TCU Defensive Breakdown for 2009

A year ago people were saying what will TCU do without Tommy Blake and Chase Ortiz well along came Jerry Hughes and he only led the nation in sacks(15) and forced fumbles(6). Sometimes players receive recognition and media time and think that they have already made it before they have. I have known Jerry since he was a freshmen and I have never found him to be this kind of a guy. Jerry has always worked hard regardless and after seeing as great of a player like Tommy Blake crumble in his problems I don't think Jerry would ever get complacent. Too many times you see great players leave TCU and not successfully live up to the hype. You also see guys work hard and never quit and keep their head on strait and do a fine job in the NFL.

Every year TCU seems to roll players in on defense and have great years. This could be the same again this year, you never know especially in college football.

TCU has a tough schedule yet again this year and although the offense will be more than electrifying this year, defense still wins championships. For TCU to be great this year on defense a few things will need to happen. First I believe we have some great veteran players on D. With Senior corners Rafael Priest and Nick Sanders coming back for yet another season they will for sure help with locking down outside receivers and causing havoc in the flats with what are two of the best open field tacklers I've ever seen at the corner position. Both of these guys are smart physical players who have been groomed to be the best duo at corner for TCU since Quincy Butler and Drew Coleman dominated Mountain West receivers in 2005 during the schools last Conference Championship season. These 2 guys probably have more starts combined than any other corner tandem in the NCAA. I look for these 2 guys to really step it up. They will need to with inexperience and injury at the safety position this year.

Coach Patterson said,"Daryl Washington is probably the fastest linebacker we have had here at TCU since I've been a part of it." This is more than true, although there have been many talented and just pure fast linebackers at TCU the past 15 years Washington is looking to have a huge year in '09. This guy is so talented that he led the nation in punt blocks his sophomore year and added 32 tackles without making one start. His junior year Washington was fourth on the team with 63 tackles. With Robert Henson being ineligible for the Poinsettia Bowl last year against Boise State, Washington made just his second career start and totaled 7 solo tackles and made big plays such as putting pressure on Boise State's QB to cause an arrant throw that resulted in Stephen Hodge getting the game winning interception. Look for Washington to cause mayhem on the field. These days it is rare to find a guy that loves the game as much as he does. It doesn't matter what is going on anywhere else this guy goes to every practice trying to get better, the kid just doesn't stop running. His arms go past his knees for goodness sake! The guy is a freak.

Now as great as these players are that I have mentioned the defense is really hurting. With the loss of DT Cody Moore and DT James Vess. TCU will ask Kelly Griffin and Cory Grant to fill the role. Both guys played as freshmen but I really haven't seen much out of them. Grant can be lazy and Griffin doesn't have much attitude. This will be a big hole to fill and if these 2 can step up it will help Jerry Hughes and Daryl Washington have much better years.

The biggest issue is at safety. TCU runs the 4-2-5 so the safeties play a very integral role in the teams success. TCU lost FS Steven Coleman and SS Stephen Hodge and are still looking to fill the holes. Tejay Johnson will start at Free Safety because that is where the most talking is needed and Johnson played as a freshmen and all last season. Johnson surprised me in the bowl game showing a lot more attitude and confidence. He had been so soft on the field all season but towards the last few games really came into his own. The kid is very smart and has a great build to play safety in this defense, he too has been groomed since day one to be the leader of this secondary.

Another issue is the loss of SS Colin Jones to a hamstring injury. Although Jones is expected to be back soon and has began running Friday hamstrings are a funny injury and it's the type of injury that could have you taking it easy all season or battling tweaks and re injuring the thing. Jones has tremendous speed otherwise and I am told that he has really started to grasp to defense. His problems come with open field tackling, he is so fast he never breaks down and ends up running by each man, he needs to break this habit if he wants to play. Due to Jones injury the coaching staff has had to make drastic moves such as moving players from offense over to defense to learn the safety position in case the young safeties have problems when season starts.

This season all depends on the play of the safeties. As long as they follow their rules and do what Patterson and Bumpas map out for them they will be fine. Coach Patterson is a mad scientist when it comes to his defensive scheme. There is nobody better in the country. This man is more ready on game day than a lot of his players and that's scary. Defensive MVP should be Daryl Washington this season as long as he stays healthy.