It's not easy to rank teams this year, especially given how muddy the middle is. I'm not sure I could rank them even by position groups of the defense, besides a few obvious choices (UW has the best secondary, Oregon and UCLA the best defensive lines). Colorado is really strong in the middle of the defense, at least one of the best there. The performance of the defense also depends on the type of offense they're playing. For example, since Colorado is good at taking away the easy plays, they're very good against e.g. a QB running a simple offense (A&M, Arizona). They match up poorly with different or unique offenses (ASU, UCLA). I think Colorado will have a decent showing (at least defensively) against UW, especially if UW switches to their 5-star QB then. Similar with Oregon, who relies on a lot of easy plays too.
If you asked me to rate Cal's defense, for example, I would have no idea where to put us. It used to be that I know our secondary would shut down a strong passing attack, but struggle against a running QB or run-heavy teams. Now, I think we're a lot closer to the mean in most areas.
The strength of their defense is troubling. So I think this may be a low scoring affair.
It's not easy to rank teams this year, especially given how muddy the middle is. I'm not sure I could rank them even by position groups of the defense, besides a few obvious choices (UW has the best secondary, Oregon and UCLA the best defensive lines). Colorado is really strong in the middle of the defense, at least one of the best there. The performance of the defense also depends on the type of offense they're playing. For example, since Colorado is good at taking away the easy plays, they're very good against e.g. a QB running a simple offense (A&M, Arizona). They match up poorly with different or unique offenses (ASU, UCLA). I think Colorado will have a decent showing (at least defensively) against UW, especially if UW switches to their 5-star QB then. Similar with Oregon, who relies on a lot of easy plays too.
If you asked me to rate Cal's defense, for example, I would have no idea where to put us. It used to be that I know our secondary would shut down a strong passing attack, but struggle against a running QB or run-heavy teams. Now, I think we're a lot closer to the mean in most areas.