The leading tackler from 2 years ago, sorry. He didn't play last year due to academics and was hurt early in fall camp this year.
You are right on about the safeties and CB's. All of their inexperience and mistakes have been highlighted by Landry, Weeden, Moore and their WR corps.
Getting these two guys back will help that out some.
Our D is not as aggressive in terms of going for the kill every down. It seems to be more strategic and, against OU, was designed strictly to make OU have to drive down the field. And it worked. Against OSU, It was designed to stop Blackmon, which it did but it let Moore and some other guys run wild.
Against Boise, we decided to make them beat us via the pass and hoped we could pressure the QB. We slowed their run game down enough to make a difference and actually got some pressure on Moore and sacked their back up (the first sack allowed by Boise this year) but our DB's needed to be able to contain for another .5-1 second and just couldn't do it. Moore is also the most accurate passer I have seen in a long time. Even when he knows he's .5 seconds from getting laid out.
I actually like this defensive scheme better than what we've had the several years. We are surprisingly good at stopping the run and against teams other than the three top 5 teams we've played and Houston, we should be able to contain most teams passing attacks enough to give ourselves a chance.
This new scheme seems more sound and relies less on bringing the house every down. It's more organized, methodical, sound and doesn't leaving me asking, "WTH was that?" very often as guys seems to be in the right spots more often.
On offense we are really struggling to find a replacement for DJ. Burnham is the deep guy that has looked good as well as James. Roberson, a solid possession reciever broke his foot in the off season and has tried to play twice, most recently vs. Boise, but as hobbled off the field. I don't expect to see him back this year. The rest, like you said, are our RB's.
If GJ isn't healthy and plays again, Tulsa will struggle to move the ball. Our play calling without DJ and with GJ injured is still maturing and not quite there yet.
Hope that answers your questions