Navy Midshippmen 2018 Football Preview
Opening Statement: After a 5-0 start last season, the wheels simply feel off the wagon for the Midshippmen in 2017, as they lost their final 3 games, and 6 of 7 to sloe the regular season before beating Virginia 49-7 in the Military Bowl. If you pay attention to such things, the Navy program has been on a downward slide since 2015, as they have fallen from 11 wins, to 8, and then to 7 last fall. They have also been on a 2 game skid against Army, which is probably more painful than anything after dominating the Cadets for years. With an offense that became boxed in last season by ineffective outside running, penalties, and dumb mistakes, to a defense that cannot stop the pass, and hasn't been able to do so for years, Ken Niumatololo may start to feel some heat for the first time in his 11 years at Navy.
Breakdown Offense: The offense bombed in the second half of last season for Navy, which was a huge cause for their mid to late season skid. They got to work on some of that during bowl prep, and Navy came out as a different team against Virginia in a 49-7 win, and they are trying to ride that wave into the 2018 season. Garrett Lewis may push for the primary backup job, and Abey could be moving to WR in the fall, so that is a situation that bares watching.
Zack Abey is back at QB, but once he became completely lost as an outside runner, teams knew they could bottleneck him inside in the triple option offense. Malcolm Perry will also return, and is more of the outside threat on the run than Abey is, and so you could see Perry take over full time, or share the job with Abey in a 2 QB system. If anyone is asking me, I say run with Perry and see what happened. Nobody has asked me.
The Middies are trying to replace the entire starting backfield behind the QBs this fall. Anthony Gargiulo has the edge at FB. He rushed for 423 yards last season, while averaging 5.57 yards per carry. He scored 3 times. Mike Martin, who carried just 5 times as a junior, is the primary backup on the depth chart, so experience is not overwhelming. Nelson Smith, a sophomore, is the 3rd teamer at FB.
Tre Walker and Kioni-Kordell Makekau are penciled in as the new Slot guys. They combined for 25 total carries last fall. Tazh Maloy and CJ Williams are the immediate backups, and neither had a carry last season.
Navy also has to replace both WRs this fall, with Ryan Mitchell and Taylor Jackson in the mix. Neither caught a single pass last fall. Abey, if he actually makes the move to WR, as has been mentioned, could push Mitchell, but he caught just one pass last season. Aleksei Yaramus, OJ Davis, and Michael Onuoha are the backups, and not one of these players has a collegiate catch to their name.
The line is also looking for 3 new starters, all on the inside. Both tackles return in Jake Hawk and Andrew Wood. Kendal Wright, a junior, could push Hawk at LT in fall camp. Alec Keener, Adam Amosa-Tagovailoa and Peter Nestrowitz are the backups.
David Forney and Steve Satchell are slated in to start at OG this fall. Chris Gesell could very well push Satchell at RG, and that should be a battle heading into fall camp. Billy Honaker, Laurent Njiki, and Lance Angulo are the reserves at OG.
Ford Higgins appears to have locked down the starting job at Center as we head into the Summer. Bryan Barrett and Sean Rattay are the reserves.
Breakdown Defense: Navy, while not being horrible overall defensively, also did not scare anyone at any given time. The Navy defense picked up just 16 sacks and 10 QB hurries all season, and the pass defense was problematic once again, and has been that way for some time now. If Navy is going to have any shot at reversing current trends, these are things that need to be ironed out befor ethe season kicks off against Hawaii on September 1.
Navy does get 2 starters back on the line in DE Jarvis Polu and NG Jackson Pittman. They combined for just 6.5 TFLs last season, and will have to be more aggressive to give the secondary time to adjust this fall. Marcus Edwards and Corbin Heyward will back up Polu at DE, while Alema Kapoi and Dave Tolentino are the backups to Pittman inside.
Josh Webb is the starter heading into fall camp at the other DE spot. He totaled 4 TFLs as a junior last fall, but again, increased production off the edge will be a necessary thing. Anthony Villalobos played in 7 games last fall, and is the primary backup. Denzel Polk adds some depth.
Navy returns just one starter at LB this fall in Hudson Sullivan. He totaled just 40 tackles last season, and will be starting at the SAM spot. He was not the most effective player in the game last fall, and again, increased production as a returning starter is a must. Elan Nash is expected to start at the STAR spot, while Taylor Heflin is the new starter at the MIKE spot. Nizaire Cromartie is also slated in as the starter at the RAIDER spot. This is a massively raw group, and could create problems in the fall if they do not mesh quickly. Evan Fochtman and Carter Bankston are the backups outside, while Pepe Tanuvasa and Griffin Baumoel are the backups inside.
The secondary was ineffective last fall, and returns only 2 starters in CB Jarid Ryan and FS Sean Williams. Ryan totaled just 3 PBUs last season, and totaled 43 tackles. Williams was good for 4 PBUs, and added one INT to go with 76 tackles, which was good for 2nd on the team. Khaylan Williams is slotted in as the new starter at CB, but Micah Farrar is still in the mix as we head into fall camp. Farrar could end up with an edge, as he played in 12 games as a freshman last season. Jake Springer appears set to battle with Juan Hailey for the open SS job in camp.
Breakdown Special Teams: The PK game, in a word, was horrible last season. Bennett Moehring returns to the job, but hit just 8/15 FG attempts on the season, and was 42/43 on PATs. JR Osborn, who hit his only attempt last fall, is the backup, and may push for the job if things start out badly.
Owen White returns as the Punter, and averaged a decent 40.55 yards per punt.
Tre Walker is slated to return kicks, but hardly blew the doors off the building in limited duty in that role last season. Ryan or Springer could end up returning punts, as that job is open heading into camp as well.
Final Analysis: After 11 seasons, is the shine wearing off on Niamatololo at the academy? His overall record is solid, and he had taken Navy football to new heights, but those days seem to be behind him, and the needle is pointed in the wrong direction again. With holes all over a struggling defense, and an offense that is largely rebuilding after an off season, could this be another off year for Navy? It would seem that this is the more likely scenario of many.
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