Today's article is a continuation of a multi-year series from Tomahawk Nation in which we examine the size of the front 7 (defensive linemen and linebackers), in terms of weight, of the elite defenses in the country.  You often hear announcers talk about using speed to defend many of the spread offenses (particularly the spread-to-run attacks).  What we've seen, however, is that bigger really is better.  You can read all about the idea here (read it first, before reading the rest of today's article).  The basic premise, however, is that an over-emphasis on speed leads some defenses astray as they are unable to hold the point of attack, which creates really difficult angles for other defenders.  Speedy defenders try to speed around blocks, but smart offenses know this and scheme around it.  Having a large front 7 allows teams to sit in 2-deep coverage or play lots of games in the secondary, because they do not have to use their safeties in run support all the time.

Examining FSU's 2009 Defensive Collapse

In August of 2009, Florida State defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews said the 2009 Seminole defense would be his fastest ever.  While many 'Nole fans were encouraged by the statement, we here at TomahawkNation.com were worried.  

We were concerned because FSU's defense did not need to get faster coming off a season which saw the 'Noles defense get extremely lucky in multiple games.  No, FSU's defense needed to get bigger and stronger.  Four months before Andrews made his statement, I wrote:

The 'Noles defense did not improve or reach an elite level, despite being deeper, more talented, more experienced, and much healthier than the 2007 edition.  While the injury to DT Emannuel Dunbar and the early departure of DT Latroy Guion definitely hurt the 'Noles, the defense was still entirely comprised of upper classmen.  Is 20th acceptable for a Seminole defense with 11 upperclassmen starters?  Surely not.  Tthe 'Noles were handcuffed by their lack of size and Andrews' scheme.  Where other programs have the option of using the 8th man in the box, FSU has forced itself into using the strategy on a huge percentage of downs.  With the current personnel, the 'Noles defense has become sort of a high school basketballesque "pack it in" defense.  Of course, The "pack it in" doesn't work at the in college hoops and neither does the 'Noles defense as it is currently comprised.  FSU could be in some serious trouble in 2009 as teams are going to realize FSU cannot stop the run and will run first before passing.  The 'Noles must pray that Moses McCray improves a lot and stays healthy, that Justin Mincey stays in school and gets to practice, and that they can get something from Stewart/ Thacker.  Expecting a major contribution in 2009 from Jacobi McDaniel is unrealistic.

FSU's '08 defense was largely smoke and mirrors.  The 2009 defense was expected by most (not us, we projected a collapse) to stay the same or perhaps take a small step back.  But everything that FSU needed to go right, did not.  McCray could not stay healthy.  Justin Mincey was awful and often injured.  Stewart and Thacker were awful players who were completely over matched on the inside.  And super-recruit Jacobi McDaniel had a few flashes, but as is the case with pretty much every 1st-year defensive lineman, he did not contribute much.  Throw in rumors of racism from a coach Jimbo Fisher would fire upon taking over after the season, questionable decisions about which players should start, with terrible coaching from Chuck Amato, and FSU's defense plummeted to 96th in the country.

This chart illustrated why the hopes that FSU could maintain or slightly lose ground from its 2008 success were quickly dashed:

You're reading that correctly.  Due to injury and poor personnel decisions, FSU's defense that was supposed to be 71 lbs stouter than the 2008 edition was actually a pound lighter!  Combine that with some of the worst coaching in college football, and you have a recipe for disaster.  Back to FSU tomorrow, but for now let's examine the best 20 defenses from 2009 and see how stout their front 7's were.   Click "continue reading" to see the size of the best defenses nationally!

2009 National Review

*Defensive Weights Taken From School Websites.  # of starts were used to determine starter.  If players split time (2 with 5+ starts each, their weights were averaged). 

* Best 20 defenses determined by FootballOutsiders.com

* We are not saying that being really big on defense will make a defense good.  Only that it is very unlikely that a team will field an elite defense without having requisite size.

Here we go:

Now the best 20 defenses ordered by front-7 size:

1911 Alabama
1883 Florida
1868 LSU
1855 UNC
1837 Utah
1821 Iowa
1818 Penn State
1811 OKST
1808 Boise State
1807 Texas
1807 Clemson
1798 USCe
1795 Nebraska
1791 Oklahoma
1790 Ole Miss
1787 Miami
1784 OHST
1781 TCU
1768 Boston College
1736 Va Tech

From this we can draw several conclusions. 

90% of the best 20 defenses were over 1780 lbs in the front 7 (and 100% of the 10 best).  75% were over 1790 lbs.  55% were over 1800 lbs! 

Obviously, size in the front 7 matters.  FSU failed to understand that modern offenses were adapting to take advantage of its speed-only strategy and that failure to observe and adjust cost FSU dearly in the last few years. 

Tomorrow, we'll look at how FSU projects in the front 7 for the coming season, examine Florida State's depth, check in on some national stalwarts, and look at a few defenses that could take a step back!