Northwestern loses a lot of veterans on defense, but there are already players ready to pick up the slack.
Northwestern’s defense was one of the best in the nation in 2015, holding opponents to only 18.6 points per game and finishing fifth in defensive S&P+. However, five big parts of that defense walked out the door after the season.
Northwestern loses veterans across the board. Deonte Gibson and Dean Lowry on the line, Drew Smith at linebacker and Nick VanHoose and Traveon Henry in the secondary. That’s a combined 265 tackles, 40.5 TFLs, 15.0 sacks, 6 interceptions and 23 pass breakups, which is a lot of defensive production to lose all at once.