Fall Camp Report, Day 6: Defense (Rucker & Biggers)

CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina held its sixth practice of fall camp Thursday, which was also its first in full pads, and afterward, Tar Heel defensive lineman Kaimon Ricker and safety Gio Biggers met with the media via zoom.

Below are the full videos of their interviews along with some notes and pulled quotes from what they had to say:

Now a junior, Rucker missed spring practice with an injury, so he is getting in his first full work in new defensive coordinator Gene Chizik’s approach. Rucker has played 612 defensive snaps in two seasons for the Tar Heels, including 419 last fall. He has started 11 of the 23 games in which he has appeared.

Rucker, who is 6-foot-2 and 265 pounds, is a quick and twitchy player, who has handled multiple roles so far at UNC. Last season, he was in on 31 tackles, including 5.5 TFLs, four of which were sacks. Rucker also had 17 STOPs, which are plays that result in failures by opposing offenses, and graded out at 65.0, according to PFF.

*Rucker had a really solid season a year ago, but has plans for more this coming fall. He will be a part of a deep rotation of talented players up front, and looks forward

“Last year, that was a great experience, and to be able to hear those stats, it actually catches me by surprise a little bit,” Rucker said. “This year, I’ve got a lot of goals. I’m trying to get more sacks, more tackles, more TFLs, whatever the case may be to help me produce for the defensive side.

“And my goals are to increase my sacks percentages, to increase my tackles for loss, and overall to be a better teammate on the defensive side, give my linebackers, my safeties, my corners, a good look whenever it’s a fit or pass. That’s pretty much the goal.”

*Rucker is always a fun interview because he expresses himself so well and appears to know every nuance of what’s going on in the program. So, it wasn’t a surprise Thursday when he gave a terrific answer to a question about what is different about UNC’s defense under Gene Chizik. Fans and media have read and written a lot about this, but Rucker gave as good an answer as anyone has so far.

“He wants to create walls,” Rucker said. “And what I mean by that, creating walls, is on the defensive front, he wants to create such a solid defensive line front to where the running back has no holes to fit. And it doesn’t even have to be on the defensive line, it’s also as well linebackers making the back-end fits, and safeties and corners.

“And that’s something he always harps on on first and second down, and third-and-long, fourth-and-long, whenever it gets that chance, ‘We’ve got to get after the quarterback.’

“So, what Chizik really wants us to do is to create fewer calls and make a lot of production. And I feel like that’s what he’s been doing, especially in this camp and the summer as well.”

*It’s always interesting asking older players which true freshmen are standing out or have caught their eyes, so Rucker was asked that Thursday. His answer might surprise some people, especially since it wasn’t Travis Shaw.

“Beau Atkinson, man,” Rucker replied. “Him being in my room, and his ability to learn, and he’s only been here seven, eight months. He early enrolled in January, and for him to pick up on the defense; he was recruited as an outside linebacker last year, and you change the defense a little bit and now he’s in the d-line room with me.

“To see him progress, not only physically but mentally as well, just gaining the playbook and him trusting his own judgment on a lot of plays, and fitting the way that he does, and pass rushing the way that he does, he’s going to be a guy to look out for as he continues to improve. And I can’t wait to see how his future turns out.”

A senior safety, Biggers played in all 13 games last season, starting three times. He played 533 defensive snaps and finished with the third highest grade among regulars at 72.1. He finished the season with 48 tackles, 4.5 TFLs, one sack, five PBUs, and 13 STOPs. Biggers was targeted 18 times in coverage allowing 11 receptions for 175 yards and a touchdown.

In all, Biggers has appeared in 31 games at UNC, and played 640 defensive snaps along with 418 special teams plays.

*Much has been written and said here at THI about the change from Jay Bateman’s defensive approach to Gene Chizik’s, but it’s always interesting to hear what the players say when asked about the differences.

Biggers summed it up pretty well, especially from a DB perspective.

“I think the biggest difference from last year is Coach (Charlton) Warren and Coach Chizik, are making sure everybody knows the plays,” he said. “Not just the safeties making the call to the secondary or the nickels or corners, and the linebackers to the d-line. It’s the corners, you’ve got to know if they get this (hands gesturing a small space) through we’ve got to make this call.

“So, it’s not always just one person making one call, it’s everybody having to know and do their job, and if you don’t know or don’t do your job, you won’t play. So, definitely they’ve been more strict on everybody knowing what they’ve got to do, and I think that’s definitely been a big help for the safeties and corners being able to talk.

“And even if a safety might catch a brain fart real quickly, the corner will cover for him, and vice versa. So, that’s been the biggest difference.”

*Biggers then offered another example.

“Last year, we’d get a play and it might be two formations we could choose from, and now Coach Warren and Coach Chizik are like, ‘Alright, we’re going to have a couple of problems with a lot of answers.’ So now we have one play call, but we have every single formation you can think of.

“So, instead of guessing like, ‘Hey coach, when we get on the field offense gives us something, what are we doing here?’ We just went over it in the meeting, and if you don’t know it, it’s kind of on you. It’s making sure guys are in their notes. They’re going to give us everything we need, and I think we’ve taken advantage of that.”

*The clearest example of simplification is they are getting just one call from the sideline. It will alleviate, and possibly eliminate, the pre-snap confusion that afflicted the Tar Heels every week last season.

“Honestly, football is football,” Biggers said. “It’s going to be the same stuff most of the time, but being able to have the answers are, if you get a two-open formation versus a three-by-one, or a bunch formation, just having the answers to what we need to do quick.

“And that’s the biggest thing, being able not to guess or have to think a second, because as soon as you think, that’s what the offense wants you to think. They do those things so you can think and get off track.”