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+---- Thread: *Grey Ducks Defense (/showthread.php?tid=26488)
*Grey Ducks Defense - 24redcrayons - 10-02-2020
As some of you guys may remember, I did an article a couple of weeks back detailing the offensive roster for the Minnesota Grey Ducks. Considering that I have some free time now, I decided that now is a good time to do the other side of the ball, the defense. This is good time, especially considering the fact that we are heading into the DSFL draft, so I will also be using this time to probably point out various holes that the Grey Ducks might be looking to fill through the draft. Keep in mind, this is all personal opinion, so nothing I say should be taken as 100% true. For my calculations, I am not really taking statistics into account, but am more biased towards TPE, as lower TPE player can still have great years, but that is an anomaly, not the status quo. As such, let’s dive into it and see what the grey ducks are lack and where they are winning.
Defensive End
Looking at the Minnesota Grey Duck’s roster, I would have to say that Defensive End is absolutely one of the weaker points of their defense. On their current roster, the Grey Ducks carry four defensive ends, Vick Vinegar, Woodrow Brooks, Jeffery Jefferson, and Brick Van Sanzo. Out of the four players that I have named, only Brick Van Sanzo remains active. Woodrow Brooks was active and has continued to pop back into the locker room occasionally, but as of now, he does not consistently update, so I would have to label him as an IA. Out of those four defensive ends that I named, Vick Vinegar and Jeffery Jefferson have only ever made an update page, so their corpses are essentially useless. Despite the fact that the Ducks only hit on 1 out of their four defense ends, I think that if Brick Van Sanzo is able to stay active and ultimately cap, the Grey Ducks will be in a better situation, largely due to the fact that there are only two defensive ends playing on the field at any time. Although Woodrow Brooks may be average or below average, having a capped Defensive End on the other side of the line will probably be enough to generate at least some sort of pass rush and help other players get to the Quarterback. I think that DE is absolutely a position that the Grey Ducks should consider looking at when drafting, and I think, chances are, that they will end up taking a defensive end and hopefully finding an active replacement for Woodrow Brooks in this draft.
Defensive Tackle
Looking at the interior of the Defensive Line, the lack of active talent on the line becomes even more apparent. Although the Grey Ducks were lacking at the Defensive End position, at least they had one active player who contributed. However, when looking at Defensive Tackles, there seems to be a complete lack of active talent for the Grey Ducks at this position. Out of the three current defensive tackles that the Grey Ducks carry on the roster, only one of them has even bothered to do any points tasks other than make an update page, and said defensive tackle has not been seen around the league since the middle of June. I believe that this lack of talent at the Defensive Tackle position is a major source of woe for the Grey Ducks organization. By not having reliable players at the tackle position helping anchor the line and generate both pass rush and helping to stuff the run, the Grey Ducks front office is being irresponsible and making life incredibly hard for no reason for their secondary. By giving opposing quarterbacks infinite time in the pocket, opposing QBs will be able to simply wait for a good opportunity and then make a play. As such, I think that the Defensive Tackle position is arguably the biggest area of need for the Minnesota Grey Ducks, and I think that picking up an active player in this draft that plays defensive tackle is one of the most pressing, if not the most, needs for the Grey Ducks in this draft. The issue with Defensive Tackle manifested itself in many ways last season. For example, the Grey Ducks were very middle of the pack with sacks last year. Furthermore, the additionally pressure they put on the secondary was also very visible, and the entire defensive unit only had 5 interceptions the entire season, good for (you guessed it) dead last in the league. I love the Grey Ducks so much, but I want them to succeed, which is why I’m being so hard. This is not a knock against the front office, as I think CC and Jamar have done a great job, but I’m just point out potential areas where they could focus their attention upon.
Linebackers
While the Grey Ducks have had major holes along their defensive line, I think that their linebacker corps somewhat makes up for that. In fact, I would venture to say that the Grey Ducks may possible have one of the best linebacker corps in the entire DSFL. Specifically, on their roster, they carry two active linebackers, Wasrabi Gleel and Alejandro Chainbreak, both of whom are incredibly high earning players. Out of their less efficient and less active players, they still have Samuel L Jackson Sr. who is sitting around around 190 TPE. Although he may not be active, he is still a nice body to have in the lineup next to Chainbreaker and Gleel. This dominant linebacker corps is incredibly nice to have, as linebackers are probably one of the versatile positions in the game, but I think that the holes present on Minnesota are a little larger than a dominant linebacker corps could make up for. Despite this, if Minnesota is able to build around this group of players, their defense could easily become one of the most dominant defenses in the leagues and opposing quarterbacks would quiver when they realize they have to go up against the Ducks.
Cornerbacks
Cornerback is another position for the Grey Ducks where the top half of the depth chart looks great, but the backup essentially fall off of a cliff. Specifically, Corners James Gath and Leeroy Jenkins are most likely going to the the Grey Ducks CB1’s and CB2. Gath is at over 300 TPE and is likely on track to cap, and leeroy is sitting at the mid 200’s, good enough to be serviceable and able to cover most receivers consistently. As such, the grey ducks look to be fine in normal sets. Although the talent at cornerback is there, as we have seen from the interception numbers from last year, the production for some reason was not. As I have talked about before, I think that this level of inefficiency from the secondary stems largely from the defensive line. Without a consistent and somewhat dangerous pass rush that forces other quarterbacks to get the ball out quick, it really makes the jobs of the corners a lot harder, which is absolutely what I think happened here. Yes, you can make the argument that maybe their dominant linebacker corps picked up some of the slack, but I still think that the holes along the defensive line were absolutely major enough to the point that no other position could have completely picked up the slack. However, I think that CB is absolutely fine for the Minnesota Grey Ducks and should not be an area that they focus upon in the draft, unless they would like to go for some gems in the late round and possibly build up some depth.
Safeties
The safety position is also another area where the Grey Ducks seem to be fine. As of now, they have two active safeties who are also great users in the locker room, Damian Blackfyre and Oliver Sloan. Both of these users are high 200s in their TPE and will most likely cap by the end of their season. These safeties probably make the lives of the corners much easier due to their high TPE largely because they will be more skilled and will be able to cover more ground and will be more of a factor in the secondary overall. However, once again, they are probably negatively impacted by the lack of pass rush.
Closing Remarks
As we have seen, the Grey Ducks have a fairly young and talented secondary and linebacker corp. However, the vast majority of their issues largely stems from their lack of pass rush and lack of active and consistent players on the defensive line. Although they have some absolutely beasts on the defensive line, the fact that the other half of the line is largely inactive and has nothing more than a simple update page is probably the root of most of their issues. As such, I think the ducks should focus on beefing up their trenches in this draft, which will improve their pass rush and help their secondary achieve their fullest potentials.