A New Standard: Three Transfers Who Elevate Tech’s Defense pres. by All Hands Craft Cocktails
The idea behind this series was to watch the highlights of every transfer, and write about the three that got the most visceral reaction out of me. Relatedly, I started this with the offense for a reason, it was easier. I could do a top ten from the defensive class. The talent and production the coaches have brought in on that side of the ball is absolutely absurd.
Now, the three I picked might seem obvious, and at first, that bothered me. But the more I thought about it, the more it clicked: they’re obvious because they’re that good. These aren’t just portal hits. These are future NFL players. And they’re not alone in this class. What a time to be alive, man.
1. Lee Hunter
Lee Hunter is a good place to start because he provides a service that we really have not seen here in a long time. A true game wrecking, and gameplan wrecking, defensive tackle. He had 27 QB pressures last season, JRod led the Red Raiders with 21. He hit the QB 7 times, that would have finished second to Dingle. He hurried the QB 19 times, that would have led the Red Raiders last year by 6. He had 20 “stops” (tackles that constitute a “failure” for the offense according to PFF), that would have been third last season to JRod with 39 and Ben Roberts with 33. The top three defensive lineman in that stat from last season tied for 10th with 11, McAlpine, Banks, Ledet.
He’s the type of defensive anchor Baylor and TCU have built elite units around for years. A guy who eats double teams, collapses pockets, and forces quarterbacks to make decisions a second faster than they want to. He’ll do the job of three to five defenders on a typical Tech unit.
The craziest part of all of this, is we might have signed two of these guys (Gill-Howard), and possibly even three (Holmes Jr.).
2. David Bailey
Speaking of types of players we are not used to in red and black, outside of Tyree Wilson, David Bailey was put on this earth to rush the passer. I felt for DeRuyter because I think a lot of what happened last season was due to him not being able to generate a pass rush without sending pressure. David Bailey will make Wood’s life so much easier, he is going to look like a genius.
David Bailey had 39 pressures, 7 sacks, 6 qb hits, 17 stops, and 5 forced fumbles on an abysmal Stanford team. The thing I am most interested to see with Bailey, is he is a pass rush technician. The guys we have had around here that could get to the passer recently did it with sheer will/power, Bailey can when with bend, with his hands, with footwork, and with power.
3. Cole Wisniewski
I mentioned earlier that each of these guys were no doubt NFLers, that may surprise some with Wisniewski, but from what I hear he deserves to be right there with the other guys.
When you watch him play, you can tell he played quarterback in high school and understands what offenses are trying to do with the ball. What makes him special is he is able to anticipate, but also has the athletic ability to do something about it.
In 2023, he had 8 interceptions and opposing QBs had a 31.4 passer rating when targeting him. He had 58 tackles and a 10% missed tackle rate, for reference, the big 12 preseason defensive player of the year had a 17% missed tackle rate. I cannot overstate how big it will be to have a guy with this skill and experience coordinating the secondary, he will make everyone right.
It’s honestly difficult to picture what the defense is going to look like this fall. We have some talented guys returning, Rodriguez, Curry, Roberts, Horn, but now those guys don’t have to try to do several jobs to drag a horrendous unit to occasionally acceptable. They can focus on doing their job well because they can trust that guys like Hunter, Bailey, and Wisniewski have already proven that they willl be doing theirs.
