Preface: Continuing with our 2019 Preview, let’s take a look at the defensive side of the ball.
As with any coaching change, there are a lot of questions surrounding the Bobcats heading into the 2019 season. Due to that fact, it will be hard to analyze or predict how the Bobcats will fare in the Sun Belt this year. One thing is for sure, after only losing a handful of players since last season, the Bobcats should be at the very least improved over last season. Be looking for a 3-4 win floor for this team. The ceiling? Well, that will be determined by how the Bobcats answer the question marks surrounding them.
I won’t cover every player on the roster, but I will cover the biggest producers from last year that are returning and a few players that could step up and contribute this year. This will be the most experienced Bobcat roster since 2015 including a lot of talent returning on both sides of the ball.
I will start with the defense since there are significantly fewer questions on that side of the ball. The biggest question marks with the defense are more about the new coaching staff than the players or depth chart. The Bobcats return almost everyone for 2019. The only big losses the Bobcats will have to overcome are Sami Awad – NT, AJ Krawczyk – S, and Dean Taylor – DE. Unfortunately, each of those players will be hard to replace.
Zac Spavital and Archie McDaniel will lead the defense as Co-Defensive Coordinators. Zac Spavital has spent the past 4 years as the Co-Defensive Coordinator and Linebackers coach at Texas Tech where he ran a 4-3 defensive front. While at Texas Tech, he helped greatly improve their turnover margin, something Texas State struggled with just 2 years ago. Prior to his time at Texas Tech, he spent 7 years at UH as a Defensive Backs coach. During the final 2 years of Spavital’s time with UH, the Cougars finished 9th and 1st in turnovers gained. Given his history with improving turnover margin, the Bobcats can expect a ball hawk mentality going into the 2019 season.
Even though Zac Spavital has been in a 4-3 base defense most recently with Texas Tech, he has already stated in previous press conferences that the Bobcats will run a 3-4 base while mixing in different fronts and sets to confuse offenses. This is definitely the best course of action considering that the Bobcats roster is built for a 3-4.
While it’s still too early for an accurate 2 deep roster prediction and every position is still up for grabs, as it should be with any new season and coaching change, the Bobcats have several players they will look at to continue their defensive improvement from last season.
Defensive Line
At Defensive End, expect Ishmael Davis to start and get the most playing time. Davis finished 5th in total tackles last season with 51, accounted for one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, and led the entire team with 3.5 sacks. He has been a consistent performer over his entire TXST career and I would expect that to continue into 2019. Rounding out the DE position, the Bobcats will also rotate in Jakharious Smith and Emmanuel Galvan-Vazquez. Smith accounted for 35 total tackles, 3.5 for loss, and 1 sack last year. While Galvan-Vazquez only played in 7 games and had 6 tackles with 1 for a loss.
Since the Bobcats will run a hybrid defense next season, expect them to rotate in several players at DL and NT. Even though TXST won’t return Sami Awad who accounted for 16 total tackles last season and was a huge reason for TXST’s 81st ranked rushing defense, they do return Caeveon Patton at DT. Patton had 41 total tackles, 3.5 for a loss, and 2.5 sacks. He also had 3 passes defended.
The rest of the DLine will see a mix of several players. At NT, the Bobcats only have Gjemar Daniels and John Lilly on the roster, neither of which were huge contributors last season. Daniels played in just 1 game recording 2 tackles against Georgia Southern. While Lilly played in the final four games of the season and only recorded a kickoff return for 10 yards.
The Bobcats will lean on their other DT’s to fill the gap at NT and provide depth at the DT position. Nico Ezidore, Kingsley Onyirioha, and Jaquel Pierce will fill out the rest of the depth chart on the DLine. That gives the Bobcats just 6 defensive linemen heading into 2019. I would like to see the depth here improve through the 2020 recruiting class or this will be a liability position in future years. One thing to note here, Jake Spavital did sign Devin Henderson – DT, and Jordan Revels – DE in the 2019 signing class. It’s yet to be seen if they will see significant playing time or help with depth at either of these two positions, but any additional depth on the Defensive Line will be welcomed.
Linebackers
Moving on to the Linebackers. This is the strongest, deepest, and most senior position group the Bobcats have. Bryan London II returns as the total tackles leader from last season with 109 total tackles. Not only did London lead the Bobcats in total tackles, but also led the whole Sun Belt in total and solo tackles for 2018 on his way to earning All-Sun Belt first team honors. London isn’t the only elite linebacker the Bobcats return heading into the 2019 season though. Nikolas Daniels, who finished with 108 total tackles and 2nd in tackles behind London in the Sun Belt will also be back for 2019. The linebacker duo gives the Bobcats one of, if not THE best inside linebacker core in the Sun Belt. Backing up London and Daniels will be Malik Alley (3 tackles in 2018) and John Brannon (9 tackles in 2018). Gavin Graham and Clifton Lewis could also play inside or outside.
Moving to the Outside Linebacker position, we have Frankie Griffin who finished third for the Bobcats on the total tackles list with 71. He is another huge asset for the Bobcats moving into 2019. Last season, Griffin accounted for 8 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 1 pass defended, and 3 forced fumbles. Griffin is another Bobcat linebacker that has been a consistent performer in previous years and I expect him to be just as good this year. Clifton Lewis and Gavin Graham, mentioned earlier, will likely see significant playing time at outside linebacker. Lewis tallied 37 total tackles, 4.5 for loss, a sack, an interception, 3 passes defended, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. While Graham had 24 tackles, 2 for loss. Finally, Hal Vinson will add additional depth at the position. Vinson finished the previous season with 22 tackles, 1.5 for loss, a sack, and 2 forced fumbles.
Secondary
As with the rest of the defense, the Bobcats secondary returns almost everyone. Out of the top 10 total tackles list, 5 of them are in the secondary and they will all be back for 2019. Be looking at Jarron Morris, Anthony J. Taylor, Kordell Rodgers, and Kieston Roach to fill the depth chart at cornerback. In 2018, Morris accounted for 44 total tackles, 2 for loss with 1 sack, 6 passes defended, and a forced fumble. Morris was also selected a Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference Third Team cornerback by Athlon Sports for 2019. Taylor finished just behind Morris on the total tackles list at 7th on the team, but also added an interception, 5 passes defended, and a fumble recovery. Taylor was also named a Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference Third Team by Athlon sports for 2019. Rodgers led the Bobcats with 2 interceptions in 2018, including one for a 51 yard touchdown return in the season opener against Rutgers. Finally, Kieston Roach will add some depth to this already strong position group. Roach only played six games the previous season recording just 2 tackles, but should get more playing time in 2019.
At Safety, the Bobcats also have a lot of depth with several strong players returning from 2018. Josh Newman, Jashon Waddy, Jalen Smith, and Alvin Pacheco will all be called on in 2019. All four are returning from a successful 2018 campaign where they each finished inside the top 20 total tackles list. Look for Josh Newman and Jashon Waddy to get the start, but this is another position with enough depth and talent that you will likely see several players rotate in. Newman finished 4th on the tackles list behind linebackers Bryan London, Nikolas Daniels, and Frankie Griffin with 56 total tackles, 1 for loss, and 3 passes defended. Waddy was also a big contributor in the secondary with 40 total tackles, 1 for loss, an interception, 7 passes defended, 2 forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery.
That wraps up the defensive side of the ball. A few thoughts on what to expect moving into 2019… As I mentioned earlier, Zac Spavital has a history of improving the turnover margin of defenses and I fully expect that to be the case with the Bobcats. TXST finished tied for 111 out of 130 teams in interceptions with just six in 2018. I would expect a significant improvement in this stat column, which could be the deciding factor in several games next season. TXST also finished tied for 103 in turnover margin with -5. The Bobcats gained just 18 turnovers in 2018, but lost 23. If the Bobcats want to turn things around next season, this an area that can quickly do that.
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