Yesterday, Gophers Nation looked at how Pro Football Focus graded out Minnesota's offense in their 19-17 loss to North Carolina on Thursday. Today, we shift the focus to the defensive for the Gophers which despite the loss put together a quality performance against the Tar Heels.
Really nice game from Minnesota defensive ends. Jah Joyner was great both against the run and in the pass rush while Striggow, Smith, and Howard all held their own when on the field.
It was a rough showing for the defensive tackle group and an especially disappointing showing from Deven Eastern who had an extremely rough contest especially against the run. Perhaps it was just an early blip for the veteran defensive lineman but his play going forward will be something to watch closely.
Maverick Baranowski had a really strong performance overall which is a great signing heading into the rest of the year. He was terrific against the run and held his own in coverage. Cody LIndenberg's performance was okay but the veteran linebacker struggled with tackling in the game with five missed tackles. It was an issue for the entire team with 19 but overall LIndenberg was the biggest offender of the group. Devon Williams also had some struggles in his limited snaps on Thursday. Overall, what stands out about the linebacker room for all the wrong reasons is those tackling grades. Just an abysmal day tackling wise and will absolutely have to improve.
Overall, it was a solid day for Minnesota's cornerbacks both against the run and in coverage. There is plenty that they'll have to clean up going forward but it was a nice start for Nick Monroe's group.
It was an up-and-down night for the Minnesota safety room on Saturday. There are definitely plenty of positives to takeaway from the performance but like every other position group have qutie a bit to lean up. A lot of missed tackles out of the group with Kerry Brown missing three and Aidan Gousby missing a pair.
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