What to "watch" for on defense in camp

It's August, and with camp opening this week, WildcatReport takes a look at what to watch for on each side of the ball. This is our take on Northwestern’s defense.

While Northwestern’s offense is hoping for a transformation comparable to a gut rehab, the defense is just making a few tweaks, more akin to a paint job or buying a few new appliances.

That’s all that’s required when you allow just 18.5 points and 318.9 yards per game, as the Wildcats’ formidable defense did last season. The Wildcats are hoping to plug new players into four vacant starting spots and just keep doing what they’re doing.

Here is a look at the things to “watch” – if practices were open and you could – at each level of the defense.

The defensive end spot will be getting as much attention in Evanston as Donald Trump this month. Okay, maybe not that much. But how the DE rotation shapes up after losing stalwart bookends Deonte Gibson and Dean Lowry from a year ago will be a point of emphasis.

The starting two are set: Xavier Washington and Ifeadi Odenigbo. Both have played a lot of football for the Wildcats over the last couple seasons, but neither has been an every-down kind of guy before. Washington has been a solid rotation guy, Odenigbo a third-down pass-rushing specialist. Both will have to be ready to play every snap, regardless of down-and-distance.

Odenigbo, a fifth-year senior, has always had the speed off the edge to rush the passer, but he has been working hard in the weight room this offseason – including deadlifting 720 pounds four times – to anchor down against the run.

More than the starting pair, the concern at end is depth. Defensive line coach Marty Long likes to use rotations up front, so C.J. Robbins, who is part of a very talented rotation at defensive tackle, will move outside on occasion. Then, the Wildcats will need at least one, and preferably both, of their two redshirt freshman defensive ends, Joe Gaziano and Trent Goens, to emerge. Gaziano looks to be the more ready of the two from a physical standpoint, but camp will determine how much time either of them get in the fall.

True freshman Tommy Carnifax is another player to keep an eye on this month. He enrolled at Northwestern in January but missed spring practice to recover from two surgeries in December to repair a shoulder and knee damaged in high school. If he is back to full speed, he is a guy, at 6-foot-4 and 253 pounds, who could make some noise.

The other true freshman defensive end, the 230-pound Mark Gooden, will probably take a redshirt season to put on weight.

News flash: Anthony Walker will start at middle linebacker. That can be etched in titanium. Jaylen Prater figures to reclaim the starting outside linebacker job he had in the first nine games last season before injury ended his season prematurely. That leaves an opening to replace the departed Drew Smith, who started all 13 games last season.

Nate Hall, who started the last four games last season when Prater was injured, figures to land Smith’s previous job. He may be the fastest Wildcat linebacker and managed to record 56 tackles in limited playing time last season.

It will be interesting to see how the rest of the two-deep shakes out because Northwestern is loaded and linebackers learn multiple positions. Cameron Queiro will probably be Walker’s backup in the middle, and Joseph Jones and Tommy Vitale will be No. 2s at the two outside spots.

How guys like Nathan Fox and Brett Walsh fit into the equation is anyone’s guess. Then there’s the freshmen – Jango Glackin and Paddy Fisher – and Simba Short, a redshirt freshmen who sat out last season recovering from surgery. (Fan favorite and Navy SEAL Tom Hruby may have to sit out the season after suffering an injury in the spring, says an NU source.)

Northwestern is fast, deep and athletic at linebacker. If the defensive ends are unable to get much pressure on opposition quarterbacks, defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz has plenty of options among his linebackers to bring pressure.

It’s interesting: the secondary lost two starters – one half of its starting corps – but no one is very worried. Why? Because there is a lot of confidence in the two experienced players stepping into starting jobs.

First of all, the two starters returning are two of the best players on the roster. Matthew Harris has 28 starts under his belt and is the Wildcats’ lockdown corner. Godwin Igewbuike started every game at safety last season and is a ballhawk and fierce hitter who may be Northwestern’s best all-around athlete.

Three-year starting cornerback Nick VanHoose is gone, but he will be replaced by Keith Watkins II, an aggressive, physical and fearless player who looked up to the task starting for VanHoose in the Outback Bowl. Watkins, a redshirt junior, appeared in all 12 games a year ago, starting two and recording 41 tackles.

At safety, Kyle Queiro will come in for the graduated Traveon Heny. Queiro was a reliable backup last year, picking off a pass in the season-opening win over Stanford before missing eight games due to injury. The redshirt junior’s performance will be crucial because there is very little experience behind him at safety.

The real question, then, is how the two-deep will shake out. Montre Hartage, Alonzo Mayo, Trae Williams and Parrker Westphal will all look to get into the mix, and fans will be eager to see if incoming four-star corner Roderick Campbell will be able to earn some time on the field.