Editor’s note: This is the second in a three-part series wrapping up the 2021 Arizona football season.
Change is afoot yet again for the Arizona defense.
After one promising season under Don Brown, the Wildcats will play for their fifth defensive coordinator since the start of the 2019 campaign. Following Brown’s departure for UMass, Jedd Fisch hired Johnny Nansen to run the defense and spearhead efforts to upgrade the talent on that side of the ball.
What does Nansen have to work with? We take stock of the defense here in the second part of our 2021 season wrap-up series.
Personnel breakdown
Four key departures: DT Trevon Mason, LB Anthony Pandy, DE Mo Diallo, LB Kenny Hebert
One possible departure: DE Jalen Harris
Six key returnees: DT Kyon Barrs, S/LB Christian Young, CB Christian Roland-Wallace, CB Treydan Stukes, CB Isaiah Rutherford, S Jaxen Turner
2021 awards
MVP: DT Kyon Barrs: The third-year sophomore led the team with five sacks despite missing two games and playing an interior position; he’s also Pro Football Focus’ highest-graded UA defender.
Most improved: CB Treydan Stukes: Stukes went from walk-on to scholarship player to valuable backup to end-of-season starter; he led the Wildcats with six pass breakups and allowed only 45.9% (17 of 37) of passes thrown his way to be completed.
Unsung hero: S/LB Christian Young: Young fit in perfectly as the “Viper” — a hybrid safety-linebacker — in Brown’s defense, ranking second on the team with 67 tackles, third with a 7.9% missed tackle rate (minimum 20 tackle attempts) and tied for third with four pass breakups.
Top newcomer: DE Mo Diallo
Despite not arriving on campus until mid-August after transferring from Central Michigan, Diallo led the team with 8.5 tackles for losses, including four sacks and one safety.
2021 report card
Defensive linemen: C+
Barrs, Mason and Harris were right behind Diallo in TFLs, and those three paced the team in QB pressures; however, Arizona ranked 10th in the Pac-12 in run defense, allowing 180.9 yards per game.
Linebackers: C
Pandy led the team with 82 tackles, and Hebert had his moments (four TFLs, one forced fumble, one interception), but instability and injures at MLB prevented this unit from being all it could be.
Cornerbacks: B
Arizona allowed less than 200 passing yards per game for the first time since 2008, and the cornerbacks played a huge role in that; the next step is to create more turnovers (Roland-Wallace had the lone INT by a corner).
Safeties: D
This group struggled in two critical areas, tackling and coverage; Turner, Jaydin Young and Gunner Maldonado each had 12 or more missed tackles, per PFF, while Young was charged with nine touchdowns allowed (no other Wildcat had more than three).
Coaching: B-
The Wildcats made tangible improvement under Brown, ascending from 116th to 58th nationally in total defense, but there were still plenty of flaws (the aforementioned run defense, league-low six takeaways, league-high 25 TD passes allowed).
New defensive coordinator Johnny Nansen, left, talks as coach Jedd Fisch listens during Friday’s news conference on campus.
The big question
Does Nansen have the building blocks to take the UA defense to a higher level?
There’s a lot to like among the players who are projected to return. There are also areas in need of upgrades.
Let’s start with the former.
Although they stand to lose a ton of veteran production from their front, the Wildcats return a promising foundation. It starts with Barrs, who emerged as a playmaker in his third season. It includes Paris Shand, who played a bigger role than expected as a second-year freshman who was considered a project coming out of high school. Shand played 278 snaps and produced 16 tackles, including two TFLs. He can play defensive tackle or strong-side end.
Middle linebacker Jerry Roberts’ impact was felt when he suffered a season-ending leg injury on the first play from scrimmage in the next-to-last game at Washington State. He projects as the starter there assuming a smooth and timely recovery. He had 32 tackles in a four-game stretch before getting hurt.
Chandler product Malik Reed transferred to Arizona from Wisconsin knowing that Pandy was ensconced at weak-side linebacker — and that the position would come open in 2022. That succession plan was accelerated after Roberts got hurt and Pandy had to slide to that spot. Reed notched eight tackles, including five solos, in the season finale vs. Arizona State.
Arizona also has the makings of an upper-level cornerback trio, assuming all three are back. Roland-Wallace has the potential to be an All-Pac-12 player if he can make more plays on the ball. Stukes looks legit. And Isaiah Rutherford was playing well before getting hurt late in the season.
It’s unclear where Christian Young fits into the defense until we know exactly what Nansen is going to run. The scheme is expected to be similar to Pete Carroll’s system, which is a base 4-3. If there’s a position similar to the Viper, Young will be first in line. It’s also conceivable he could shift to a more traditional strong-safety role.
Safety is a position where Arizona could use some upgrades. As mentioned above, that group struggled quite a bit this season. Young is a quality player, but he doesn’t provide what the position really needs – more speed to cover slot receivers.
Fisch mentioned linebacker as a position that could use reinforcements, especially from a depth standpoint, and we can’t argue with him. It’ll come from a combination of 2021 signees who redshirted this past season and newcomers.
The other area that needs to be addressed is edge rusher. It was unknown as of this writing whether Harris would return. If he does, that would be a boon for the Wildcats. He was their third-highest-graded starting defensive player this season, per PFF.
If Harris leaves, his younger brother, Jason, could be his replacement. Jason Harris, who transferred in from Colorado, didn’t play this season. He flashed in practice, though, and has appealing measurables at 6-7, 255.
Arizona invested heavily on the defensive side of the ball last offseason; 10 of the 17 transfers were defenders. Many of them were one-and-dones. Even with a strong nucleus returning, more help is needed.
