2011 Defense

[BPI 0]

Fairley will not be back. He will be a first round pick, and he will declare for the draft. And you know what ? Good for him...He earned it. I like nothing more than to see someone who grew up in his situation to overcome and succeed. He is one heck of a football player.

That being said, Auburn has ALWAYS had good defensive lineman. I don't see that changing under Tracy Rockers watch.

[BornaTiger 0]

All of these holes should make for a very nice recruiting class. There are alot of oppertunities for a young man to play early in the next few years.

I hope we can find a "Cam clone" soon.

K. Frazier...you heard of him?

[kfowler8 0]

Fairley will not be back. He will be a first round pick, and he will declare for the draft. And you know what ? Good for him...He earned it. I like nothing more than to see someone who grew up in his situation to overcome and succeed. He is one heck of a football player.

That being said, Auburn has ALWAYS had good defensive lineman. I don't see that changing under Tracy Rockers watch.

Of course this all depends on if we actually have the NFL next year. If there's a lock out, all bets are off. I agree though that I think he goes early.

[wardon1345162806 0]

Lock-out or not, there will be an NFL Draft, and Fairley will be in it- Just hope Cam isn't.

[wiljam08 0]

Fairley should leave for the draft.  Coleman's draft status did drop some, but theoretically he had a lot to gain by coming back his SR. year. He was only going to be a 3rd down guy if he left early.  Thats why he came back, to try to round out his game.  There are more factors than just he initial payday that players have to look at.  That being said, even with a big payday I think Cam benefits from returning. 

Also, in response to an earlier poster's question about Curry, he is an outside linebacker.  But that doesn't mean he couldn't make the move.  But what about #5?  I have forgot his name.  But he has been getting a few snaps behind Bynes lately.

[jreaves 0]

#5 is Holland.  I would think he'll be the front runner for the mlb spot. 

[gravejd 3,282]

MLB and DT are going to be the toughest spots to replace next year. We lose Blanc, and Clayton for sure and very likely Fairly. I think the young guys will be good ones but it's going to be tough to get the same level of production out of freshmen and sophmores. Bynes plays 90% of the time at MLB so you know there has got to be a dropoff behind him. Hopefully Holland can keep up the hard work and bulking himself up so he can handle the load. But it would be quite the reach to say he'll be as good as Bynes has been....not impossible just tough.

I will agree we should be about as good as we are this year though. Maybe a little worse off but nothing drastic.

[rollsroyce5 0]

I honestly think we could see an addition by subtraction like we did going from '03 to '04. We lost all kinds of top starters on D after the '03 season like Dansby, Thomas, Torbor, & McNeil but had a much better defensive unit although less talented. In this case I think we might end up with a better overall unit that is just as if not more talented but lacking extensive experience.

[auwrx 0]

MLB and DT are going to be the toughest spots to replace next year. We lose Blanc, and Clayton for sure and very likely Fairly. I think the young guys will be good ones but it's going to be tough to get the same level of production out of freshmen and sophmores. Bynes plays 90% of the time at MLB so you know there has got to be a dropoff behind him. Hopefully Holland can keep up the hard work and bulking himself up so he can handle the load. But it would be quite the reach to say he'll be as good as Bynes has been....not impossible just tough.

I will agree we should be about as good as we are this year though. Maybe a little worse off but nothing drastic.

holland is already bigger than josh bynes.

[gravejd 3,282]

MLB and DT are going to be the toughest spots to replace next year. We lose Blanc, and Clayton for sure and very likely Fairly. I think the young guys will be good ones but it's going to be tough to get the same level of production out of freshmen and sophmores. Bynes plays 90% of the time at MLB so you know there has got to be a dropoff behind him. Hopefully Holland can keep up the hard work and bulking himself up so he can handle the load. But it would be quite the reach to say he'll be as good as Bynes has been....not impossible just tough.

I will agree we should be about as good as we are this year though. Maybe a little worse off but nothing drastic.

holland is already bigger than josh bynes.

Really? Thats pretty surprising. I'll have to go check out their listed measurables. But just from an eye test Holland looks a good bit smaller than Bynes

[3rdgen 2]

MLB and DT are going to be the toughest spots to replace next year. We lose Blanc, and Clayton for sure and very likely Fairly. I think the young guys will be good ones but it's going to be tough to get the same level of production out of freshmen and sophmores. Bynes plays 90% of the time at MLB so you know there has got to be a dropoff behind him. Hopefully Holland can keep up the hard work and bulking himself up so he can handle the load. But it would be quite the reach to say he'll be as good as Bynes has been....not impossible just tough.

I will agree we should be about as good as we are this year though. Maybe a little worse off but nothing drastic.

holland is already bigger than josh bynes.

Really? Thats pretty surprising. I'll have to go check out their listed measurables. But just from an eye test Holland looks a good bit smaller than Bynes

Holland 6 ft 231 Bynes 6'2 235

[muxi87 148]

I honestly think we could see an addition by subtraction like we did going from '03 to '04. We lost all kinds of top starters on D after the '03 season like Dansby, Thomas, Torbor, & McNeil but had a much better defensive unit although less talented. In this case I think we might end up with a better overall unit that is just as if not more talented but lacking extensive experience.

I fully agree.  I think the guys we bring back will benefit greatly from the experience of this season.  And I think the level of raw talent of our younger guys is higher than that of our older guys.

Lemonier and Whitaker should be studs next year!

[3rdgen 2]

A year of eating and yoxercise should help out whittaker, lemonier, sanders, dee ford, and kenneth carter who has played well I have thought this year not to mention guys like delaine and bonomolo.  I expect probably all of the young dts to come in and play next year.  McNeil and either ryan smith or mcneal will be the other safety to start the year with at least one freshman getting significant playing time at safety.  Thorpe and tbell will star at the cb we could have almost anyone at nickel back possibly a freshman.  Lber I think will be a strong position next year for us they will be young and make mistakes but we should improve athletically at lbers next year I think we will really start to see more of roof's defense.  I would expect alot more blitzing with the guys we will have next year.

[MarcAntony 0]

I would have to say that it will be extremely difficult to predict right now how effective/inneffective our defense will be in 2011.  We are talking about an unprecidented exodus of players leaving the team after this season.  The largest Senior class in Auburn football history, as well as Fairley, will be leaving. 

Common sense would say that it will be an epic struggle, but you just never know.....

One thing I will say is that our current defense is awfully slow, compared to other SEC defenses.  They are smart, mature, and do not lose their cool when things are going bad and that fact alone has proved to be extremely valuable, as evidenced by the huge 4th quarter stops and turnovers they have produced. 

So next year's defense will be athletically superior, but razor thin on numbers and razor thin on experience and maturity.  I'd bet even Chiz would be at a loss to make an accurate prediction of how effective a unit we can field in 2011. 

Our improved recruiting efforts will really take hold in 2012 and beyond, but next year will truly be a rebuilding job.

[AUFan21 58]

I say move Sanders to LB. He has the build for it and he did play it some in HS. He also has the speed to be an outside backer.

[bigbird 60,701]

don't forget about Bonomolo

[13sandersmama 0]

I agree. Sanders has the speed of a DB and is bigger and rangier than most of our linebackers. Look at his youtube highlights, he can and seems to play better, in space. If he can outrun/hang with the DBs and WRs on KO, then why not put him at OLB or Safety? If he bulks up like 265 or more i think he'll be OK at DE, but I think he is more of a standup outside speedrush guy/ (kin of a tweener DE/ LB) I just love the way he goes all out every KO, he's just got a good vibe----I mean very few freshman pump up the crowd the way he does....I'd give him a shot somewhere besides just special teams.