Nose tackle was an issue last season, will it improve in 2024?
I considered combining nose tackle and defensive end into one defensive line preview, but in reality, they’re totally different positions with vastly different responsibilities and not at all interchangeable, so congratulations, you’re going to get separate nose tackle and defensive end previews!
In the defensive line primer I published last week, I looked at how a nose tackle works in K-State’s preferred 3-3-5 stack base defense. I kept the football jargon to a minimum and pointed out that there are two types of nose tackles; you’ve got nose tackles built like refrigerators and nose tackles built like fire hydrants.
In football parlance, nose tackles built like refrigerators are called 2-gap nose tackles in a 3-man front. They are responsible for both A-gaps and are almost exclusively run defenders. Their job is to engage the center, and play control the middle of the line, often eating a double team from one of the guards. Generally speaking, these guys are monsters. Think Mount Cody from Alabama (and Baltimore) or Haloti Ngata from Oregon (and also Baltimore). They don’t make many tackles, but they are vital for run defense in a 3-man front. If you don’t have a 2-gap nose tackle, it’s hard to defend the run.
Having 3 linebackers stacked and in tight helps control the A-gap in K-State’s scheme but as we saw last season, if the middle of the defensive line is continually breached it’s almost impossible to stop the run — which in turn makes it almost impossible to stop a play action pass.
Talk about whatever other position you want on the defense; if the ‘Cats can’t seal up the middle of the line, all that speed at the second and third level will be used for is tackling a running back 5-7 yards down the field. I promise you, if Connor Riley runs up against a 3-man front that can’t control the A-gap this season, D.J. is getting the ball 40 times and going for 200+ easy, and if he gets tired, they’ll bring another guy on to run in the A-Gap (probably not Dylan Edwards, my money would be on Joe Jackson) until DJ is ready to return.
In the simplest terms possible, you can’t run a successful 3-man front without a nose guard capable of shutting down the A-Gap. K-State tried it last season and failed. They’re going to try again with pretty much the same guys as last season and are hoping for different results. If you want to be nervous about any aspect of the K-State defense, nose tackle is the spot to direct your angst.
2-Gap Nose Tackles
# 99 – Uso Seumalo – 6’3”, 333 – Sr.
Uso has everything you want in a nose tackle in terms of size. When he’s on the field, he’s clearly bigger than the other massive humans on your television screen (or field of vision if you’re lucky enough to be watching live). If you needed to cast a nose tackle for a football movie, Uso would be on the short list of calls to make.
I say all that, but at the same time he was the starting nose tackle last year and it didn’t work. Health and, subsequently, endurance was an issue for Uso last season. When he’s healthy and rested, he’s great. He fights off centers and guards with ease and is surprisingly nimble for a man of his substantial size. Oddly enough, his ability to move and chase plays gets him in trouble sometimes. He’ll chase a play hard outside and then struggle to get lined up if the other team runs tempo. It also gets him out in space where little guys dive at his ankles — and when they took Uso down to the sacred river and dunked him in, making him invincible, they must have held him by the ankles because he’s a freak of nature with ankles made of glass.
Based on what I’ve heard from interviews out of camp, Uso is second on the depth chart behind Damian Ilalio at the moment. It would be awesome if Uso could retake the spot, because he’s the prototype for a 2-gap tackle and Ilalio isn’t, but considering his health and conditioning issues it’s hard to trust him. The coaching staff put most of their eggs in his basket last season and ended up with a bunch of broken eggs. The talent and size are undeniable, but if the health and motor don’t match it doesn’t particularly matter. It’s possible a reduced role will help keep him fresh and upright for the important run stuffing downs.
#55 – Malcolm Alcorn-Crowder – 6’5”, 318 – So.
Considered one of the top junior college defensive tackles in the nation last season, it makes sense that the coaching staff took a trip down to Butler CC and brought the big man back to Manhattan, despite having to fight off the Gators to get him on campus. He’s the type of hulking 2-gap nose tackle the defense needs in the middle of the line and could potentially help spell Uso when he needs a breather or is on the sideline icing a lower extremity.
Circle this name.
I haven’t heard much buzz coming out of camp regarding Alcorn-Crowder, but he needs to produce. I like the other guys I’m about to talk about, but they can’t do what Alcorn-Crowder can do, and that’s take up an inordinate amount of space and tackle running backs with a single clubbing blow. You need a two-gap nose tackle to make this front work. K-State has two scholarship 2-gap guys on the roster. They both need to be ready to roll.
1-Gap Nose Tackles?
I spent a good bit of time talking about 2-gap nose tackles, but K-State has a couple guys that would be considered 1-gap defensive tackles in most 4-man fronts. The problem is, the ‘Cats run a 3-man front.
I actually like it when a defense has options at the nose. Having a guy capable of 1-gapping is great for the pass rush. 2-Gap guys are required to stay in front of the center and hold the line. The only time they get close to the quarterback is if they manage to push the center into his lap or the QB attempts to escape using one of the A-gaps.
1-gap defensive tackles tend to be smaller (compared to other nose tackles, not the general human population) and quicker. Their job is to take one of the A-Gaps and get into the backfield. They don’t have to wait in front of the center and try and read the play. They jump into their gap and make things happen. In order to achieve this, the 3-Man line needs to change into a 4-man line by kicking a defensive end inside to what would normally be a defensive tackle spot and moving up a linebacker capable of spinning down and playing defensive end. For my money, K-State has the defensive end to make it happen (Stufflebean and Obiazor), but the verdict is out on at linebacker. If the staff can figure out how to weaponize 6’5”, 240-pound outside linebacker Rex Van Wyhe, life could be very difficult for teams on third down.
The problem last year, and the problem I foresee this year, is K-State was forced to play a 1-gap defensive tackle as a 2-gap nose, and that’s a tough ask. It appears the coaching staff is going to try it again this season. I’m not super optimistic, but here are the options.
1-Gap Defensive Tackles Playing Nose
#56- Damian Ilalio – 6’2”, 300 – Sr.
Color me skeptical that Ilalio’s height and weight are correct. He came to K-State listed at 6’0”, 280 and that 280 was stuffed into his frame. As a former star high school wrestler, I’m going to guess he wasn’t carrying around a ton of extra weight to start, and 20 pounds sounds reasonable, but I’ll need to see the tape measure to believe he’s also grown two inches.
If you’re going to play a small nose tackle as a 2-gapper, it needs to be someone with Ilalio’s background in wrestling. He knows how to get low, use leverage, and outwork the offensive line. Still, it’s a physics problem, and another 20-30 pounds would help keep him from getting blown out by a center/guard double team. Last season the run defense struggled when Uso was out and Ilalio received the majority of snaps at nose. As of now it sounds like Damian is going to start the season starting as an undersized 2-gap nose tackle. Having Uso and Alcorn-Crowder in reserve might dissuade teams from getting too deep into their run game, because you can always plug one of them in if the center of the line starts to collapse, but still, it’s a risk.
The upside is smaller nose tackles tend to make more plays in the back field. Last season Damian made 2 tackles for loss and recorded half a sack. Those numbers need to go up significantly.
Let’s hope they do.
#93 – Asher Tomaszewski – 6’4”, 290 – R.Fr
Listen to any post camp interview with the coaching staff long enough and Tomaszewski’s name inevitably comes up.
It sounds like he’s having an excellent camp, and that’s huge for the future. Again, color me skeptical though. I’m not a professional football coach, far from it, but I’ve watched and written a good bit about football and a 6’4”, 290-pound nose tackle is an outlier. If you told me K-State intended on utilizing a 290-pound nose, I would assume we were talking about a guy that was 5’9”, 290, not 6’4”. I talked about leverage earlier, and that’s leverage working in the wrong direction. I’m sure he’ll eventually get to where he needs to be weight wise, but until that happens, offensive linemen are going to try and live under his pad level.
He’s going to have to fight tooth and nail not to get taken for the occasional ride down the field, and if that happens, someone’s going to bust a big run up the middle. I know if I saw him line up, I’d run in the A-gap until he proved capable of anchoring and holding his ground. I fully admit that I’m not at camp watching and maybe he’s 290 pounds of pure muscle with 200 of those pounds residing in his rear end and thighs, but if he’s required to do anything more than come in on passing downs and help juice up the pass rush, stopping the run could be an issue.
Overall
The addition of Alcorn-Crowder and weaponization of Tomaszewski should help a nose tackle position that was in need of help after last season. I think there is enough depth, but is there enough talented, ready-to-play depth? As far as I’m concerned, Ilalio is the only guy that’s proven he can consistently bring it every game. The ‘Cats need someone to step up out of the other 3 nose tackles, preferably Uso. If that happens, all of the “best defense in K-State history” chatter might be justified. If not, this defense has a chance to be elite against passing teams but could struggle if they get into a rock fight against a team that isn’t afraid to grind away between the tackles.
Essentially, Kansas State needs to avoid playing Kansas State, but a few other teams in the newly constituted Big 12 could have enough to hurt them up the middle.