2019 Defensive Depth Chart

[NU Line]

DE: Joe Gaziano, Devin ORourke, Andrew Leota
DT: Alex Miller, Trevor Kent, Joe Spivac
DT: Jake Sanders, Trent Goens
DE: Sam Miller, Earnest Brown, Mark Gooden
LB: Blake Gallagher, Bryce Gallagher
LB: Paddy Fisher, Grayson Mann
LB: Chris Bergen, Khalid Jones
CB: Greg Newsome, Rod Campbell
CB: Cam Ruiz, Rod Heard
S: JR Pace, Jerimiah McDonald
S: Travis Whillock, Austin Hiller

Analysis:
Love our depth at DE. I think we have a bunch of studs. My guess is Goens slides in to tackle and sees significant playing time there. Hopefully Trevor Kent has bulked up and Jake Sanders can stay healthy. Hopefully, Joe Spivac is ready for his chance to earn a scholarship as he has the opportunity to earn some significant playing time this season.

Our linebackers we should be fine but we will miss Nate Hall. I still see Bergen keeping his spot and thought he played well but would love to see some of the young guys fight for a starting spot.

The emergence of JR Pace and Travis Whillock this season has me excited by our secondary. Greg Newsome and Cam Ruiz are both young and got lots of playing time this season. Hopefully, they continue to progress and the game slows down for them.

 

[mickbula]

IMHO, I think Spivac already has played well enough to earn a scholarship. He was on the field quite a bit this Fall- wasn't he?? It seemed like he held his own and did pretty well?? And with his reputation as a great teammate and positive vibe invigorator in the locker room- I'd put him on schol. at the earliest convenience. Also...did Bergen get a scholarship yet?? He seemed to play pretty well too- right??

 

[Hungry Jack]

Several here have suggested that Goens, who goes about 260, gets moved inside. I don't really see that happening, but I have seen very little of his play.

The door is open for Gold or Olges to land a spot in the DT rotation. Very recently, a DT grad transfer from Rice started following NU on Twitter, so it may be that Fitz is looking for a grad transfer to add depth, which is needed IMUO.

At LB, don't forget about Jaylen Rivers, who possesses a lot of athleticism.

 

[BigCatCT]

Why isn’t Trae Williams listed at CB? I thought he was considered a junior. Is he coming back next year?

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Several here have suggested that Goens, who goes about 260, gets moved inside. I don't really see that happening, but I have seen very little of his play.

The door is open for Gold or Olges to land a spot in the DT rotation. Very recently, a DT grad transfer from Rice started following NU on Twitter, so it may be that Fitz is looking for a grad transfer to add depth, which is needed IMUO.

At LB, don't forget about Jaylen Rivers, who possesses a lot of athleticism.

Goens is similar to Max Chapman, hustle guys who might be a bit undersized to play inside but can/could flex down there in certain situations.

Still think Bryce Gallagher has a good shot to start at Sam. He’s a different body type and athlete than his brother.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Why isn’t Trae Williams listed at CB? I thought he was considered a junior. Is he coming back next year?

Yes

 

[rwhitney014]

Yes

Any insight on Brian Bullock? Or AJ Hampton, for that matter?

 

[loyolacat]

So I like to get to the games early and watch warm ups...and I understand they are just that,,,,warm ups....but two guys always caught my eye, Jason Whitaker and AJ Hampton.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Any insight on Brian Bullock? Or AJ Hampton, for that matter?

Nope

 

[CoralSpringsCat]

DE: Joe Gaziano, Devin ORourke, Andrew Leota
DT: Alex Miller, Trevor Kent, Joe Spivac
DT: Jake Sanders, Trent Goens
DE: Sam Miller, Earnest Brown, Mark Gooden
LB: Blake Gallagher, Bryce Gallagher
LB: Paddy Fisher, Grayson Mann
LB: Chris Bergen, Khalid Jones
CB: Greg Newsome, Rod Campbell
CB: Cam Ruiz, Rod Heard
S: JR Pace, Jerimiah McDonald
S: Travis Whillock, Austin Hiller

Analysis:
Love our depth at DE. I think we have a bunch of studs. My guess is Goens slides in to tackle and sees significant playing time there. Hopefully Trevor Kent has bulked up and Jake Sanders can stay healthy. Hopefully, Joe Spivac is ready for his chance to earn a scholarship as he has the opportunity to earn some significant playing time this season.

Our linebackers we should be fine but we will miss Nate Hall. I still see Bergen keeping his spot and thought he played well but would love to see some of the young guys fight for a starting spot.

The emergence of JR Pace and Travis Whillock this season has me excited by our secondary. Greg Newsome and Cam Ruiz are both young and got lots of playing time this season. Hopefully, they continue to progress and the game slows down for them.

Bryce Jackson pretty solidly entrenched as the 3rd safety.

 

[corbi296]

Trae Williams will likely be the starting CB opposite Newsome when we line up against Stanford. Khalid Jones is probably best as a MLB in Hank’s scheme. He’ll probably be Paddy’s back up.

 

[Bwm57]

Very recently, a DT grad transfer from Rice started following NU on Twitter, so it may be that Fitz is looking for a grad transfer to add depth,

https://oregonstate.rivals.com/news/rice-dl-grad-transfer-zach-abercrumbia-is-blowing-up

 

[musiCat]

Did Nathan Fox medically retire this year? I noticed he wasn't on the roster anymore, but I didn't remember him being honored on senior day.

 

[corbi296]

Did Nathan Fox medically retire this year? I noticed he wasn't on the roster anymore, but I didn't remember him being honored on senior day.

He is no longer on the team. Word is he had some sort of surgery mid year and was planning on grad transferring but there has been no confirmation of that.

 

[NorthNJCatsfan]

It was good to see Saunders getting snaps in the Holiday Bowl. I’m interested to see if he can work himself back into better, quicker shape.

 

[epicbret]

DT depth is scary in a scary way

 

[NUCat320]

I see Earnest playing the majority of the snaps opposite Gazilla.

It’s good to have all-conference bookends.

 

[DaCat]

I see Earnest playing the majority of the snaps opposite Gazilla.

It’s good to have all-conference bookends.

Samdup is no chopped liver either. And give O'Rourke some reps to become the next Gazilla. The DE rotation is as good as it's ever been.

 

[freewillie07]

DT depth is scary in a scary way

Need Saunders to get healthy and be a starter, he seems like the only "true" DT right now. The Miller Bros. or Trevor Kent will be fine, just not ideal at the moment.

 

[DaCat]

Need Saunders to get healthy and be a starter, he seems like the only "true" DT right now. The Miller Bros. or Trevor Kent will be fine, just not ideal at the moment.

Why you dissing Alex Miller like that? He already has 3 seasons under his belt at DT beginning with his true frosh year. He's a solid veteran and has made some big plays. Saunders is unproven, I'm sure we fans would all love to see him have a breakthrough season, but he's not at Alex's level yet. I think Kent is the next big story, hopefully next year's version of Earnest Brown on the DL.

 

[GOUNUII]

Why you dissing Alex Miller like that? He already has 3 seasons under his belt at DT beginning with his true frosh year. He's a solid veteran and has made some big plays. Saunders is unproven, I'm sure we fans would all love to see him have a breakthrough season, but he's not at Alex's level yet. I think Kent is the next big story, hopefully next year's version of Earnest Brown on the DL.

Kent and Brown are both primed for break out years in 2019. Gotta hope that Saunders is too. Even then, the DT depth doesn’t look promising by comparison to what we’ve had the last couple of years.

GOUNUII

 

[epicbret]

Need Saunders to get healthy and be a starter, he seems like the only "true" DT right now. The Miller Bros. or Trevor Kent will be fine, just not ideal at the moment.

I think they have all the skills we desire, I'm just talking bulk. Hopefully they all see Dem Gainz

 

[EvanstonCat]

I think they have all the skills we desire, I'm just talking bulk. Hopefully they all see Dem Gainz

They need to juice.



Guava is my favorite.

 

[Jonny2TheP]

Brown made huge strides this past season. By the end of the year, he was becoming a difference maker, and he had a dominant bowl game. He got double teamed several times, yet still got pressure, and drew a holding call on one of those double teams as well.

We have a lot of talent at DE and rotate guys in/out a lot, but I think the two guys that will get the most time at DE next year are Gaz and Brown. Loved what I saw from Brown late in the year, especially on New Year's Eve.

 

[corbi296]

Brown made huge strides this past season. By the end of the year, he was becoming a difference maker, and he had a dominant bowl game. He got double teamed several times, yet still got pressure, and drew a holding call on one of those double teams as well.

We have a lot of talent at DE and rotate guys in/out a lot, but I think the two guys that will get the most time at DE next year are Gaz and Brown. Loved what I saw from Brown late in the year, especially on New Year's Eve.

Sam Miller is pretty damn good. I don’t think he was ever fully healthy last year. He was awesome as a true freshman when healthy.

 

[freewillie07]

Why you dissing Alex Miller like that? He already has 3 seasons under his belt at DT beginning with his true frosh year. He's a solid veteran and has made some big plays. Saunders is unproven, I'm sure we fans would all love to see him have a breakthrough season, but he's not at Alex's level yet. I think Kent is the next big story, hopefully next year's version of Earnest Brown on the DL.

Like I said, Alex Miller would be just fine. It would be nice if he added a bit more weight, however. Saunders is the only player *right now* that, if healthy and playing at the level he seems capable of, could perhaps command double teams.

 

[Pukecat]

DE: Joe Gaziano, Devin ORourke, Andrew Leota
DT: Alex Miller, Trevor Kent, Joe Spivac
DT: Jake Sanders, Trent Goens
DE: Sam Miller, Earnest Brown, Mark Gooden
LB: Blake Gallagher, Bryce Gallagher
LB: Paddy Fisher, Grayson Mann
LB: Chris Bergen, Khalid Jones
CB: Greg Newsome, Rod Campbell
CB: Cam Ruiz, Rod Heard
S: JR Pace, Jerimiah McDonald
S: Travis Whillock, Austin Hiller

Analysis:
Love our depth at DE. I think we have a bunch of studs. My guess is Goens slides in to tackle and sees significant playing time there. Hopefully Trevor Kent has bulked up and Jake Sanders can stay healthy. Hopefully, Joe Spivac is ready for his chance to earn a scholarship as he has the opportunity to earn some significant playing time this season.

Our linebackers we should be fine but we will miss Nate Hall. I still see Bergen keeping his spot and thought he played well but would love to see some of the young guys fight for a starting spot.

The emergence of JR Pace and Travis Whillock this season has me excited by our secondary. Greg Newsome and Cam Ruiz are both young and got lots of playing time this season. Hopefully, they continue to progress and the game slows down for them.

Guys, I've never seen a Northwestern defense with this kind of depth and that's with losing a few guys to graduation. Everybody has a lot of experience and I'm ready to beat OSU. How about you people?

 

[DkeCat]

DE: Joe Gaziano, Devin ORourke, Andrew Leota
DT: Alex Miller, Trevor Kent, Joe Spivac
DT: Jake Sanders, Trent Goens
DE: Sam Miller, Earnest Brown, Mark Gooden
LB: Blake Gallagher, Bryce Gallagher
LB: Paddy Fisher, Grayson Mann
LB: Chris Bergen, Khalid Jones
CB: Greg Newsome, Rod Campbell
CB: Cam Ruiz, Rod Heard
S: JR Pace, Jerimiah McDonald
S: Travis Whillock, Austin Hiller

Analysis:
Love our depth at DE. I think we have a bunch of studs. My guess is Goens slides in to tackle and sees significant playing time there. Hopefully Trevor Kent has bulked up and Jake Sanders can stay healthy. Hopefully, Joe Spivac is ready for his chance to earn a scholarship as he has the opportunity to earn some significant playing time this season.

Our linebackers we should be fine but we will miss Nate Hall. I still see Bergen keeping his spot and thought he played well but would love to see some of the young guys fight for a starting spot.

The emergence of JR Pace and Travis Whillock this season has me excited by our secondary. Greg Newsome and Cam Ruiz are both young and got lots of playing time this season. Hopefully, they continue to progress and the game slows down for them.

Trae Williams will be in mix. Will go out on a limb though and say Ruiz is going to play on Sundays (no different than Joe Jones) - already a great ST. As previously mentioned, would not be excited to see Bergin start unless he makes a good leap. As prior mentioned, keep an eye out for our freshman here.

Possible to slide Sam Miller inside with Alex? Not sure if he has the same frame, but height and weight are relatively similar. If not, I would expect Goens here, with Kent spelling both.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Trae Williams will be in mix. Will go out on a limb though and say Ruiz is going to play on Sundays (no different than Joe Jones) - already a great ST. As previously mentioned, would not be excited to see Bergin start unless he makes a good leap. As prior mentioned, keep an eye out for our freshman here.

Possible to slide Sam Miller inside with Alex? Not sure if he has the same frame, but height and weight are relatively similar. If not, I would expect Goens here, with Kent spelling both.

No reason to think Saunders can’t contribute with another (hopefully healthy) offseason.

 

[scru]

Trae Williams will be in mix. Will go out on a limb though and say Ruiz is going to play on Sundays (no different than Joe Jones) - already a great ST. As previously mentioned, would not be excited to see Bergin start unless he makes a good leap. As prior mentioned, keep an eye out for our freshman here.

Possible to slide Sam Miller inside with Alex? Not sure if he has the same frame, but height and weight are relatively similar. If not, I would expect Goens here, with Kent spelling both.

Agree with the Miller boys manning the middle. Brown is going to beat out Sam to start anyway, and we have more competitive depth at DE. Start bulking him up and spend the spring at DT.

 

[corbi296]

Agree with the Miller boys manning the middle. Brown is going to beat out Sam to start anyway, and we have more competitive depth at DE. Start bulking him up and spend the spring at DT.

Not happening.