Defensive Talent

[anomander]

For those who feel we lag behind the ACC in defensive talent I'm curious to hear what positions you feel need a talent upgrade?

Personally I feel our depth can use an overall upgrade in talent, but I don't see 1 position group that requires a major upgrade. Thinking about our 3 blow out losses I wanted to see if I could come up with something and I was at a loss. Sure it isn't all scheme, but if you look at player by player that's all I can come up with. So For those who feel it's the talent, where do you see the upgrades needed?


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[PhatOrange]

For those who feel we lag behind the ACC in defensive talent I'm curious to hear what positions you feel need a talent upgrade?

Personally I feel our depth can use an overall upgrade in talent, but I don't see 1 position group that requires a major upgrade. Thinking about our 3 blow out losses I wanted to see if I could come up with something and I was at a loss. Sure it isn't all scheme, but if you look at player by player that's all I can come up with. So For those who feel it's the talent, where do you see the upgrades needed?

For me it's the safety positions. We need to get smarter and (preferably) bigger at those two spots. But imo this is the weakest unit of the D.

 

[ImperialOrange]

We need play makers. Bromley and perhaps Spruill may be the only two we have.

We have decent CB's but none you would consider lock down corners at this point. Could be due to our use of zone v man but if our guys were that great in man coverage would we use so much zone?

DE's are solid but who do you expect to make a play when we need it most?

Safeties are physically gifted but have yet to show football smarts.

It's not just defense obviously but how many times have we been in critical points where someone needs to make a play and we just can't/don't get it done.

 

[Alsacs]

Our defensive talent is solid all we are really missing is a good DE. I looked at the DTs, LBs, CBs, Ss and are decent at all of those positions. Could we use a better cover corner yes? However, so could every team in the country. We need a pass rush DE and the defense would be well on its way. Brandon Sharpe type DEs are all we need. Sharpe wasn't a 5 star kid, but developed into a serviceable player. Too bad, Chandler got hurt 2 yrs ago or he would have been an All-American and helped with recruiting.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Safety and defensive end.

 

[ImperialOrange]

Perhaps we should consider a 2-3 zone?

 

[chakka3421]

I dont think its our talent at all. Its our defensive scheme and play calling that doesn't take advantage of our strengths. I do not think we disguise our blitzing like we used to and we shouldn't have to blitz all the time with J Bromley - just do it on obvious passing plays and mix it in a few more times just to keep the offense honest.

We are so prone to getting beat on big passing plays. A good QB will eat DCCB alive - WF QB is not bad and I believe he will kill us if DCCB keeps blitzing every down.

 

[anomander]

Eeskridge has the physical tools of an NFL safety he is just struggling with his reads it seems.

As for corners we have 2 who most likely get drafted and a 3rd who is a 3 year starter


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[ImperialOrange]

Eeskridge has the physical tools of an NFL safety he is just struggling with his reads it seems.

As for corners we have 2 who most likely get drafted and a 3rd who is a 3 year starter


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A lot of our guys seem to struggle with reads. They get caught looking into the backfield vs reading the tackles at the snap.

 

[rosconey]

our dc has the same skill as i do=none

shafer takes back the defense and its a whole new ball game -

 

[anomander]

A lot of our guys seem to struggle with reads. They get caught looking into the backfield vs reading the tackles at the snap.

I know is it the defenders or a complex scheme? I know before the season we were saying how complex our defense is, it seems there is a lot of thinking going on


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[ImperialOrange]

I know is it the defenders or a complex scheme? I know before the season we were saying how complex our defense is, it seems there is a lot of thinking going on


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My guess? A mix of both.

When you run a scheme predicated on heavy blitzing, and you don't get to the qb in time, you get caught with your pants down. Our safeties likely know where they should be in 3-4 seconds post snap which is all the time a QB should really have under a blitz. What happens after that 4 seconds is all the horrendous big plays we've been giving up. Esk is only thinking about covering 20 yards and in, and is possibly coached to do so.

 

[jr4750]

Our defensive talent is solid all we are really missing is a good DE. I looked at the DTs, LBs, CBs, Ss and are decent at all of those positions. Could we use a better cover corner yes? However, so could every team in the country. We need a pass rush DE and the defense would be well on its way. Brandon Sharpe type DEs are all we need. Sharpe wasn't a 5 star kid, but developed into a serviceable player. Too bad, Chandler got hurt 2 yrs ago or he would have been an All-American and helped with recruiting.

I agree with everything you said, except do you really think Chandler being an All American would help with recruiting more than him being a 1st rd pick? We have something to sell... We've had two 2 star kids go in back to back 1st rounds... We can get you into the league... And playing time is available. Oh hey, we also will have a brand new practice facility and a great conference to play in... Lets get it done already!

 

[Pyle]

Coordinator... That is all we need for a functional defense.

 

[rosconey]

NEW Coordinator... That is all we need for a functional defense.

fixed

 

[Townie72]

I think I'd like to see a few more cards (games) before I start to figure out how we stack up against the ACC.

The debacle in Atlanta may, hopefully, have been a anomaly.

But "Patience" is not a virtue that some of our posters possess.

 

[rosconey]

I think I'd like to see a few more cards (games) before I start to figure out how we stack up against the ACC.

The debacle in Atlanta may, hopefully, have been a anomaly.

But "Patience" is not a virtue that some of our posters possess.

over a decade patience wears thin and starts to run out

 

[Alsacs]

I agree with everything you said, except do you really think Chandler being an All American would help with recruiting more than him being a 1st rd pick? We have something to sell... We've had two 2 star kids go in back to back 1st rounds... We can get you into the league... And playing time is available. Oh hey, we also will have a brand new practice facility and a great conference to play in... Lets get it done already!

I was just thinking if Chandler had the monster year I think he could have would have resulted him being up for some national awards and helping get the SU brand out their nationally. I think having Pugh and Jones go in the 1st round helps, but Chandler being an award winner would have helped a little more. Mel Kiper said on draft night if Jones would have stayed healthy he would have been a top 10 pick in the draft with all his talent.

 

[SoBristol]

Keep in mind that two of our more talented players (Lyn and Davis) were out for the Ga Tech game. Playing against the Ga Tech option presents some unusual challenges, so this might be the worst time to address either coaching or overall talent on the defense. We got exposed by a very good option attack.

We don't have a speed rusher for DE. The LB crew is below ACC average when Kirkland & Hodge are playing (though both will get better). Our secondary is decent (when they aren't blowing assignments) but not nearly as good as we had assumed.

We have Bromley, Spruill, Lyn (when healthy), Reddish and Eskridge -- most of the others are 2/3 star talent doing the best they can. There is some young talent in Thompson, Johnson & Hodge.

Putting this another way, on the defensive side we have talent at the 5/6 win level.

 

[CIL]

Definitely need to increase the size and depth of our safeties. After Esk, they are painfully small and a step too slow, IMO.

If you want to be able to play with the elite of the ACC, then The LB corps needs to get a step faster as a whole as well. Davis and Spruill can play, but after that it's ok. GA Tech and Clemson really exposed this.

 

[rosconey]

we exposed ourselves -gt uncle klem took advantage of a defense with no plan idea or function-

what we call defense is a joke at best - we have enough players to stick around with anyone when given proper coaching- this staff is pretty much worthless right now-
people talk about keeping the oc just because he can recruit- cant coach a lick but hey he can recruit

we have a dc that i doubt is smarter than most on this board when it comes to coaching- defense has been a bust since it came out of the gate-
the 3-4 switch is mind boggling and shows a staff that over prepared for 1 team

 

[SoBristol]

we exposed ourselves -gt uncle klem took advantage of a defense with no plan idea or function-

what we call defense is a joke at best - we have enough players to stick around with anyone when given proper coaching- this staff is pretty much worthless right now-
people talk about keeping the oc just because he can recruit- cant coach a lick but hey he can recruit

we have a dc that i doubt is smarter than most on this board when it comes to coaching- defense has been a bust since it came out of the gate-
the 3-4 switch is mind boggling and shows a staff that over prepared for 1 team

This ("proper coaching") seems wrong to me -- but not provable either way.

Lots of board members believe they can scheme better than Shafer/Bullough for a triple option attack, or to defend Clemson, or to defend Northwestern. Seems like the same as saying the OC should not call the plays that get stuffed or result in incompletions, only the ones that work (in the minds of the posters, in some Madden world).

We got embarrassed/exposed, and fans are frustrated. OK -- let's see what gets fixed for the November games.

 

[AAM62]

Eeskridge has the physical tools of an NFL safety he is just struggling with his reads it seems.

As for corners we have 2 who most likely get drafted and a 3rd who is a 3 year starter


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Are you assuming Lyn will get drafted with a season ending knee injury?

 

[tep624]

I think I'd like to see a few more cards (games) before I start to figure out how we stack up against the ACC.

The debacle in Atlanta may, hopefully, have been a anomaly.

But "Patience" is not a virtue that some of our posters possess.

Maryland, Pitt, BC and Wake are all beatable teams. We finish 6-6, go to a bowl and have a top 40 recruiting class, then I could really care less about the blowouts.

 

[AAM62]

I was just thinking if Chandler had the monster year I think he could have would have resulted him being up for some national awards and helping get the SU brand out their nationally. I think having Pugh and Jones go in the 1st round helps, but Chandler being an award winner would have helped a little more. Mel Kiper said on draft night if Jones would have stayed healthy he would have been a top 10 pick in the draft with all his talent.

As much as I hate to say it (I'm a jets fan), Chan Jones is killing it this year and will grow into being a pro bowler. He just has a knack for sacking Geno Smith, as well lol.

I wish the Jets drafted him over Coples.