LB Shakeup

[djorange1989]

The entire D was a shat show today. All.Of.It

 

[rrlbees]

The entire D was a shat show today. All.Of.It

Yep. DL, LB, DB. Everyone seems to have their favorite to blame. Armstrong, Foster, Frederick, Cordy. Nobodies mentioning Cisco. He had a lot of tackles and an INT, but he got burned quite a bit. With his size, maybe he grows into a Keith Bullock type LB.

 

[Trueblue25]

cordy took my breath away when he had the gull to talk crap after shutting down one play that was likely PI.

His, Foster’s and Armstrong’s jobs should be up for grabs.

Would like to see stritz or scoop in the nickel with trill at corner opposite Meli if CF cannot get it together. Give me Cisco and either Clarke/Coley at safety if Foster can’t play like a senior. I really dont want to voice how I really feel. Im not that upset with armstrong, he’s never had that high an upside

 

[PhatOrange]

Yep. DL, LB, DB. Everyon seems to have their favorite to blame. Armstrong, Foster, Frederick, Cordy. Nobodies mentioning Cisco. He had a lot of tackles and an INT, but he got burned quite a bit. With his size, maybe he grows into a Keith Bullock type LB.

There was one play that resulted in a TD where Cordy leaves his man and jumps the short rout while Cisco jumped the short route to. Result TD to the uncovered guy in the back corner of the endzone. Clearly a mixup, appeared that Cordy goes zone thinking safety over the top and Cisco wasn’t there. Would love to know who screwed that up.

 

[reedny]

You should be a defensive coordinator...you wouldn't last long.

You dont leave Richards in in a situation when he might have to cover, he will get smoked against a slot receiver or a back.

You don't go 3 backers against 4 or 5 wide or you will get smoked.

There are reasons why there are different packages on defense and there is a nickel package and safeties that can cover and tackle like linebackers.

We just sucked today but what you are saying isn't very smart.

Not to critique you, but you missed the overall point of his post - which was that something has to give with our LB personnel. I don't qualify as a FB expert, but to my eye, no way we make it though the season without 2 or 3 functioning backers that can run and hit. LW just started his second game and he's the leading LB tackler. He's going to be good but right now, he's GREEN. Unfortunately, I can't say either about Armstrong, who has experience but is consistently behind plays. So I don't think it's ludicrous to suggest that an upgrade is in order if we want to compete against P5 teams.

But as this thread asks- who else can we put in there? Jones, et al, are even less experienced than LW. In fairness, once Maryland's athletes got past the LOS they would have been a tough matchup for anyone, including TR, who HCDB said is athletic enough to play safety. They were 'in space' because our DL got epically abused on the ground, allowing UM RB's to waltz into the secondary for 350 yards and numerous chunk plays and scores.

Hopefully the DL bleeding will slow down, taking some of the pressure off our LB corps. But to dismiss Richards - a gifted athlete on a different speed planet than Armstrong - as a coverage risk ignores the current deficiencies at the position, overstates the coverage responsibilities in the middle (my understanding is that it's mostly TE's) and undervalues Richard's abilities. Should he, or one of the younger guys, take over at MLB? I can't say. What I do know is that, given what I saw yesterday from Armstrong and what I've seen from Richards, it's not a dumb question.

 

[SmilinBob]

The problem with identifying the issues with the D is like telling what hurts most when your kicked in the balls, poked in the eye, smacked in the ear and punched in the nose...they all hurt like heck and your laying there in pain. Lots to unload from this game as a lot of players didn't execute, some more than others but as a group they got dismantled.

Let's hope this woke their butts up.

 

[shu 49]

The best players are playing. Why do folks some how think Dino is purposefully leaving superior players off the field? Now, that could change week to week, but right now, there is no reason to believe that absent injuries, our best players are playing.

I do know that a few of us were hoping last year that they played shy more and once they decided to he showed us he could play. U have a 6’4” 225 lb kid with extreme speed and a talent for making special team tackles and has downhill tendencies, I maybe would give it a shot. They have shown to play Sr. No matter what. Ward is lb coach and def c. Maybe that’s his mantra but we need to try some new people there and Richards should be the first one. Armstrong was terrible yesterday. 0 downhill and tackling every time at shoulder level. Now I am not just blaming him because I think yesterday falls on Ward. U play soft and u get killed. When he becomes aggressive like the Clemson dc then we will be set. Blows my mind we have aggressive offense and bend but don’t break defense that is soft. Meaning soft calls not much blitzing, lack of man to man at los. He killed us today.

 

[griddy]

The problem with identifying the issues with the D is like telling what hurts most when your kicked in the balls, poked in the eye, smacked in the ear and punched in the nose...they all hurt like heck and your laying there in pain. Lots to unload from this game as a lot of players didn't execute, some more than others but as a group they got dismantled.

Let's hope this woke their butts up.

Truest statement yet

 

[kcsu]

Truest statement yet

Ward had his Arse handed to him yesterday. He was completely out coached. Our talent is elite on D. Coaching was horrible. No adjustments. Stayed in the same coverage all game. This one is on Ward.

 

[orangepassion]

You dont leave Richards in in a situation when he might have to cover, he will get smoked against a slot receiver or a back.

Babers said himself that Richards is athletic enough to play safety. That would seem to say that he has the ability to cover.