[CTcard]

The more Martinez impresses, the more I might be wrong about our defense's ability to reload this year  ::)

How well Martinez plays in Green Bay does not have any direct effect on how well Okereke, Palma et al. play at Stanford.

More broadly, the defense should, and must, do something more than reload this year.

The secondary has lots of returnees, new guys who are more athletic and highly touted than those they are replacing, and solid time under Akina. They should be substantially better.

The DL has more bodies, two guys who should be stars. They should be substantially better.

The OLBs have one returner, one guys who last year was a highly promising first year player, and one guy who seemed to be coming into his own at the end of the year. They should be better.

The ILBs have one guy back and a start to replace. Don't know anything about the replacements yet, but a few have reputations as highly athletic. Shouldn't be too much of a drop off.

Taken together, it seems highly likely that the defense will be better than last year.
However, it may have to be in 2012-13-14 level for a successful season, and that is a high bar.

[CTcard]

The more Martinez impresses, the more I might be wrong about our defense's ability to reload this year  ::)

How well Martinez plays in Green Bay does not have any direct effect on how well Okereke, Palma et al. play at Stanford.

More broadly, the defense should, and must, do something more than reload this year.

The secondary has lots of returnees, new guys who are more athletic and highly touted than those they are replacing, and solid time under Akina. They should be substantially better.

The DL has more bodies, two guys who should be stars. They should be substantially better.

The OLBs have one returner, one guys who last year was a highly promising first year player, and one guy who seemed to be coming into his own at the end of the year. They should be better.

The ILBs have one guy back and a start to replace. Don't know anything about the replacements yet, but a few have reputations as highly athletic. Shouldn't be too much of a drop off.

Taken together, it seems highly likely that the defense will be better than last year.
However, it may have to be in 2012-13-14 level for a successful season, and that is a high bar.