Great question. Assuming these last three games are truly who we are, the best case comparison I can make are the Pat Narduzzi defense’s during his time at Michigan State (He runs basically the same scheme now but isn’t recruiting the same type of athletes, unfortunately) which were, obviously, fantastic. Heavy Cover 4 over scheme, they finished 3rd in the nation that season in points allowed per game, 5th in yards per play. That team didn’t have a premier pass rusher but still had a sack total in the mid 30s if I remember right, they had lots of guys who could pressure the QB and were somewhere in the top 5 of the nation in INTs. They averaged an interception and a half per game that season, crazy.
We are, by my count, a good 4 players away from being in a position athletically to play to that standard but if this is what we are, those defensive units are the ceiling for us. How exciting is that?