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Message: [QUOTE="SWC75, post: 1981715, member: 289"] About the Defense: [I]People are abuzz about the new offense Babers and his men are putting in but he’s also putting in a new defense and that’s just as important. It will be a very different defensive concept than we’ve seen in recent years. For years before Scott Shafer got here, we were in “read and react” mode essentially letting the other team run plays like they were diagramed on the blackboard and then just trying to get in their way. I and other Syracuse fans got so sick of that. The best teams play “atomic football”- go right at ‘em on offense and defense. Get plays off fast and get the ball moving down the field fast, (which seems to be Baber’s plan) on offense. Invade the backfield and destroy plays before they get started on defense. When Shafer came in, we started playing atomic defense and it was wonderful. Sometimes you give up big plays but you make big plays and so intimidate the offense that they come apart as the game progresses. [/I] [I]Baber’s crew prefers the “Tampa 2” look, which uses both linebackers and D-backs in coverage and relies almost entirely on the front four to pressure the other team. The concept is to force the other team to make incremental gains and progress downfield slow, (while we score quickly). Also, it’s difficult for mediocre college teams to run 10-12 plays in a row without making a big mistake. It’s been a very successful concept against Syracuse in recent years as we’ve had mediocre or worse offensive teams. But the good teams can do that very well. The power running teams, in particular, will be more than willing to take on the 4 defensive linemen, get 5 yards a play and keep our offense off the field. Our front four will not remind anyone of the Fearsome Foursome of the Rams or the Steel Curtain in Pittsburgh. We are pretty good at tackle but have nearly a void at both end positons. I’ll state this: if are weak at both offensive tackle and both defensive end positons, you aren’t going to have much of a season. You won’t be able to pressure the other team’s backfield and you won’t keep them out of yours.[/I] The defense looked great against Colgate. It wasn’t just “read and cover”. They stayed in their lanes, kept everything in front of them and closed quickly to make gang tackles. There was an internet video at that time about how the team was learning “Hawk tackling”, the type used by that great Seattle Seahawk defense. It was about avoiding head tackles and wrapping up, right from an old-time instruction manual on how to play football- or rugby, from which American football evolved. It looked good. But when I called Baber’s show he said that we still heed to go straight in and hit people higher to push them back if it’s a short distance to the first down or the goal line. All that optimism about the defense vanished when Louisville scored three times in their first five plays, including a 72 yard pass, a 61 yards pass and a 72 yard run. Lamar Jackson threw the passes and made the run. He did the same thing to Florida State the next week. Maybe it was just about his great talent? No. The trend all season was that if the opposition didn’t have superior offensive talent, we could stay in the game with them but if they did, we just couldn’t keep up. The defense seemed to be “improving” if we played a lesser talented team but that illusion would be destroyed when we played somebody really good. And we played a lot of really good offensive teams: Louisville, South Florida, Notre Dame, Clemson, Florida State, Pittsburgh. It became obvious the defense wasn’t going to improve enough o allow us to compete with these teams until we got better players- bigger faster, stronger. Then we can “Hawk tackle”. A great concern was whether the front line could get sufficient pressure on the opposing backfield to allow the back 7 to make plays, since we at first seemed to be abandoning the blitzing tactics Shafer loved. As the season wore on, we sent more and more players on blitzes to make up for the deficit, which left us even more vulnerable in the backfield. As I’ve often said, any scheme works better with better players. We just don’t have enough good ones right now. [I]We settled for De’Jon Wilson, a graduate transfer from Colorado who had never started there but played in 22 games and recorded 2 tackles for a loss and ½ of a sack. He didn’t play last year at all. The story is the Buffs switched to a 3-4 defense and Wilson lacked the size for a DE in that set up or the mobility to be a linebacker. Now he’s back at his natural positon. [/I] When Wilson finally got to play in mid-season he was a revelation. He made some of the biggest plays in the Virginia Tech game. In a way, he, on a much lesser scale, was like Etta Tawo: a player who had bene under-used by his former school who blossomed for Syracuse. [I]That leaves it to the freshman. The most touted one is Jake Pickard. Scott Shafer recruited him away from Wisconsin and Michigan and redshirted him last year. He was the #1 guy at one end positon in the spring. Last year Shafer said of Pickard: "I love his motor...There are times when his technique is absolutely horrendous. But his effort overcomes it. You can coach technique with a kid that has talent and has long arms like he does, but that effort, that high motor is something you can't." He’s now learning his role in the Tampa 2 scheme: “Learning whole new playbook is a lot. Learning the reads is a whole other step,” Pickard said. “Everyone has come into their own of learning reads and learning where the back is and determining what set you’re going to have.” He’ll need to figure it out fast. [/I] [I]PS: “At 6-3 252, Coleman has shown good hips and footwork early in camp.” Good hips are important. Ask Kim Kardasian. [/I] We didn’t see that much of Pickard, who had some injury problems, as did Black, who looked more promising. Coleman appeared to be a coming star. [I]So the rush defense, while it got worse, didn’t collapse as far as the passing or total defense. Freshman Kayton Samuels, Stephen Clark, Chris Slayton and Anthony Giudice had been thrust into the breach. They actually did pretty well at times but everything fell apart around them. But now they are veterans and must anchor the line. Samuels has “senior size” at 6-0 314. So does Slayton at 6-4 296. Clark is 6-2 287. Guidice is 6- 273. Tyler Cross, who red-shirted is 6-2 279. Per Nunes: “During spring practice, Dino Babers commented that the defensive lineman, especially because they are all so young and inexperienced, are going to need to get stronger in the offseason.” Samuels, Slayton and Clark, at least seem to have heard him.[/I] Brian Ward obviously felt that Samuel, Clark and Slayton were his three best linemen and tried to get them all in the game at once as much as he could, which put one of them at defensive end and eliminated any depth at tackle, Slayton was an emerging star. Clark was solid and Samuels got hurt but was able to come back. They were all sophomores and will be the nucleus of the defensive line as long as they are here. We just need to get more of them. [I]The one area of the defense we can feel good about are the linebackers- we didn’t lose a single player in this unit from last year’s group. They are led by the man who is the defense’s leader and best player, (with Thompson gone), Zaire Franklin. He started as a freshman in the middle He has good size at 6-0 230, good speed and outstanding intelligence and leadership capabilities. He was voted team Captain as a sophomore, the first in 70 years. He led the team by a wide margin with 81 tackles, including 11 for a loss, 3 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. [/I] [I]His big problem will be the same as the other linebackers: the Tampa 2 makes the linebackers more like additional defensive backs than, well, line backers. Franklin’s instinct has been to go forward. Now it’s got to be to go backwards. He was limited in spring practice by an injury so his adjustment has been delayed. Weakside linebacker Parris Bennett told Stephen Bailey of Syracuse.com: “You definitely need a lot more patience," the junior linebacker said. "We were used to going downhill a little more often in the old defense. In this defense, you need to make sure you see things before you go. So I try to pause and take things in for a split second, then make things happen and just be quick." Can he who hesitates win? "Zaire's definitely a guy who likes to be downhill," Bennett said. "That pass coverage, that deep middle zone is something he had to do every once in a while in the old defense. Now it's a pretty big deal for him, but he's getting used to it."[/I] [I]The outside linebackers can be heavier, "ramrod-type guys," Babers said. Shafer wanted speed rushers. Bennett is 6-0 208. The strongside LB, Jonathan Thomas, is 6-1 209. Marquez Hodge, a starter last year, is 5-11 219. There are no less than eleven other linebackers listed on the squad but only two are listed as over 220 pounds … So we’ve got our biggest linebacker running around trying to cover people and a bunch of guys 10-20 pounds lighter are “ramrod guys”. A classic example of fitting square pegs into round holes. I would think the lighter weighs would make them more effective in coverage, but less so against the running game, so maybe the Tampa 2 will be a better defense for them. [/I] Franklin and Bennett were like Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie at the Alamo, running around trying to make plays as things collapsed around them. Both were juniors and I presume they will be back next year to do the same, hopefully under better circumstances. Thomas looked good at times. Hodge, behind Franklin, didn’t play much. [I]The seniors are Wayne Morgan and Joe Stanard. Morgan was considered a major recruiting coup when we got him and he has played a lot but his star has faded. He came out of the spring listed as second string behind Corey Winfield. One of Baber’s preferences is for his cornerbacks to be “longer and stronger” and Winfield is 6-1 to Morgan’s 5-11. Stanard is 5-10 and the fourth string strong safety. He’s a walk-on who has never played in a game yet. [/I] Neither Morgan, who was injured or Stanard played so we had no seniors in the defensive backfield. [I]The juniors are Winfield, Scissum and Antwan Cordy. All will play a big roles this year, assume the first two aren’t impacted by their knife injuries. Winfield is probably the best athlete of the bunch, with a 40 inch vertical leap. … Cordy and Scissum are battling it out for the free safety positon. Cordy is small: 5-8 175 but plays big. He’s the team’s biggest hitter on defense. … Scissum is big: 6-2 201. …NFL Draft.com rates him 30th of 122 safeties evaluated, so he’s got what it takes to be a good player.[/I] Winfield played all year and was probably our best corner. He’s just announced he’s going to transfer and won’t be back next year. Scissum saw limited action in 6 games. Cordy got injured against Louisvlle in the second game and never played after that. [I]The sophs are Rodney Williams, Juwan Dowells, Daivon Ellison, Cordell Hudson and Kielan Whitner, Whitner, Williams and Ellison were 1-2-3 at strong safety at the end of the spring. Whitner played immediately as a true freshman and “led all Orange true freshmen with 33 tackles (23 solo)”. (Cuse.com) …Williams started the first 5 games of the season before being injured. He had been injured in the second game in 2014 and was granted a medical redshirt, thus his ‘sophomore’ status. He’s actually more experienced than that. … Ellison is another Don Bosco guy. He’s on the small side at 5-9 175. He was a big hitter on special teams last year. Shafer described him thusly: "Ellison is just a good football player."[/I] [I]Hudson is #1 at the corner positon opposite Winfield. Like Wayne Morgan he’s only 5-11 but has good jumping ability and has gotten stronger so he can “jam” receivers… Dowells is behind Hudson. He started the last 5 games and wound up with “40 tackles (29 solo) and led the Orange in passes defended (6) and pass breakups (5)”. NFL draft At their request, this network is being blocked from this site. has ranked 45th of 176 cornerbacks evaluated. [/I] Hudson missed 3 games, Whitner 2 and Williams 1. But they and Ellison, who seems like a clone of Cordy, were the heart of the defensive backfield unit. Since they were sophomores, we can expect, (hope?) they can get better over the next two years. Things couldn’t get much worse. Dowells, like Cordy, was injured in the Louisville game and missed the rest of the season. It will be fun next year to see the two pint-sized safeties who hit like linebackers: Cordy and Ellison but whether we can afford to have two short guys in the defensive backfield at once is a serious question. [I]You can see what the problem was last year: experience, not talent. We just had too many young guys who had to play immediately. Dino Babers did a radio interview I heard today in which he predicted both of the defensive line and the backfield that “in a year or two” they have a chance to be excellent units. He compared it to Novocain: it take a while to take effect. We could have used some Novocain watching them last year. A year of experience and the switch to a zone with the linebackers helping out could make a big difference. So might an attitude change. ”Secondary coach Nick Monroe has preached for every defensive back to do their “one-11th” or their “one-fourth.” Whitner constantly harped on the mantras, symbolizing a player’s need to be responsible for his individual piece of the 11-man defense or the four-man secondary. Among the defensive backs, the saying “We all we got, we all we need” fosters cohesiveness among the unit.” (Daily Orange)[/I] We needed even more Novocain this year. I’ve never seen so many plays where the other team’s player was 50 yards from the goal line and you knew he was going to score. Babers said the offense will “get it” between the 4th and 6th games next year. When will the defense get it? [I]Like the offense, there’s plenty of talent- and plenty of young talent- in the backfield. It’s all about what happens up front. Both units are full of stallions but the linemen have to open up the gate to the corral so they can prance. The other concern is implementing whole new concepts on either side of the ball. I think we’re going to be inconsistent at best and I really think this defense is going to have trouble stopping teams this year. [/I] Yup. [/QUOTE]

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