olakunle fatukasi

Previously: Rutgers Offense

On Wednesday, we looked at Rutgers' offense and it was quite grim. Today we flip to the other side of the ball, which is seemingly in a much better place, accumulating a nice statistical profile through the team's 3-0 start. They've allowed just 31 points through three games, playing with confidence and they have some impact players on this side of the ball. Is it real, or is it a function of playing Temple, Syracuse, and Delaware as their first three games? Let's take a look: 

The Film: Still looking at the Syracuse game, because it remains the only P5 team that the Scarlet Knights have played. Syracuse was bad on both sides of the ball last season, but their offense was considerably worse than the defense, and that's something to keep in mind as we delve into these clips. In fact, the Orange finished 118th out of 128 teams in scoring offense last season, the fourth-worst mark among any P5 school (only Arizona, Kansas, and Vandy were worse), and it gets even worse when you look at total offense. At 265.3 yards per game in 2020, Syracuse was the 3rd worst offense in the entire FBS, with only Kansas and UMass finishing below the Scarlet Knights. So what you are about to witness is the Rutgers defense matched up against a very, very bad offense. 

Personnel: The usual chart

[NOTE FROM SETH: Cornelius Johnson and Erick All are on Star Watch. Blake Corum is on Shield Watch if he continues on this pace]

Rutgers has heavy rotation along its defensive line. They have four players at end and four at tackle that all see a healthy amount of snaps. Mike Tverdov is the traditional DE who logs the most snaps, with Wolverine For A Brief Moment In Time Aaron Lewis as his replacement option. The other DE is referred to as a "Jack" and sees a near 50/50 distribution in snaps between CJ Onyechi and Mohamed Toure. The wrinkle about the Jack position is that the Jack normally plays from a standup stance and will drop into coverage every so often, as that position is a DE/OLB hybrid. Onyechi, though, is more of a pass rush specialist and so Toure was the one I saw dropping into coverage more between the two. 

At NT they have returning starter Julius Turner, who is supposed to bog down the interior and create windows for their DT to get a rush. Turner plays most of the snaps but Jamree Kromah comes on when Turner needs a breather. Temple transfer Ifeanyi Maijeh is the Dwumfour replacement at DT (3 Tech), which has more pass rushing responsibilities than the NT. He rotates with Mayan Ahanotu, with the two playing roughly equal snaps at that position. 

At LB the defense is built around Olakunle Fatukasi, who plays nearly every snap. He has big responsibilities in the system (cleaning up the edges in particular) and regardless of the opponent the Scarlet Knights are facing, Fatukasi is going to be out there often. He led the B1G in tackles per game last season and has drawn some NFL attention. The other LB spot is typically held by Tyreek Maddox-Williams, although he rotates a good bit with Tyshon Fogg. Against one RB and one TE (11 personnel), Rutgers runs with 4 DL, 2 LB, and 5 DB's, which was the case for the entirety of the game I watched (since Syracuse seldom uses two TE's). With the way Michigan plays, though, you're likely to see three traditional LB's and four DB's, and if a third LB is on the field, it is probably either Old Friend Drew Singleton or Dieon Jennings. 

At CB, Rutgers relies a lot on Tre Avery to log snaps, as well as Max Melton, the latter of which though will not be available for this game after being suspended due to "an incident involving a paintball gun", which is a very Rutgers thing to have happen. In his place, Kessawn Abraham, who already sees the field a lot as the third corner, is likely to get more snaps, and the team will have to delve deeper into the depth chart if they need to play with five DB's, potentially calling upon Alijah Clark. The safeties are pretty fixed and sturdy, with FS Avery Young and SS Christian Izien playing basically all of the snaps. The other option for the fifth DB would come from the safety position and Naijee Jones, who only plays sparingly in ordinary circumstances due to the presence of Young and Izien. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: A GOOD Rutgers defense? Mirage or TRUTH? Click here to find out]

Previously on The Enemy, Ranked: Quarterback, Running Back, Receiver, OL, DL

The Enemy series is beginning to near its conclusion, and today we pick up with the LB group. For this section, we had to again set some ground rules that will outline the piece. As a general rule, teams who employ a hybrid safety/LB saw that position included in this piece, including Indiana's "Husky", OSU's "Bullet", and Nebraska's hybrid space player. 3-4 OLB's who are edge rushers were included in the DL piece and are not featured here. With that in mind, let's dive in with #1 on our list and Wisconsin: 

1. Wisconsin 

Much the way that Wisconsin churns out terrific OL's like butter, they do the same at LB, running their patented 3-4. This year may well be a high tide in terms of great Wisconsin LB groups thanks to the return of every starter off last year's group. The unit starts with Jack Sanborn, the team's leading tackler each of the last two years and a likely lock for 1st team All-B1G. He's a classic do-it-all Wisconsin LB, who can run defend, cover, and blitz. Leo Chenal starts next to Sanborn on the inside and he's also really good, a more aggressive LB which can sometimes get him into trouble but it may well take him to the All-B1G team this season in the process. The OLB's have different responsibilities, with Nick Herbig being the one who has to drop into coverage more often. He had his lumps last season as a true freshman starter but he's undeniably talented: Herbig was a composite top 150 recruit out of Hawaii. I'm betting on big time improvement from him. Noah Burks is the OLB who gets to rush a bit more and the game tape tends to be more promising than the stats he's produced up to this point, but he's a two-year starter who's in his sixth year in the program. That's a lot of reason for optimism. 

The back-ups don't have as much to talk about, but they may well not be needed all that much. The starting four are going to play the vast majority of the snaps. Obviously injuries are a possibility, but this starting group will see the majority of the work, and if they're healthy, they'll be really, really good. Wisconsin was the clear #1 on our list. COVID may still be rattling our world, but Wisconsin having elite LB's suggests that Earth is still somewhat normal. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: You will never guess who's #3]