Washington State Football: Can Cougars finally win Pac-12 in 2019?

Question marks abound on defense

This is where question marks arise for the Cougars, as their passing defense was very good last season, and projected to be strong again this year. That was, until Jalen Thompson left the team for the NFL Supplemental Draft. He was the star safety on a very good secondary, and he finished on the All-Pac-12 second-team last season. His numbers will be difficult to replicate.

But this pass rush is still legitimately great, as they have some of the best passing down sack rates in the country, and ranked inside the top 20 in overall sack rate. All of their top pass rushers are back, and that unit should improve much this season, it’s the run defense that should scare Cougar fans the most.

Wazzu is losing both of its defensive tackles, and middle linebacker/leading tackler Peyton Pelluer, for a run defense that really held the team back last season. They rated as one of the lowest pass rushing teams in the country last season, giving up 142 yards rushing per game, and 4.0 yards per carry, which was good for the 51st overall in the country.

That wasn’t good enough for a playoff-hopeful team, and with nobody on the roster near 300 pounds, I fear the heavy run teams at Stanford and Washington will continue to cause a lot of problems for the Cougars.