I'm not a huge RR fan - the spread does nothing for me.  But I agree with you whole heartedly.  Obviously, RR bears some blame for the defense, but I really think Carr's empty cupboard bares most of the blame.  How many "Michigan quality" players are around from those recruiting classes?  How much veteran leadership and ability are we missing because the senior/redshirt senior class are sub-par?  Not to mention the extra attrition on players like Martin because they never got a chance to develop physically or gain experience by sitting and watching a good upperclassman at their position.

I've been meaning to do something comparing Pete Carroll, Weis and Rich Rod's first three years from the perspective of the players left by the previous coach.  I wish I'd done it - I bet it would be quite illuminating.

Could RR have done a better job of recruiting on defense?  Sure.  Could the defense coaching staff have been better?  No doubt.  But both of those problems would have been at least somewhat masked if we weren't constantly scrambling to play true freshman all over the field.

Give RR a chance to stop scrambling on defense long enough to have the luxury of actually redshirting some people.  Let's see what happens if we don't have to risk so many injuries by throwing every recruit immediately into the fire.  Clearly, the defense has been a disappointment, but they were doomed from the start because of the lack of depth left behind by the previous coach.  It's not fair to let Carr's legacy ruin a coach that has a track record and has made light years of progress on offense.