UC Football Starting 11 Predictions: Defense

Cincinnati's strongest unit has some familiar names returning in 2023.

Author:
Russ Heltman
Jul 11, 2023 8:00 AM EDT

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CINCINNATI — UC football is just a few weeks away from starting fall camp at the Higher Ground facility in Indiana. Defense figures to be the strongest side of the ball for UC this coming season as coordinator Bryan Brown brings his aggressive style to Clifton.

Let's dive into my starter predictions for the hybrid unit.

Defensive Line

Defensive Tackle: Jowon Briggs

Nose Tackle: Dontay Corleone

Defensive Tackle: Malik Vann

Experience and strength highlight the strongest position group on the Bearcats roster heading into the 2023 campaign. Briggs is back for his fifth college campaign and there's no reason to think it won't be his best one yet as he gets a little more space to wreak havoc.

Speaking of havoc, the lynchpin of this defense is Dontay Corleone. PFF's highest-graded defensive player in 2022 could reach even greater heights with a full season of experience and more core strength to lean on. The redshirt sophomore is arguably the best run-stopping defensive tackle in the country and should have a few more sack chances this season.

Vann is another well-experienced vet returning with a chip on his shoulder following an injury-riddled 2022 campaign. He struggled to start last year before missing the final 11 games, but Vann posted a nice 71.1 overall PFF grade on 404 snaps in 2021.

Eric Phillips, Justin Wodtley, Dominique Perry, Ryan Mullaney. All of them track as nice depth with big play ability of their own.

Linebacker

Dog: Daniel Grzesiak

Middle: Jack Dingle

Will: Dorian Jones

Star: Deshawn Pace

The linebacker unit isn't far behind the front line as Cincinnati's strongest position group. Grzesiak was one of the most consistent pressure creators in the Group of Five last season, on his way to 8.5 sacks (38th nationally).

Dingle gets the nod here over New Mexico transfer Dion Hunter because of his full acclimation into the unit this spring, but Hunter could definitely pop in camp and earn this spot. He slipped a bit in his final season at New Mexico, going from a 64.4 overall grade to 56.5 on the same snap count.

Jones feels like a starting lock alongside Grzesiak and Pace. The Louisville transfer was a vocal leader in this role throughout the spring and already has two-plus seasons of 65-plus PFF grades with 617 snaps in this system.

He should be a strong thumper at WLB.

Meanwhile, Deshawn Pace was built to play this dynamic, versatile linebacker/slot corner hybrid star position. He could make himself a lot of NFL money with a strong season and a few more forced turnovers.

Secondary

CB1: Jordan Young

CB2: Taj Ward/Sammy Anderson Jr.

Free Safety: Bryon Threats

Strong Safety: D.J. Taylor

Jordan Young should continue the strong outside cornerback tradition during this decade at Cincinnati. He was very solid in 73 total snaps at Florida last season (78.3 overall PFF grade). That's translated so far as a Bearcat. He was the most dominant coverage player on the roster this spring, with an interception in nearly every practice.

CB2 is a much harder race to gauge. Kerry Coombs has a couple of decent options to choose from in Sammy Anderson Jr. and Taj Ward. I went with the latter here because of Ward's experience (955 career snaps) and better production in 2022 (72.6 overall PFF grade).

Anderson wasn't bad by any means last season as he swapped time with Ward in the slot, just like I expect him to do on the outside this season. The redshirt junior posted a 68.4 overall PFF grade last season. Anderson logged 61 outside snaps last season to Ward's 13, but the veteran did notch 48 outside snaps in 2019.

Bryon Threats is a staple starter as a hard-hitting free safety in 2022. He logged 293 snaps as a box thumper last season and 198 more at free safety. Taylor is not nearly as experienced (two strong safety snaps last season) but showed a nice acclimation in that spot this spring and could find better production further from the ball after posting a 58.7 grade across 280 cornerback snaps for Arizona State last season.

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