Missouri Football: The Defense Must Improve in 2018

The Missouri Tigers defense will need to improve for the team to take a step forward again in 2018. Do they have the personnel to be better this year?

Last September, the Missouri Tigers head coach Barry Odom fired defensive coordinator DeMontie Cross just two games into the season. Odom took over coaching responsibilities for the rest of the season and then following the 2017 campaign designated secondary coach Ryan Walters as the coordinator for 2018. Following the loss in the Texas Bowl, Missouri hired veteran assistant Vernon Hargreaves to be the inside linebackers coach.

Odom looks to build upon some of the success from 2017 with six starters coming back that showed promise during the team’s six-game win streak to finish out the season last year. Odom and Walter look to become more diverse on defense and have the ability to deploy a bigger variety of personnel packages.

Considering the shortage at the defensive end position, the team showed some of their defensive tackles on the edge during the spring game. Odom ran a 3-4 scheme on defense during his time at Memphis but used the 4-3 scheme that Gary Pinkel ran at Missouri the last few seasons. Over the last couple of years, Odom has recruited versatile players each year to deploy more looks in the Tigers defense.

Some players that have seen time at defensive end and defensive tackle this spring include Texas transfer Jordan Elliott and sophomore Akial Byers. The defense will also see some fresh young talent at the edge position with freshman Trajan Jeffcoat and Jatorian Hansford coming into the mix later this summer.

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It seems that Odom wants to add more versatility to the defensive packages instead of consistently playing out of the 4-3 scheme like we have seen over the last few years. Bringing in bigger guys to play the edge would hint that he wants to deploy more 3-4 looks.

Additional looks and versatility don’t only include the offensive line. Second-year safety Joshuah Bledsoe was an emerging impact for the Tigers defense last season. During the late stretch of the 2017 season, Bledsoe played in a hybrid outside linebacker/nickelback position. He comes into the 2018 season as a strong candidate for the starting safety role but will be seen playing closer to the line of scrimmage often in 2018.

The secondary in general will have to improve off of their poor performance in 2017. Ranking last in the SEC in 2017 for passing yards allowed per game, the Tigers gave up 254.5 yards per game. Missouri lost some key players in the secondary this year including safety Anthony Sherrils, safety Thomas Wilson, and cornerback Logan Cheadle.

Cornerbacks DeMarkus Acy and Adam Sparks will be leaned on heavily this season and the defense depends on them stepping up. Given the strong passing offenses that Missouri will face in 2018, its crucial that the young secondary members step up.

Another player returning for the Tigers is defensive tackle Terry Beckner Jr. During his first healthy season with the Tigers, Beckner hauled in seven sacks from the interior. Missouri will be hoping for some improvement at the defensive end positions if they want to see Beckner have a similar season this year. Without some development from younger players, Beckner could be seeing even more double teams in 2018.

Related Story: How will the Tigers offense handle change in 2018?

While the defense needs to do their own improving in 2018, the offense must help keep them off the field. While the offense was fun to watch last year as quarterback Drew Lock slung the football all over the field, it made it harder on the defense not having enough time to rest in between drives.

The defense has done its fair share of problems like missed tackles the last couple of seasons but some help from the offense would go a long way. Putting together some long sustained drives on offense would go a long way in helping the Tigers defense improve in 2018.

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There are question marks at every level of the Missouri defense this season. Given what we saw last year, it’s crucial for young players to emerge as impact players if the Tigers want to be competitive this season. Drew Lock can throw record-breaking touchdowns again this year and the team would still struggle if the defense doesn’t improve quickly.