Middle Tennessee Football: Can Blue Raiders return to winning ways?

Experienced defense needs to be better in 2021

To put it nicely, Middle Tennessee’s defense was not very good last season and aside from experience, there is not much reason to expect them to be a lot better.

Up front, this is a group that really struggled to stop the run last season and as a whole is pretty young. Jordan Ferguson is the top returning pass rusher and he will be flanked by Richard Kinley, who will step into a full-time starting role for the first time. On the interior, Jordan Branch is the number one guy and he will be joined by freshman Marley Cook. The linebackers are anchored by DQ Thomas and Jonathan Butler, who had over 45 tackles each last season. I would expect that Cody Smith will be the third linebacker for the Blue Raider defense.

The secondary should be the best unit on the defense and it is led by senior safety Reed Blankenship. Blankenship is the top veteran on the entire team and a lot will be on him to help get this defense turned around. Surrounding Blankenship will be talented safety Gregory Grate and a pair of young corners in Quincy Riley and Jalen Jackson. Both guys have length and athleticism and have high expectations.

This defense will need to be better in virtually every category. The secondary has the talent to hold its own, but the run defense and pass rush are big question marks.