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Lunt’s Five Offseason Storylines: Defensive Scheme Changes and Tyron’s Time

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Now that the basketball season is over, spring ball is about to start. Kyle Porter and Kyle Cox have already laid out their top storylines for the offseason. Here are mine.

1. What to do with Calvin Bundage?

With the hiring of Jim Knowles, he brings a scheme and mentality shift to the Oklahoma State defense. One benefit of Glenn Spencer is that he adapted his scheme to include multiple fronts, which was something that helped Calvin Bundage maximize his ability.  Bundage has supreme athleticism and uses his length well off of the edge, but I would not necessarily call him a refined linebacker in other areas at this point.

Although Jim Knowles is known for his 4-2 scheme, expect him to use multiple fronts, as well. Bundage does not fit the “Striker” position in Knowles defense, which is comparable to a nickelback. In addition, the two linebackers in the scheme will be asked to provide a lot of inside zone support in coverage. The current defensive end depth chart is thin at the moment as well. The assumption is that Bundage will play weak-side linebacker, my guess is he plays a Hybrid edge defender role paired with modified 3-man/1-gap front.

This will certainly be something to monitor as the offseason progresses.  A big part of coaching is maximizing player potential, and Knowles will need to do just that with Calvin Bundage.

2. The running back conundrum

Recently for another piece I wrote for PFB, I watched every offensive play from Oklahoma State 2017 season. This might have been the third of fourth time I’ve watched the tape, but I miss a lot of things because I’m focusing on one thing or another. This time I was able to really focus on certain components of the offense, and came away with one big observation: Justice Hill is really good. I am sure you’re thinking, “Thanks, tell us something we don’t know,” right ? But I mean that Justice Hill is the best football player at Oklahoma State INCLUDING the 2017 roster. The OU and Iowa State games were two of the best games I have watched from a running back in a long time. I think the most promising part of all if it was Hill improved significantly from the first game to the last game.

It’s not just Hill, though. J.D. King is legitimately a starting caliber RB in the Big 12. He has a solid burst, but most importantly falls forward on just about every run. He is the player that will turn a 1-yard loss into a 2-yard gain, which is what has made Zeke Elliott one of the best RBs in the NFL. It does not sound flashy, but being able to churn out extra yards on broken plays and fall forward is a critical skill set for a RB. LD Brown showed he is a capable back as well, and we haven’t even mentioned Chuba Hubbard who has game-changing speed.

Hill toting the rock 30 times/game isn’t a good strategy. How will the offensive staff balance out the carry share, and find new ways to get Chuba Hubbard involved?

3. Is 2018 the year the Special Teams unit returns to glory?

Special Teams is the unit that no one wants to spend time on, but the teams that do give themselves a huge advantage. If  you think back on Mike Gundy’s tenure there are great memories of Dan Bailey and Quinn Sharp hitting clutch field goals, and Matt Fodge (and Quinn Sharp again) booming punts inside the 10. Justin Gilbert, Perrish Cox or Josh Stewart making huge plays on punt/kick returns. A lot of those memories have faded recently, as the special teams units have disappointed.

There is hope for 2018 to return the special teams unit back to what it was years ago.  Zach Sinor had a disappointing 2017 season, however we’ve seen his pinpoint accuracy in previous years and have to think he will get back on track. After a few yips on short field goals, Matt Ammendola turned in a very reliable kicker, in addition to having serious range beyond 50 yards.

Whoever wins the kickoff return and punt return duties is a complete guessing game at this point, but you have to think Chuba Hubbard is someone who can make a big impact here. Outside of Tyreek Hill (who was a terror on special teams), OSU hasn’t had a player recently that offered the type of breakout ability in kickoff/punt return situations as Hubbard.

4. Time for Tyron to eat

I know a big story line from 2017 (and may have caused a few grey hairs for Carson/Kyle) was the lack of playing time for Tyron Johnson. I wasn’t really on this train of thought, especially after watching a lot of the film again. Simply put, Tyron played the Z position behind James Washington. James Washington is a really good football player and doesn’t come out of the game much, bottom line.

It’s the same reason why Chris Lacy didn’t get a lot of opportunities working behind Marcell Ateman. Given the fact that OSU ran a lot of 11 personnel and 10 personnel with two slot WRs, the opportunities just weren’t there.  There were several instances where you could see Yurcich build in special plays for Tyron Johnson, but when your offense is based off tempo, the opportunities to substitute are scarce.

This play was put in vs. OU specifically for Tyron Johnson and it was an absolute beauty.  It mixes a wide bunch set, motion, a switch release off the line of scrimmage straight into the mills concept.  Just have this GIF run on loop on my tombstone please.

Now that we have covered that, 2018 needs to be the year of Tyron. He is a dynamic athlete and will need to be a focus of the offense moving forward. From an outside wide receiver perspective, this is a young core and he needs to be the leader of the group. We saw in the Oklahoma game what he is capable of and with the top of the depth chart cleared out, there is nothing holding him back now.

5. Scheme and personnel overhaul in the secondary

A new DC and the loss of several senior leaders in the secondary will bring about a lot of transition this offseason. We know A.J. Green and Rodarius Williams will be back at corner, which is good news for OSU fans as both flashed potential. But how will the respond to a more aggressive cover scheme?

Who is going to play the Striker position? My guess is Thabo Mwaniki, as he fits the mold from a size and skill set.

The biggest question might be who steps in at safety? There is a long list of inexperienced players, including a few talented freshmen who are potential candidates.

Disclaimer: I intentionally left off the QB race off this list. Given the fact that the competition won’t heat up until fall camp, I felt these were more pressing topics.  Although I’m sure the QB competition will steal a lot of the headlines this summer.

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