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BLANK: Virginia needs a defensive identity

<p>Virginia's defense will rely upon the skills and experience of junior safety Quin Blanding, along with those of&nbsp;fellow defensive stalwarts&nbsp;Donte&nbsp;Wilkins and Micah Kiser.</p>

Virginia's defense will rely upon the skills and experience of junior safety Quin Blanding, along with those of fellow defensive stalwarts Donte Wilkins and Micah Kiser.

As the confetti rained down on Levi’s Stadium and a battered, beaten and turf-stained Cam Newton walked off the field, the world of modern football received a powerful message from the 2016 Super Bowl champion Broncos — the road to success is paved by defense.

Virginia men’s basketball has established a strong defensive identity as a grind-it-out, fundamentally sound, system-oriented team that’s nearly impossible to score on. The fans have embraced them as well, as John Paul Jones Arena may be the only arena in the country that gets as loud for the opposing team’s shot clock violations as they do for a breakaway dunk.

But across Grounds, at Scott Stadium, no such defensive identity exists. The Cavaliers have had middling success on defense throughout much of the past few years, despite boasting plenty of talent, with defensive players drafted into the NFL in eight out of the past nine drafts. While consistent success is hard to come by, establishing the swagger and personality that accompanies many dominant defenses is potentially more attainable.

Whether considering the Broncos’ ferocious pass rush, the 1985 Bears’ run-stuffing behemoths, the 2013 Seahawks’ Legion of Boom, or even U.Va. basketball, great defenses tend to have signature styles to them. Virginia has lacked any consistent style of late, even switching around schemes from a 3-4 system under Al Groh, to a 4-3 defense under coach Mike London and now back to a 3-4 base under new coach Bronco Mendenhall.

While Mendenhall will bear much of the burden to improve for the Cavaliers this season, the onus to establish a unique defensive identity falls on the players. Three defensive standouts in particular will bear the weight of the burden of finding a signature style.

Senior nose tackle Donte Wilkins has been perhaps the most praised player since Mendenhall was hired. While the roughly 300-pound nose tackle only started one game last year, he is a favorite of the new staff and is expected to be at the core of this year's defense.

The coaches aren’t the only ones impressed with his work, as his peers both voted him captain and chose him to select second in the first inaugural number draft held Sunday, where he chose the number one. He will need to live up to the number on his jersey, as Wilkins will be charged with anchoring the center of a thin defensive line.

While players were only supposed to select one captain, junior linebacker Micah Kiser’s body of work and leadership skills were so undeniable that he tied Wilkins in the voting, and thus both will serve as captains this season. Kiser was the ACC’s leading tackler last year and was named first team all conference. Kiser can’t afford to rest on his laurels either, as coaches have asked him to spearhead the transition to the new defensive scheme, needing him to be more vocal on the field.

Right behind Kiser in tackles at second in the ACC was then-sophomore safety Quin Blanding. The second team All-American took the more traditional route to stardom, coming in as a five-star recruit and starting all 12 games from the get-go as a true freshman. Blanding’s name can be found towards the top of plenty of mock drafts, but in order to go as high as he presumably wants to, his work at Virginia can’t be done quite yet. With both Anthony Harris and Maurice Canady going to the NFL over the past two seasons, Blanding will be asked to channel his inner Earl Thomas and bear more of the burden of creating a successful secondary as a safety.

The trend in football as of late has been to build your defense from the outside in, through star cornerbacks and pass rushers. When opposing offenses size up Virginia’s defense however, their biggest obstacles lie in Wilkins, Kiser and Blanding, maybe the most talented and experienced players on Virginia’s roster and who are positioned directly up the middle.

Through these three guys, and any who can follow in their footsteps, the possibility exists to buck the current football trends and establish a true defensive identity, something that can match what Tony Bennett has achieved on the court across Grounds. Whether or not they’re capable of doing so, however, is up to the 11 guys on the field, and three leaders in particular, lined up right along the hash marks.

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