Cowboy Football Season Review Part 2 [WyoNation Blog]

[Wicks]

Part two of our season review is up taking a look at the defense. The career numbers for DC Steve Stanard are looked at with an interactive graph! They don't inspire a whole lot of confidence.

http://www.wyonation.com/2015/12/cowboy-season-review-part-2-defense/

We would appreciate your feedback and thoughts.

 

[HiCountryCowboy]

I was amazed to watch the defense never change at any point even when a 0-win season looked very likely. No risks were ever taken. If Standard called more than 5 blitz plays then ENTIRE season, I would be surprised. This is a questionable defense (especially the way Standard runs it) that is being run with the wrong personnel regardless.

Standard should've never been hired as the DC in the first place and I will be very disappointed if he is the DC past the first Tuesday in February (I don't actually expect him to get demoted, but am holding out hope that Bohl has decided to not make the change until after signing day). I feel like someone other than the fans needs to answer for the last two years performances (I don't care how young the team is, they are still supposed to be D1'A competitors).

I like Wacha's motor, but he has to move positions. Wingard and May are great players/athletes. Epps looked pretty promising at points. Granderson could be great, but can he physically put on enough weight to be elite in the next 3 years (based on his extremely long frame)?

I guess we have our own versions of John Lynch, now we need some Derrick Brooks', and Warren Sapps' (not to mention a new Monte Kiffin).

 

[LanderPoke]

The thing that shocks me is that Stanard got a job as a DC again after his Tulane years. He somehow had worse defenses there.

Anyway, I think Granderson, Wacha, May, Wingard, Malauulu, Epps, Priester, Hull and Jennings are above average players. Hopefully we can fill in the gaps with recruiting and young kids stepping up, but at this point I'm having a hard time seeing it getting too much better. Hopefully we can posses the ball for 40+ minutes a game and just keep our d off the field as much as possible.

 

[JimmyDimes]

With 9 returning starters and another year in the weight room. And, with some promising players coming off a redshirt year....if you don't think the defense will improve I don't know what to say.

I'd also like to say....let's give Stannard a chance. He has never been DC under Bohl except at Wyoming. He had one linebacker and no DE with game experience at the top of the depth chart last year. And, the db's were all freshman, with Priester being the only sophomore. There isn't a DC in the country that could have done much better given the personnel. This year he'll have more pieces to work with.

Go Pokes!!

 

[LanderPoke]

It's the D Line and interior LBs. I've never seen so little pressure on the qb produced from a Wyoming team. We lose Eddie so I just don't see it changing even if there is improvement from the young guys. I sure hope I am wrong, though. However, I will say that if our offense could have sustained more drives then it would be a whole different situation. Our defense played well enough for us to win 4 or 5 games this year, for example the Air Force and App st games. The problem was at least 50% offense. I look for massive improvement from the offense this year

 

[SDPokeFan]

With 9 returning starters and another year in the weight room. And, with some promising players coming off a redshirt year....if you don't think the defense will improve I don't know what to say.

I'd also like to say....let's give Stannard a chance. He has never been DC under Bohl except at Wyoming. He had one linebacker and no DE with game experience at the top of the depth chart last year. And, the db's were all freshman, with Priester being the only sophomore. There isn't a DC in the country that could have done much better given the personnel. This year he'll have more pieces to work with.

Go Pokes!!

Seems to me he has been given a lot of chances and has stunk everywhere. Maybe you're reading that chart differently than I am.

 

[WyoBrandX]

With 9 returning starters and another year in the weight room. And, with some promising players coming off a redshirt year....if you don't think the defense will improve I don't know what to say.

I'd also like to say....let's give Stannard a chance. He has never been DC under Bohl except at Wyoming. He had one linebacker and no DE with game experience at the top of the depth chart last year. And, the db's were all freshman, with Priester being the only sophomore. There isn't a DC in the country that could have done much better given the personnel. This year he'll have more pieces to work with.

Go Pokes!!

Seems to me he has been given a lot of chances and has stunk everywhere. Maybe you're reading that chart differently than I am.

The chart clearly sucks. One could argue though, that Bohl is a defensive minded coach - he may be mentoring Stanard along. I don't know. Stanard does do a good job with the linebackers.

I'm not overly excited about where our defense is at. I don't think Bohl is blind to the situation though. Stanard isn't here because of loyalty - its because he has a job to do and he is being evaluated on it constantly. Its not a blank check.

The coaching staff knows the gravity of the situation they are in this year. I don't think they knew how bad this year would be (its really tough guess these things with only two years in).

At the end of the day, all I'm saying is Bohl is no idiot. He has done well at the FCS and FBS level in the past. He has experience managing programs. He hired on Stanard for a reason. We can cherry pick and look at the numbers and the coaches we want, but this is what we are stuck with today.

Year 3 is around the corner. It should be an interesting year.

 

[PotatoCreekPete]

With 9 returning starters and another year in the weight room. And, with some promising players coming off a redshirt year....if you don't think the defense will improve I don't know what to say.

I'd also like to say....let's give Stannard a chance. He has never been DC under Bohl except at Wyoming. He had one linebacker and no DE with game experience at the top of the depth chart last year. And, the db's were all freshman, with Priester being the only sophomore. There isn't a DC in the country that could have done much better given the personnel. This year he'll have more pieces to work with.

Go Pokes!!

Seems to me he has been given a lot of chances and has stunk everywhere. Maybe you're reading that chart differently than I am.

The chart clearly sucks. One could argue though, that Bohl is a defensive minded coach - he may be mentoring Stanard along. I don't know. Stanard does do a good job with the linebackers.

I'm not overly excited about where our defense is at. I don't think Bohl is blind to the situation though. Stanard isn't here because of loyalty - its because he has a job to do and he is being evaluated on it constantly. Its not a blank check.

The coaching staff knows the gravity of the situation they are in this year. I don't think they knew how bad this year would be (its really tough guess these things with only two years in).

At the end of the day, all I'm saying is Bohl is no idiot. He has done well at the FCS and FBS level in the past. He has experience managing programs. He hired on Stanard for a reason. We can cherry pick and look at the numbers and the coaches we want, but this is what we are stuck with today.

Year 3 is around the corner. It should be an interesting year.

I sense your loyalty to the coaches and that is fine, but the graph was very telling for me. I have not been a fan of Stanard's I must admit, and his performance so far has done nothing but made me feel that my conclusions were correct. Wyoming's defense under Stanard have not been aggressive, i.e. - few if any blitzes, etc. Stanard's defenses react instead of act. I have no doubt that Coach Bohl is no fool and he knows what is happening, but Wyoming's defense has to improve BIG TIME for anything good to happen, and if Bohl is so loyal as to watch the defense play another dismal season and do nothing about it, then I guess Bohl is more loyal than he is dedicated to winning. This last season the LB corp was a complete mess, you had several guys playing out of position, just so the coaches could get more "speed and athleticism" onto the field....how did that pay off? Sad at best. I see that Wyoming is now recruiting kids with actual size to play LB in this league...they found that you might have guys with speed, but if they are so small (as Wyoming's LB were this last season), then when they get to the point of making the tackle they get run over more than making a big play because they are so small is not a good thing. One thing that was not mentioned in the defensive review was the fact that Wyoming has two CB transfers that will be ready for Spring Ball, Jalen Ortiz and Rico Gafford, and both of these young men should have a big impact. Wyoming's LB group during Spring Ball will be the same bunch as last season, and except for Wacha I am not hugely impressed. D.J. May plays hard and tries but he is woefully undersized for a LB. I am thinking that more than a couple of the incoming freshmen LB's will see the field next year, and to me this happening in the 3rd year is clearly a fault of Stanard of miscalculating and judging the talent he had. I do feel that the talent will be there in the DB. The talent is there for the DL, except for the DE position which is woefully undermanned and undersized. Granderson is the ONLY true DE that is on scholarship and he played this last season at 200 lbs! ....that is a scary statement to say, but it is true. Kongbo leaving was a big thing because they were really counting on him, but he was not a young man of his word. Right now the way that it looks, they will have to move another player over to cover the DE position as Prosser is woefully undersized, and Trevor Meader is coming off an injury. I thought Wyoming might bring in a JC DE, but that didn't happen, so the DE position is looking worse than it did when last season started....ouch, thanks Stanard. In conclusion, the defensive backfield should be improved, the DE position looks worse, and the LB looks about the same as last season.....I am not seeing a lot of hope for big improvement in defensive stats at this time, it doesn't mean that things can't change before next season begins, it still is a ways off, but right now the personnel picture is not looking great at two of the three areas on defense.

 

[wyokoke]

With 9 returning starters and another year in the weight room. And, with some promising players coming off a redshirt year....if you don't think the defense will improve I don't know what to say.

I'd also like to say....let's give Stannard a chance. He has never been DC under Bohl except at Wyoming. He had one linebacker and no DE with game experience at the top of the depth chart last year. And, the db's were all freshman, with Priester being the only sophomore. There isn't a DC in the country that could have done much better given the personnel. This year he'll have more pieces to work with.

Go Pokes!!

Seems to me he has been given a lot of chances and has stunk everywhere. Maybe you're reading that chart differently than I am.

The chart clearly sucks. One could argue though, that Bohl is a defensive minded coach - he may be mentoring Stanard along. I don't know. Stanard does do a good job with the linebackers.

I'm not overly excited about where our defense is at. I don't think Bohl is blind to the situation though. Stanard isn't here because of loyalty - its because he has a job to do and he is being evaluated on it constantly. Its not a blank check.

The coaching staff knows the gravity of the situation they are in this year. I don't think they knew how bad this year would be (its really tough guess these things with only two years in).

At the end of the day, all I'm saying is Bohl is no idiot. He has done well at the FCS and FBS level in the past. He has experience managing programs. He hired on Stanard for a reason. We can cherry pick and look at the numbers and the coaches we want, but this is what we are stuck with today.

Year 3 is around the corner. It should be an interesting year.

I sense your loyalty to the coaches and that is fine, but the graph was very telling for me. I have not been a fan of Stanard's I must admit, and his performance has done nothing but made me feel that my conclusions were correct. Wyoming's defense under Stanard have not been aggressive, i.e. - few if any blitzes, etc. Stanard's defenses react instead of act. I have no doubt that Coach Bohl is no fool and he knows what is happening, but Wyoming's defense has to improve BIG TIME for anything good to happen, and if Bohl is so loyal as to watch the defense play another dismal season and do nothing about it, then I guess Bohl is more loyal than he dedicated to winning. This last season the LB corp was a complete mess, you had several guys playing out of position, just so the coaches could get more "speed and athleticism" onto the field....how did that pay off? Sad. I see that Wyoming is now recruiting kids with actual size to play LB in this league...they found that you might have guys with speed, but if they are so small (as Wyoming's LB were this last season), then when they get to the point of making the tackle they get run over more than making a big play because they are so small. One thing that was not mentioned in the defensive review was the fact that Wyoming has two CB transfers that will be ready for Spring Ball, Jalen Ortiz and Rico Gafford, and both of these young men should have a big impact. Wyoming's LB group during Spring Ball will be the same bunch as last season, and except for Wacha I am not hugely impressed. D.J. May plays hard and tries but he is woefully undersized for a LB. I am thinking that more than a couple of the incoming freshmen LB's will see the field next year, and to me this happening in the 3rd year is clearly a fault of Stanard of miscalculating and judging the talent he had. I do feel that the talent will be there in the DB. The talent is there for the DL, except for the DE position which woefully undermanned and undersized. Granderson is the ONLY true DE that is on scholarship....that is a scary statement to say, but it is true. Kongbo leaving was a big thing because they were really counting on him, but he was not a young man of his word. Right now the way that it looks, they will have to move another player over to cover the DE position as Prosser is woefully undersized, and Trevor Meader is coming off an injury. I thought Wyoming might bring in a JC DE, but that didn't happen, so the DE position is looker worse than it did when last season started....ouch, thanks Stanard. In conclusion, the defensive backfield should be improved, the DE position looks worse, and the LB looks about the same as last season.....I am not seeing a lot of hope for big improvement in defensive stats at this time, it doesn't mean that things can't change before next season begins, it still is a ways off, but right now the personnel picture is not looking great at two of the three areas on defense.

+1

 

[PotatoCreekPete]

With 9 returning starters and another year in the weight room. And, with some promising players coming off a redshirt year....if you don't think the defense will improve I don't know what to say.

I'd also like to say....let's give Stannard a chance. He has never been DC under Bohl except at Wyoming. He had one linebacker and no DE with game experience at the top of the depth chart last year. And, the db's were all freshman, with Priester being the only sophomore. There isn't a DC in the country that could have done much better given the personnel. This year he'll have more pieces to work with.

Go Pokes!!

With two starting LB's at the size of 5-11, 198 (D.J. May) & 5-11, 206 (Tim Kamana) which makes them smaller than many of the RB's that they face you have to be a very special athlete to be successful, and unfortunately they were not, and these two guys are coming back. Wacha is even undersized at 6-1, 214 as an outside LB, but as an inside LB where they played him he was woefully undersized. Jaylon Watson I believe redshirted, and he is about 6-0, 237 and then all you have back is Christian Irving at 5-11 & 201 and Eric Nzeocha at 6-3, 218, but Nzeocha's issues were that he didn't have enough of a grasp of the position to play and be a real contributor and it is was the same with Irving. These guys are all that you have coming back. Sometimes, birthdays and days spent in the weight room just aren't enough to become a top notch linebacker, and my take this group overall is just that. I love the way that Wacha plays, he plays much larger than his size and with great heart. D.J. May is woefully undersized, but plays hard and with an incredible amount of effort. Sorry but Kamana is just not big enough to play inside or fast enough to play outside. Don't know enough about Jaylon Watson as yet, and Eric Nzeocha just hasn't worked his way into becoming a contributor. The LB position is a mess, so when you say birthdays and weight rooms will be answers I am some what amazed. The weight room will not make these guys grow taller and there is only so much weight that they can put on. If the LB wasn't such a mess you wouldn't be seeing the number and SIZE of the recruits that they are working on bringing in next year. 4 of the incoming recruits are bigger than virtually all of the LB's that they have now in the program.....that should tell you a whole lot. My fear is that due to Stanard's miscalculations the LB position will be in another year of development next year and not even close to being a strong point for this program.....that situation falls squarely on the shoulders of Stanard.