Let me preface this by saying that too often I am not correct in my assessments. With the caveat, I just don’t see how the defense cannot be better. Here’s why;
Who did we lose from the 21 team? I can’t think of a significant player. That means that the returning players will have one more year under their belts. That is always a good thing.
Who did we add? If you look at the additions, portal + recruits, I believe that it has to be seen as a net positive. We might just see one or two breakout players.
Strength and conditioning. If the staff didn’t learn their lesson with respect to how the team was prepared (or unprepared) last year, we don’t deserve to be better. But I suspect that they did learn their lesson, and that the late game performance will be better.
Depth. Now I’m not saying that we have great death at every position. However, I do do believe that the depth at many positions has been enhanced.
The addition of Patterson.
NFL aspirations. At least three players, Overshown, Cook, and Jamison, chose not to enter the draft and instead stay for the purpose of enhancing their value at the next level. That is a bit unusual, and it can only help the D.
Year 2 in a new system. While there’s no guarantee, the second year in a new system is predictably better than the first.
PK & Pride. Last year was an abomination, and all signs point to PK. To me that means that he has an opportunity to exonerate himself. He has to be extremely motivated to put a better product on the field this year.