Colorado Football: Can Buffaloes find 2016 magic?

Defense

Following the departure of Jim Leavitt and ouster of his replacement after domestic issues, the new-new defensive coordinator for 2017 was Kentucky’s D.J. Eliot. Eliot did stick to a 3-4 defensive scheme which is a good fit at Colorado but his approach was more bend but don’t break versus Leavitt being high-risk high reward.

The defense slipped from top 20 down to 98th in the country and some of that was the loss of cornerbacks Chidobe Awuzie and Akhello Witherspoon. Awuzie and Witherspoon could play lockdown man coverage allowing more blitzing without fear of being burned deep.

The Buffaloes do return their inside linebackers in Rick Gamboa and Drew Lewis. Gamboa and Lewis made 90 and 94 tackles, respectively and combined for eight tackles for loss. Having the inside of your defense secure is important against the Pac-12 which hasn’t abandoned the run quite like the Big 12.

The Buffaloes also return linemen Chris Mulumba, Javier Edwards and Jase Franke who are used less for pass rushing and more to eat up lanes in the odd front scheme. MacIntyre’s run on JUCO talent included the defensive line with Modesto three-star tackle Mustafa Johnson coming in ready to contribute.

Pass rush and coverage

The pass rush will come from the outside linebackers in the 3-4 defense and there isn’t a lot of experience in that group. Nate Landman and JUCO transfer Davion Taylor seem to be in the lead and will have to pressure the quarterback to give the young cornerbacks time in coverage.

Evan Worthington returns at safety. Worthington logged three interceptions in 2017 while making 87 tackles with 6.5 tackles coming for a loss. That’s stellar production from their strong safety position. After losing two cornerbacks to the NFL from the 2016 squad, the Buffs lost Isaiah Oliver to the 2nd round after the 2017 season. MacIntyre’s staff brought in JUCO cornerback Delrick Abrams for depth with young guys like Trey Udoffia and Chris Miller looking for playing time.