ball a few times. He should have intercepted a Rettig pass with 10 seconds left in the half that he instead batted harmlessly to the ground.
Donnie Fletcher had an apparent pick waved off in the fourth quarter that would have been reviewed in a real game. Okechukwu Okoroha also could have intercepted a pass but smartly knocked it down instead just outside the end zone on fourth down from the 25-yard line.
Overall defense: B+
The defense only allowed one touchdown on the day—a 2-yard sneak by fifth-string QB Shane Cranmore, who was untouchable because he was wearing a green jersey. In each of the two scrimmages and this game, the defense settled down after allowing a long opening drive. Remember, though, that the defense was at full strength while the offense was without four major contributors (Andre Williams, Colin Larmond, Alex Amidon, and Mark Spinney). Still, the decent pressure from the defensive ends and the ability of the secondary to get its hands on the ball are reasons to be optimistic that the team may be more opportunistic than it was last year.
