I'm completely torn.
Safety - I feel good at safety. We're young, but Studstill/Elliot are in their 2nd year, and Elko is personally coaching them. The fact that Nick Coleman has taken over FS has to be considered an improvement over Studstill, or it wouldn't happen.
Corner - I feel great. Everyone's back, and they played pretty decent towards the end of last year as basically true freshman. We have a lot of bodies and can afford an injury. Coleman coming back doesn't hurt either, although he's almost not needed, so anything from him is a bonus. Love our quality of depth.
Linebacker - I feel great. We have a stud MLB, a person molded for the Rover position in Tranquill, and I have no concerns about him picking up the defense. Coney is experienced, Bilal is athletic (although soft IMO), and Martini is a captain and a jack of all trades. I also have confidence in back up MLB Jonathan Jones. I feel really good about our top tier talent, and quality of depth at LB, where like CB, we can afford an injury.
DE - I feel good. Jay Hayes is going to be a solid SDE. Behind him, Kahlid Kareem has the body and a year's experience. I also think the freshman from Hawaii could play here if needed. At WDE, I also feel pretty good. Daelin Hayes has been shoulder-injury-free for what, 3 years now? And he has all of the talent and a year's experience. I think Trumbetti, even as a back-up, is a solid WDE. He's not a good starter, but he's a good backup, if that makes any sense. Ade also looked good in spring game I thought. And if we can get anything from Okwara, huge bonus, as he has the talent.
DT - I am very concerned, and this is not a spot you want to be concerned about. What I wouldn't give to have Scott Pagano at this point. We basically have Jerry Tillery as a proven starter, and he hasn't lived up to the expectations. We desperately needed Cage or Elijah Taylor to be healthy this year, and that is looking very unlikely. We're banking on Jonathan Bonner being a starter, and he'd be a quality #2 at best IMO. Behind them, we have no experience or elite talent. MDT has never played. Tiassum probably will never play (or at least should never play IMO). Mokwuah I do not expect to play. So we're banking on guys who should probably never play to be quality #2s at arguably the most important position on defense in CFB. This really puts a damper on my expectations for the defense. If we had just a healthy Cage and Scott Pagano, I'd put our defense at an A- level. I'm not even kidding.. As is, I think it's a B-. I think we'll get gashed on the run and 4-yard gains in the 4th quarter will make it easy for opponents to move the chains as our depleted DT depth wears down.