For all the hype and excitement about what the Boise State offense will bring in 2023, there is trepidation around the Broncos’ defense.
The group lost five starters. Though the stats from last season are impressive, the Broncos feasted on horrible opponents and didn’t have much success when faced with a somewhat-competent quarterback (Chance Nolan, Jaren Hall, Jake Haener).
There are plenty of questions and uncertainty, which makes it noteworthy how confident head coach Andy Avalos and his assistants are in the BSU defense.
Here are four thoughts on the unit heading into fall camp:
1. Hop on the A’Marion McCoy hype train
Early in his press conference on Monday, Boise State defensive coordinator Spencer Danielson made it known that he wasn’t going to delve too much into depth charts. For right now, he said, there are no depth charts, only seeding charts to determine reps early in camp.
Danielson wants to promote competition in fall camp. He wants every guy to believe they have a chance, if they work hard enough, to earn a starting gig.
I sort of expected Danielson to be coy regarding anyone not named DJ Schramm or Demitri Washington. Then he was asked about A’Marion McCoy, the junior college transfer cornerback, and, well, just read this.
“(He’s) one of the better cover corners I think we can have in a long time, in my opinion,” Danielson said. “He’s one of the better corners on our squad right now.”
It’s rare to hear praise like that around a first-year player, but McCoy has earned it.
During the spring game a few months ago, I thought McCoy was the Broncos’ best defensive player. He didn’t make many plays because no one dared throw toward him. For a guy who considered himself a basketball player three years ago, his footwork was crisp, his instincts were sharp and his speed made his recovery easy.
Cornerbacks coach Demario Warren saw McCoy over a year ago at Laney College. His first thought: “This dude is legit. I don’t think we’re going to get him.”
Somehow, the only FBS teams to offer McCoy were Boise State and Fresno State. The Broncos landed him and it’s hard to think he’s not a favorite to be starting at corner when BSU plays Washington in a month.
“He has goals in this game,” Warren said of McCoy. “He’s done a great job. He’s gained 16 pounds of muscle and that was one of the biggest things we talked about. … I cannot wait to see what he is a year down the road.”
2. There are two underdogs playing safety
Call it being an underdog. Call it having a chip on your shoulder. Call it whatever. But there might not be two players on Boise State’s roster who think they have been overlooked more than safeties Rodney Robinson and Alexander Teubner — both of whom are expected to start this season.
Ever since he was young, Robinson (5-foot-8) has always had something to prove because of his height. Because he’s not tall, he has to be fast. Has to be smart. Has to be able to fly down the field and inflict pain. He was great last season, starting every game alongside JL Skinner
“Rodney has done a really good job learning what it means to be a safety,” Avalos said.
Teubner, it seems, still feels this need to prove himself after being lightly recruited and walking onto Boise State’s roster. So he just works and works and works until no one can question he belongs.
“The guy has a chip on his shoulder to prove something after not getting recruited,” said Avalos. “Plain and simple.”
“As he started to see more and more success, his approach never changed,” said safeties coach Kane Ioane “Teubs has been a guy who has consistently felt like, ‘No, I’m never satisfied. I want to keep pushing.”
3. Defensive line position battles up in the air
New defensive line coach Erik Chinander is in charge of fixing the defense’s biggest concern. Last season, the Broncos’ pass rush went AWOL at times, struggling to get pressure on opposing quarterbacks.
Not helping: The Broncos’ lost the heart and soul of its D-Line in Scott Matlock.
And, so, there is competition aplenty for Chinander’s group. This is how he broke it down.
“To me, it’s kind of three categories,” Chinander said. “It’s Herbert (Gums) and Sheldon (Newton) at nose (tackle). Mike Callahan and Max Stege at tackle. And then Braxton Fely and Howard Brown can go either way. They can fill either of those jobs.
“It’s going to be a good battle throughout camp to see who’s going to walk out there with the ones,” he added. “And then whether we rotate four or we rotate six. It’s not up to me. It’s up to those guys.”
There’s a solid chance that all six will find playing time this season, so playing time shouldn’t be a major issue. But I’m curious who earns a starting gig. I’d say Gums is all but a lock to start at nose tackle after starting almost every game last season. But the other DT spot is really up in the air.
Callahan heads into his fifth season at Boise State still struggling to find where he can make an impact. So far, he’s compiled just 18 tackles in his BSU career, which isn’t ideal. But Avalos is high on Callahan, saying, “This is the best we’ve seen out of Mike in a long time.”
Callahan will be competing against Stege, a true freshman from Germany who could be a wild card this season.
“First thing you notice, his body has developed in a really quick time,” Chinander said of Stege. “The second thing is, like him and Howard, I know whatever time I walk out of my door, they’re going to be in the D-Line room taking notes.”
4. Schramm and Washington will carry this defense, if healthy
The greatest recruiting win for Spencer Danielson over the past 12 months was keeping DJ Schramm and Demitri Washington in Boise.
The Broncos linebacker and EDGE rusher both chose to use their extra COVID year and come back for a sixth season of college football. That seemed like a coin flip for a few weeks, after a year that battered both Schramm and Washington.
Schramm will downplay his injuries, but he played most of last season with enough discomfort and pain to send a normal person to the sidelines forever. And Washington missed most of the Broncos’ homestretch after suffering a shoulder injury on a fluke play against BYU.
“He has a great skillset. He knows football,” Danielson said of Washington. “It’s just, he’s gotten banged up. And so that’s been a big thing for us this offseason is, ‘OK, how can we not only get healthy from injuries he’s had but be intentional and have some prehab.’”
In 2023, both are back. They are healthy. And they are the leaders of a defense without Matlock, JL Skinner and Tyreque Jones. As Schramm and Washington go, the Boise State defense goes.
