Linebacker

[orangefog]

Dyshawn Davis started the opener & 10/12 games as a true frosh in 2011. Being a Camden native, I bet he knows Fran.

I recall him making an impact or two…..

View attachment 248319

Sure against crap teams. But, redshirting is better.

 

[CanadianSU]

No McCord and defense staying the same isn’t a 6 win team. We will see the portal additions.

 

[GoSU96]

I am pretty sure Stefon Thompson started and played the whole season as a freshman or am I not remembering accurately?

7 starts as a freshman.

There are some stupid definitions of what constitutes contributing.

Thompson, Jones, Wax, Franklin, all had starts their freshman year and were key rotational players

Spruill started every game his true freshman season, Cam Lynch played in every game, 1 start, Dyshawn 10 starts

Plenty of examples.

 

[farnsworth]

I thought MLB was a big problem this year.

We let Wax freelance an awful lot, often to completely disastrous results in the run game. We were more gap sound during the stretch he was out (GT, Stanford, UNLV, NCSU) and then looked like Ohio all over again once he came back, giving up huge plays on the ground against VT, BC, Cal, and Uconn.

In Wax's defense, McDonald couldn't do anything in space and we got dinked and dunked to death with short passes when he was in. I suspect his PFF tackle grade was artificially inflated because there were so many plays where McDonald got juked so badly that he didn't even get a hand on the ball carrier and thus didn't get dinged for a "missed tackle."

I feel like we need 2 Justin Barrons and now we have no Justin Barrons.

 

[Acesn8s]

As of now this defense has a lot of holes to fill and they can’t all be filled by freshmen.

 

[GoSU96]

As of now this defense has a lot of holes to fill and they can’t all be filled by freshmen.

Why the assumption that the underclassmen already on the roster won’t step up?

 

[RF2044]

7 starts as a freshman.

There are some stupid definitions of what constitutes contributing.

Thompson, Jones, Wax, Franklin, all had starts their freshman year and were key rotational players

Spruill started every game his true freshman season, Cam Lynch played in every game, 1 start, Dyshawn 10 starts

Plenty of examples.

Plenty.

 

[PhatOrange]

7 starts as a freshman.

There are some stupid definitions of what constitutes contributing.

Thompson, Jones, Wax, Franklin, all had starts their freshman year and were key rotational players

Spruill started every game his true freshman season, Cam Lynch played in every game, 1 start, Dyshawn 10 starts

Plenty of examples.

I didn’t see anyone talking about contributing. It had more to do with a true freshman LB coming in and making an impact and how common is it. I guess the hang up is what defines ‘making an impact’.

Spruill is a good example of this. True freshman in 2010 (14 years ago), started all 13 games. 66 tackles. 14.5 TFLs. Freshman All-American. Definitely came in and made an impact as a TF.

Dyshawn Davis 13 years ago another good example, Started 10 games as a true freshman 40 some tackles. Did do a year of prep at Milford.

 

[Acesn8s]

Why the assumption that the underclassmen already on the roster won’t step up?

I’m not assuming that, but I saw every second of every game, and I’d imagine any underclassmen who could that make that kind of jump to be impactful in game 1 against Tennessee would have been on the field more this year. Listen the bowl game was great but we had lots of starters who played on defense and we still struggled to stop Wazzu in that first half, that’s concerning since our best defenders are leaving.

 

[0.2 YNdeeR]

Why the assumption that the underclassmen already on the roster won’t step up?

I agree we have some guys in the pipeline. McDonald and Sparrow have experience. ZMG is a guy that could step up. We'll probably see improvement from one or more of the rotational guys like Lesaine, Brown x3, Heard, and maybe contributions from the frosh (Dudley and AD). But Wax and Barron, who led the team in tackles the past two years and excelled in coverage, have left big shoes to fill, especially in the 4-2. Moving Grant to star could help. But I think we add a strong-side LB that has cover speed and enough size to slow down the power teams. Not going to be easy (or cheap). Need a safety and a corner too. DL is looking better - good base to build from.

 

[GoSU96]

I’m not assuming that, but I saw every second of every game, and I’d imagine any underclassmen who could that make that kind of jump to be impactful in game 1 against Tennessee would have been on the field more this year. Listen the bowl game was great but we had lots of starters who played on defense and we still struggled to stop Wazzu in that first half, that’s concerning since our best defenders are leaving.

Who you taking off the field? Wax, Barron? Sparrow played some, was in on the 4th and one stop. Heard filled in at DE.

 

[orangefog]

Who you taking off the field? Wax, Barron? Sparrow played some, was in on the 4th and one stop. Heard filled in at DE.

Who cares, let's accumulate talent and let them compete for positions.

 

[GoSU96]

Who cares, let's accumulate talent and let them compete for positions.

There’s no room at the inn right now.

 

[orangefog]

There’s no room at the inn right now.

There's always room for a talent upgrade.

 

[shu 49]

Marlowe acquitted himself reasonably well as a freshman … 32 tackles and 3 sacks.

Didnt he redshirt

 

[SmilinBob]

I really like ZMG in the middle. He just seems to be around the ball every time he got a chance to play.

 

[Acesn8s]

Who you taking off the field? Wax, Barron? Sparrow played some, was in on the 4th and one stop. Heard filled in at DE.

I hear ya, and I have a bias for all these guys, I really liked this team, but I think our offense covered the fact even with our best defenders on the field we got exposed a lot. From the Pitt game on the least we gave up was 24 and that was against uconn.

 

[kcsu]

Agree Slimy Dave played DE this year and as he continues to get bigger, he will likely stay there.

Share your concerns in Sparrow and McDonald with pass coverage. I haven’t confirmed this looming at film but watching games in person late in the season, I thought I saw Caden Brown come in on passing downs more and more late in the year.

I think he is someone to keep an eye on. Seemed like he was getting prepped for a bigger role for next season.

Really hope we have room to add a DE who can rush the QB, one or two LBs with experience and athletic ability and a big safety with experience. Could use a CB now too with the recent losses there.

I think we need to free up space to get all these needs addressed. I expect a bunch more players deep on the depth charts to announce they are leaving. Believe they have 5 days after the bowl game to do this and if they miss that, they will have to wait until sometime after the spring game.

If we land a starting LB in the portal i think Dave stays at DE if not i think he takes one of the lb spots

 

[CIL]

A true freshman would have to be very special and cerebral to start in ERob’s 4-2-5, as a lot is asked of those players.

The 4-2-5 is not a “mirror” defense like a 4-3, 3-4, or a 3-3-5, meaning that the offense has a very easy time knowing where the strong side and weak side of the D is at alignment.

Your Sam (strong side) backer has to be a big bodied player but also pretty mobile, as they need to be able to take on linemen, in running situations, pulling guards, etc. However, they also are used in a lot of pass coverage situations as well, so the need to be able to run.

The Will, or weak side linebacker, needs to be able to cover and play in space, with help from the Rover or hybrid safety in run support. This player needs to have a pretty good grasp of what the other team is trying to do, especially with regards to pass concepts.

So for a true freshman to come in and contribute they would have to be physically developed and move in order to play the Sam, or be a hybrid type and understand offensive systems extremely well to play the Will. This isn’t necessarily a defense that tells a linebacker to fill this gap and get the curl in passing situations.

There’s a reason why teams like Georgia. Alabama, etc run it…it’s a great defense against spread offenses. But you need big bodied athletes to play LB in it.

There’s a reason the defense looked better when Barron slid down and played Will and there’s a reason McDonald struggled when asked to do it.

IMO, we will definitely look to add via the portal before next year.

 

[kcsu]

A true freshman would have to be very special and cerebral to start in ERob’s 4-2-5, as a lot is asked of those players.

The 4-2-5 is not a “mirror” defense like a 4-3, 3-4, or a 3-3-5, meaning that the offense has a very easy time knowing where the strong side and weak side of the D is at alignment.

Your Sam (strong side) backer has to be a big bodied player but also pretty mobile, as they need to be able to take on linemen, in running situations, pulling guards, etc. However, they also are used in a lot of pass coverage situations as well, so the need to be able to run.

The Will, or weak side linebacker, needs to be able to cover and play in space, with help from the Rover or hybrid safety in run support. This player needs to have a pretty good grasp of what the other team is trying to do, especially with regards to pass concepts.

So for a true freshman to come in and contribute they would have to be physically developed and move in order to play the Sam, or be a hybrid type and understand offensive systems extremely well to play the Will. This isn’t necessarily a defense that tells a linebacker to fill this gap and get the curl in passing situations.

There’s a reason why teams like Georgia. Alabama, etc run it…it’s a great defense against spread offenses. But you need big bodied athletes to play LB in it.

There’s a reason the defense looked better when Barron slid down and played Will and there’s a reason McDonald struggled when asked to do it.

IMO, we will definitely look to add via the portal before next year.

Do you think that David O could fill the Sam position?

 

[CIL]

Do you think that David O could fill the Sam position?

Don’t know, depends on how well he can run. Right now he looks a lot more like a DE to me.

I think he could serve in the Fadil Diggs role which is more of a rush end, cover the flat or RB in certain coverages.

 

[kcsu]

Don’t know, depends on how well he can run. Right now he looks a lot more like a DE to me.

I think he could serve in the Fadil Diggs role which is more of a rush end, cover the flat or RB in certain coverages.

Thank you and thanks for sharing your knowledge here. Appreciate your post.

 

[richmondcuse03]

A true freshman would have to be very special and cerebral to start in ERob’s 4-2-5, as a lot is asked of those players.

The 4-2-5 is not a “mirror” defense like a 4-3, 3-4, or a 3-3-5, meaning that the offense has a very easy time knowing where the strong side and weak side of the D is at alignment.

Your Sam (strong side) backer has to be a big bodied player but also pretty mobile, as they need to be able to take on linemen, in running situations, pulling guards, etc. However, they also are used in a lot of pass coverage situations as well, so the need to be able to run.

The Will, or weak side linebacker, needs to be able to cover and play in space, with help from the Rover or hybrid safety in run support. This player needs to have a pretty good grasp of what the other team is trying to do, especially with regards to pass concepts.

So for a true freshman to come in and contribute they would have to be physically developed and move in order to play the Sam, or be a hybrid type and understand offensive systems extremely well to play the Will. This isn’t necessarily a defense that tells a linebacker to fill this gap and get the curl in passing situations.

There’s a reason why teams like Georgia. Alabama, etc run it…it’s a great defense against spread offenses. But you need big bodied athletes to play LB in it.

There’s a reason the defense looked better when Barron slid down and played Will and there’s a reason McDonald struggled when asked to do it.

IMO, we will definitely look to add via the portal before next year.

Appreciate this, very interesting and useful intel.

 

[SUskibum]

A true freshman would have to be very special and cerebral to start in ERob’s 4-2-5, as a lot is asked of those players.

The 4-2-5 is not a “mirror” defense like a 4-3, 3-4, or a 3-3-5, meaning that the offense has a very easy time knowing where the strong side and weak side of the D is at alignment.

Your Sam (strong side) backer has to be a big bodied player but also pretty mobile, as they need to be able to take on linemen, in running situations, pulling guards, etc. However, they also are used in a lot of pass coverage situations as well, so the need to be able to run.

The Will, or weak side linebacker, needs to be able to cover and play in space, with help from the Rover or hybrid safety in run support. This player needs to have a pretty good grasp of what the other team is trying to do, especially with regards to pass concepts.

So for a true freshman to come in and contribute they would have to be physically developed and move in order to play the Sam, or be a hybrid type and understand offensive systems extremely well to play the Will. This isn’t necessarily a defense that tells a linebacker to fill this gap and get the curl in passing situations.

There’s a reason why teams like Georgia. Alabama, etc run it…it’s a great defense against spread offenses. But you need big bodied athletes to play LB in it.

There’s a reason the defense looked better when Barron slid down and played Will and there’s a reason McDonald struggled when asked to do it.

IMO, we will definitely look to add via the portal before next year.

Thanks for taking the time to lay this out.

Very interesting stuff I would never know otherwise

 

[ImperialOrange]

Deslaurier is going to get some snaps. I refuse to believe otherwise.

If he says he wants snaps I'm not sure who's stopping him from just taking them.