Colorado Football: How will Mel Tucker fare in Year 1 with Buffaloes?

Two dynamic playmakers in front seven provide stability

The Buffaloes only return five starters on defense from last season, but the two in the front seven are some of the best players in the Pac-12 at their respective positions. Defensive end Mustafa Johnson and linebacker Nate Landman will set the tone every game for Colorado’s defense and make things happen in the trenches.

Johnson is a versatile athlete, who anchors the defensive line and can play in the interior or along the edge. He tallied a jaw-dropping, 73 total stops from his position, finished third in the league in tackles for loss and second in sacks last season.

Linebacker Nate Landman is the Buffaloes’ leading returning tackler, who had 105 stops last year, including 15 from behind the line of scrimmage, four sacks and two interceptions. He can cover the field from sideline to sideline, earned All-Pac-12 honors and been named to the Butkus Award watch list for this fall.

The secondary will have a host of new safeties and the unit needs to do a better job at creating turnovers after intercepting only eight passes last season. Dante Wigley and Delrick Abrams are the veteran corners and the Buffaloes will need the two to be ball hawks this season to improve a leaky pass defense.

Still, there’s enough pieces in place for Tucker to make a splash on that side of the ball and he’ll have them playing with a physicality that hasn’t been seen around the program for quite some time.