The reason for all of the db offers

[kcsu]

1: I believe that the kid who is hurt will not play next year and may never play. Pure speculation on my part but something tells me he is out.

2: I think that one of our current DB commits may not qualify and may need to go the prep route

3: We are facing more and more teams that require 5 DBs on the field at any given time.

4: With only one RB recruit in the fold and with him being more of a scat back than an all purpose back Nas will be given a shot at RB.

Again pure speculation on my part

 

[Noexcuse]

1: I believe that the kid who is hurt will not play next year and may never play. Pure speculation on my part but something tells me he is out.

2: I think that one of our current DB commits may not qualify and may need to go the prep route

3: We are facing more and more teams that require 5 DBs on the field at any given time.

4: With only one RB recruit in the fold and with him being more of a scat back than an all purpose back Nas will be given a shot at RB.

Again pure speculation on my part

Makes a lot of sense. Hoping it's more 3 & 4 and less 1 & 2 though.

 

[kcsu]

Given the report we had on the young man being sick i believe he may be out. Not sure though again pure speculation but we have not heard anything about him and if he was better or going to be better i think we would have heard.

 

[HarrisonJBounel]

5. Because we aren't landing nearly enough linemen?

 

[kcsu]

No look at the numbers. If in fact two of our currents commits dont make it and Nas goes to rb this makes perfect sense also one of these kids might be groomed as an outside LB

 

[money3189]

its either one or all of those reasons

 

[Rocco]

Well this Whig's tweet back on 1/9 after his checkup, and Shafer has said good things about his recovery as well:

Julian Whigham ‏@JulianWhigham Jan 9
Much love for the support.! All good and 110% ready to get back at it.

 

[OrangeinBoston]

1: I believe that the kid who is hurt will not play next year and may never play. Pure speculation on my part but something tells me he is out.

2: I think that one of our current DB commits may not qualify and may need to go the prep route

3: We are facing more and more teams that require 5 DBs on the field at any given time.

4: With only one RB recruit in the fold and with him being more of a scat back than an all purpose back Nas will be given a shot at RB.

Again pure speculation on my part

Let me add another reason: The staff wants to upgrade the position across the board. The DBs were not exactly stellar last year.

 

[crales44]

6. We're moving to a 7 on 7 league?

 

[007]

Let me add another reason: The staff wants to upgrade the position across the board. The DBs were not exactly stellar last year.

Agree with this take. The current DBs could not cover or run with any of the higher end WRs we faced. Eskridge is a player, and was arguably the MVP on D this year, IMO. But, he is not great in coverage. Whig came on strong before his injury. I thought we would see more coverage skills from Reddish and Morgan. Lyn was an average college CB, Anderson was not. Wilkes...never sure what the deal was there, but he must have been the best option we had the last 2 years. That alone speaks volumes for the need to upgrade the talent level.

 

[PhatOrange]

Well this Whig's tweet back on 1/9 after his checkup, and Shafer has said good things about his recovery as well:

Julian Whigham ‏@JulianWhigham Jan 9
Much love for the support.! All good and 110% ready to get back at it.

His tweet doesn't mean much. When he's suited up on the field he'll be back.

 

[tep624]

Agree with this take. The current DBs could not cover or run with any of the higher end WRs we faced. Eskridge is a player, and was arguably the MVP on D this year, IMO. But, he is not great in coverage. Whig came on strong before his injury. I thought we would see more coverage skills from Reddish and Morgan. Lyn was an average college CB, Anderson was not. Wilkes...never sure what the deal was there, but he must have been the best option we had the last 2 years. That alone speaks volumes for the need to upgrade the talent level.

Wilkes was what he was - this year, there were no other options that were realistic and last year Esk wasn't completely ready. Lyn, never really got the hype around him, he had the size but he got burned a lot. I think Reddish would really benefit from having another strong cover corner opposite him, but he's arguably our best all around DB. I'm expecting Morgan to take that next step next year that Esk took this year.

I think we're seeing a lot of corners simply because we don't have the depth. We lost Lyn and Whigham for the season and were paper thin at corner after that, after already being pretty thin at safety. I think the staff learned from that situation and the time is now to load up if we have the opportunity to get some talented players. We need the numbers anyway. Lyn, Anderson and Wilkes are all graduating, Whigham may or may not play again, George may just not be effective, and that was already a DB unit that was thin from the loss/transfer of Dontez Ford and Shu Mungwa.

 

[retro44]

Some of these guys are safeties. Some of our current safeties may move to linebacker, and the shift will carry on down the line. There seems to be a strong need where the coaching staff is trying to field the fastest defense this side of FSU.

I am starting to pattern here and I am liking it.

 

[VaSaltine]

Personally, I also think the DB emphasis is a result of the style of defense we play. With an attacking, blitzing linebacker/safety style, we need guys who can effectively shut down receivers in one on one situations. If we get the right players in place, our defense can be scary good.

 

[chakka3421]

I decided to look quickly at our roster as compared to some of the top teams in the country. When I looked at FSU & Clemson - they have more DBs & WRs than we do (didn't look at LBs). It dawned on me that we simply don't have the numbers - these teams have more because not all of them develop like predicted.

Is it simply a numbers game? I would have HCDM, being a numbers guy, would have noticed this but now I am beginning to question HCDMs recruiting focus (more on the lines) versus the current staff's focus on the skill positions.

Did anyone look to see if our numbers at each position match top 25 teams given HCDMs recruiting focus over the current staff focus? That would be a huge shift in strategy imo.

 

[anomander]

Let me add another reason: The staff wants to upgrade the position across the board. The DBs were not exactly stellar last year.

I don't totally agree with this. Our defensive back play improved a great deal at the end of the season, and that was with a slew of injuries. In the beginning of the season I think our schemes were just too complicating, either that or our players just didn't catch on quickly enough with the new DC. Most of the big plays were on blown assignments. Other then when Watkins ran by Ri'Shard Anderson like he was standing in mud, our guys didn't get physically beat up. As the season moved on we played less Wilkes, who was a culprit for biting on play action more then anyone in their career, and less Anderson until the injuries mounted up. Eskridge got remarkably better against the pass as the season progressed, and the increased playing time of Darius Kelly, and Ritchie Desir also helped improve the unit. Next season I think the unit will be far better just do to addition by subtraction. We just need numbers. Our only true corners are Reddish, and Whigham (who can also play safety). Most of our commits at this point are better suited for safety (Prater, Naes, Williams, and even Dawson). Our only true corner is Dowels, so I can see why we may want to add another cb

 

[jekelish]

I watched our pass coverage this year and that told me everything I need to know about why we're recruiting more DBs.

 

[TheCusian]

I watched our pass coverage this year and that told me everything I need to know about why we're recruiting more DBs.

That's an awfully big brush your painting with. The guys that started the season played less at the end. Scheme and ball skills improved. Whigham is really good. Eskridge is a pro.

I think Shafer has a specific plan to combat what he saw this year from the elite offenses in the ACC - and more FL athletes are always better.

 

[Trueblue25]

I need to see Whigham on a field before I believe he's 100%...

Love the kid, loved Keon too.

Keon had us thinking he'd done the orange uni and cleats one more time. That didn't happen.

 

[weedsportwarriors]

I can't wait to see a healthy Esk on the field without a big cast on his hand and all the other health issues he endured and still played. He will be amazing!

 

[crales44]

Upon a night's reflection the reason for all the dbs has become patently obvious: after considering the relative strengths of the 4-3 and 3-4 fronts, Coach Shafer has decided that the natural defense for a TRUE Syracuse team is ... a 2-3 zone.

 

[texascpa]

Number 3 is the biggest reason. Duke, FSU, Clemson all play a spread/read option type offense.

 

[Rocco]

His tweet doesn't mean much. When he's suited up on the field he'll be back.

I get it, but I'm thinking he will be back. Just a hunch. If anything, running more Okie sets seems the biggest reason for the increased offers to DBs.

 

[GoSU96]

Strike while the iron is hot.

It obvious that while team speed has improved, it's not where it needs to be. Finally getting real interest from a significant number of high three/four star athletes. Sign as many as you can. Play the handful that can help you win today, redshirt the rest, and it allows you to be even more selective at the skill positions next year.

Bring in athletes, sort out where they fit, and improve overall team speed.

 

[jr4750]

Strike while the iron is hot.

It obvious that while team speed has improved, it's not where it needs to be. Finally getting real interest from a significant number of high three/four star athletes. Sign as many as you can. Play the handful that can help you win today, redshirt the rest, and it allows you to be even more selective at the skill positions next year.

Bring in athletes, sort out where they fit, and improve overall team speed.

That should be the goal every year! Desko has embraced that philosophy for years.