At the beginning of the year I would agree 100% on the DBs and LBs... right now not so much.
Tyvis Powell is equal to or greater than Anderson Russell and Vonn Bell is comparable to Kurt Coleman IMO.
We had an extremely good Nickel in Jermale Hines that year, and although Armani Reeves isn't nearly the physical presence that Hines was, I think Reeves is very capable and underrated.
At CB, Doran Grant equals Chimdi Chekwa and Apple is equal to or greater than Devon Torrance.
Finally, I think guys like Conley and Burrows provide depth in the secondary that wasnt there in '09.
At LB I think Darron Lee is comparable to Brian Rolle while Josh Perry and Curtis Grant are markedly better than Spitler but a step down from Homan.
I worry about Perry and/or Grant in space against the Ducks.
At DT I agree the depth is not there (although Schutt had a strong game against Wisky) but I think Bennett is better than Larrimore and Worthington while Adolphus is comparable to both.
Not having Spence hurts a lot as he would be the Thaddeus Gibson comparison, but clearly Bosa and Heyward are comparable.
We can quibble over details, but outside of proven DL depth I don't think this years unit is markedly worse than '09.
Most importantly, they have improved so much throughout the year and I think they are still on an upward trajectory given their youth.
The main point was that OSU manhandled that offense for large stretches of that drive. I can't envision that happening again, between the much better QB in Mariota and a much more flawed OSU defense. I do expect them to make some plays but scoring less than 35 is a recipe to lose.
Depth chart
DE Heyward vs Bosa - I'm taking Heyward, because I know which player I'm getting, and I need that discipline to stop Oregon. Bosa when he's on surpasses Cam, but his floor is lower than Cam's.
DT Worthington vs Washington - I lean towards Doug in this game, though it's close.
DT Larimore/Denlinger vs Bennett is an interesting battle. Mike is a top-20 pick but Larimore was so stout and enormous in this game. The ability to actually rely on a replacement in a tiring, uptempo game is huge as well.
DE Gibson vs Miller/Frazier - One huge game this post season aside (For both), this isn't a very close battle. Obviously Spence would have been pretty salty.
SLB Spitler vs Perry is a tough call. Spitler was undervalued and showed more consistency on the field than Josh. I think it's at worst a wash and possibly a small victory for 09.
MLB Rolle was a demon. So fast, so instinctive, so versatile. Grant would compare better but lose to Spitler at MLB, but obviously gets destroyed vs Rolle.
WLB Homan vs Lee is interesting. Darron is so quick and an excellent blitzer, but he's also undersized. I'd also submit that Darron probably battles against Jermale Hines if you put him on that squad. Is this a win for the new team? Maybe, depending on how you classify Darron. I think he'd be a star and probably be in a dogfight with Jermale.
CB Grant might be close to the 09 version of Chekwa. Either way that's a wash and with the disparities elsewhere, they need some wins to balance it out.
S Coleman was an all-american. Bell is miles away from there, despite making some clutch interceptions lately. I'd be thrilled with Anderson Russell level play there, let alone Coleman.
S Russell was much maligned but that was in contrast to the caliber of players OSU has fielded in the secondary. Powell has just as many breakdowns in coverage and is considerably worse against the run.
CB Torrence and Apple are probably close.
OSU has a decent to good defense with 3 studs in Bosa, Bennett and Lee. The problem is the weaknesses are far more glaring than those on the 09 team. When those guys play above their abilities and are merely decent, the 14 D becomes good to very good. When they play about like usual, it can become a very suspect defense on the ground.[/URL]
I'll edit the below stats to include 2009, not 08.
