[ChicagoCard]

For me, the biggest issue with the secondary last season was tackling in space, particularly vs the run.  While there were injuries in the secondary last year, even when they had a full complement of starters or close to it, the secondary was just not making the tackles they needed to when opposing offences broke through the front seven.  The Cardinal secondary needs to improve substantially in this regard.  I am not as concerned about pass coverage as some others.  The defense only gave up over 300 yards passing once (Fiesta Bowl).  Would have been difficult to completely shut down Weedon-Blackmon combo completely - they were going to get some decent yards whoever was in the secondary.

You're right. Except, and I hate to re-visit this, even though you're right about Weedon-Blackmon and OK St's offense, even a little more pressure on them by a more capable secondary would have forced a few more stops and tipped the balance. So looking forward, for S.U. this year their front seven could be really, really good but they'll still be burned a bit by the likes of Oregon, USC and whoever they might play in a bowl game unless their secondary somehow is better. Personally, I am hopeful about T. Brown and W. Lyons and keeping my fingers crossed that others emerge at safety. Can you imagine what the Washington game last year would have looked like if S.U. had had a good secondary?

[ChicagoCard]

For me, the biggest issue with the secondary last season was tackling in space, particularly vs the run.  While there were injuries in the secondary last year, even when they had a full complement of starters or close to it, the secondary was just not making the tackles they needed to when opposing offences broke through the front seven.  The Cardinal secondary needs to improve substantially in this regard.  I am not as concerned about pass coverage as some others.  The defense only gave up over 300 yards passing once (Fiesta Bowl).  Would have been difficult to completely shut down Weedon-Blackmon combo completely - they were going to get some decent yards whoever was in the secondary.

You're right. Except, and I hate to re-visit this, even though you're right about Weedon-Blackmon and OK St's offense, even a little more pressure on them by a more capable secondary would have forced a few more stops and tipped the balance. So looking forward, for S.U. this year their front seven could be really, really good but they'll still be burned a bit by the likes of Oregon, USC and whoever they might play in a bowl game unless their secondary somehow is better. Personally, I am hopeful about T. Brown and W. Lyons and keeping my fingers crossed that others emerge at safety. Can you imagine what the Washington game last year would have looked like if S.U. had had a good secondary?