Mo Toure believes that a Rutgers football defense that was among the best in the Big Ten this past year can be even better next year. The standout linebacker believes the defense can be among the best in all of college football.
Already, the likes of defensive linemen Aaron Lewis and Wesley Bailey along with linebacker Tyreem Powell have all signalled that they will return to Rutgers for another season.
Were safety Flip Dixon and cornerback Robert Longerbeam to return in 2024, then nearly the entirety of the defense would be back for Rutgers.
It would make Rutgers a tough unit, for sure. One that is talented and experienced.
And while Rutgers still has one game left to play in 2023 (the Pinstripe Bowl against Miami), Toure can’t help but look ahead and see the potential for this defense next year. The unit nicknamed ‘The Dark Side’ has the potential to be the among the brightest defenses in the country.
“My opinion we can be the best defense in the country. With who we have coming back and the pieces that we could add – this is going to be an elite defense,” Toure said on Thursday following practice.
“We played good this year but like I said, we’re family you know, we all talk on our own as players without coaches. And we tell each other every day like… watching film…’ You could have done this better. I could have done this better.’ A lot of things we could have improved on to play way faster and play just more cleaner football.”
Playing the second-toughest schedule in the nation, Rutgers had the sixth-best total defense in the Big Ten. It is a pretty solid accomplishment given that the offense is still very much of a rebuild.
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Last season, in his first full year at linebacker, Toure had 84 total tackles with 3.5 sacks and an interception.