Texas State’s quality in the front seven was one of the big takeaways in 2017.

Junior linebacker Bryan London II anchored a unit that improved nearly every metric in its run defense from the previous season. Sacks were up, points allowed were down and teams figured out the Bobcats’ talent on defense was starting to show.

Then, teams realized they could throw on them.

An extremely young secondary, led by safety A.J. Krawczyk playing his first collegiate year at the position, was a natural recipe for disaster. The Bobcats allowed 306.2 yards through the air, 127th in the nation.

This year, under new defensive coordinator Chris Woods, coverage is one of the features getting a finetune. The base concepts set by former coordinator Randall McCray will likely stay the same, but Woods says he plans to experiment more with press-man coverage, which is more in tune with head coach Everett Withers’ style as well.

“I think it’s finding a comfort level in what they can’t handle,” Woods said. “We put a lot on them by design to try and tax them mentally. Every day we tell them that in this system it’s about as hard as it gets because the entire package is active against everything they do every day. Certain calls we wouldn’t make against certain packages they’re doing but we’re challenging the kids to learn it.”

Juniors like cornerbacks JaShon Waddy and Anthony J. Taylor now have multiple seasons under their belt and enough trials by fire that they should be able to hold their own. Redshirt freshman Kieston Roach and sophomore Kordell Rodgers have a chance to show what they couldn’t last season on the back end of the defense.

As London describes it, Woods is on the other end of the spectrum from McCray. Where McCray had a bombastic personality, Woods is more reserved and detail-oriented.

“Coach McCray was wild, he’s more like laid back,” London said. “I like some of the things he’s doing, he’s more into the details. I feel like I learned a lot about myself.”

Woods says they’ll go as far as London’s leadership takes them. And even though his production went down from a pure numbers perspective last season, it’s mostly due to the emergence of those around him, including outside linebacker Frankie Griffin, and on the defensive line from players like Caeveon Patton, Sami Awad and Ishmael Davis.