Dime Package

[huskers1]

Maybe someone on here can clear this up for me. It's been said that our top corners are West, Prince, Hagg, Dennard, Gomes and Blue. Obviously Hagg has the nickel back pretty much locked down, but it was just released that Thorell is still the top candidate to fill the dime back spot. Is the dime back a harder position to learn or why can't they just fill it with the fourth best corner overall? Is it a completely different position compared to LCB or RCB? I just don't understand why they wouldn't put Dennard, Gomes, or Blue in the dime spot and if they earn a starting role move them in.

[Overland Park Husker]

Maybe someone on here can clear this up for me. It's been said that our top corners are West, Prince, Hagg, Dennard, Gomes and Blue. Obviously Hagg has the nickel back pretty much locked down, but it was just released that Thorell is still the top candidate to fill the dime back spot. Is the dime back a harder position to learn or why can't they just fill it with the fourth best corner overall? Is it a completely different position compared to LCB or RCB? I just don't understand why they wouldn't put Dennard, Gomes, or Blue in the dime spot and if they earn a starting role move them in.

It seems Pelini likes to use safeties when adding extra defenders on the field to help support the run. I also thought that Hagg was playing at safety and not corner, but I could be wrong. And yes, the Dime back is completely different than a CB as far as responsibility.

[huskers1]

Yes Hagg is working at safety but when they are in the nickel they said Hagg would be the nickel back. Also Thorell from my understanding is a corner and not a safety. I have no problem at all with Hagg at nickel back bc I think he should be on the field as much as possible. It also seems the coaches want people to be able to play multiple positions, saying things like "free and strong safety are a lot alike and they need to be able to play both" or cotton "swinging" players from left to right. Why can't they have gomes or dennard or blue learn to play the dime? Maybe they did, but I would think any of the three would be farrr better than Thorell. Another thing I would think would be possible to get more athleticism on the field is to keep Hagg at safety instead of o'hanlon and have gomes blue or dennard be the nickel back.

[billdozer15]

With Suh's size and athletisism i think they should just drop him into zone coverage and blitz 10. I think that should be our base defense.

[HuskerNMO]

Yes Hagg is working at safety but when they are in the nickel they said Hagg would be the nickel back. Also Thorell from my understanding is a corner and not a safety. I have no problem at all with Hagg at nickel back bc I think he should be on the field as much as possible. It also seems the coaches want people to be able to play multiple positions, saying things like "free and strong safety are a lot alike and they need to be able to play both" or cotton "swinging" players from left to right. Why can't they have gomes or dennard or blue learn to play the dime? Maybe they did, but I would think any of the three would be farrr better than Thorell. Another thing I would think would be possible to get more athleticism on the field is to keep Hagg at safety instead of o'hanlon and have gomes blue or dennard be the nickel back.

 

The nickel back is basically a rover in Bo's D. It's a small linebacker essentially.

 

There has to be someone that's physical enough to play the run and eat a few blocks if need be. Dennard, Gomes and Blue do not fit that description. Think of the nickel back as in there to stop the run, apply pressure off the corner and occasionally drop back in coverage.

 

As far as the comment about the dime? Dennard, Gomes and Blue are used to playing outside, it's much different playing the outside than the slots from a defensive standpoint. It's better to have someone know the position in and out, because if they screw up it's usually a big play.

[RedDenver]

Yes Hagg is working at safety but when they are in the nickel they said Hagg would be the nickel back. Also Thorell from my understanding is a corner and not a safety. I have no problem at all with Hagg at nickel back bc I think he should be on the field as much as possible. It also seems the coaches want people to be able to play multiple positions, saying things like "free and strong safety are a lot alike and they need to be able to play both" or cotton "swinging" players from left to right. Why can't they have gomes or dennard or blue learn to play the dime? Maybe they did, but I would think any of the three would be farrr better than Thorell. Another thing I would think would be possible to get more athleticism on the field is to keep Hagg at safety instead of o'hanlon and have gomes blue or dennard be the nickel back.

I think that's just bias from the hype for each during recruiting. I'm pretty sure Thorell got a lot more PT last year than any of those 3, so that might be a big factor. If Thorell is the starting dime DB, then he is obviously better than the others in the coaches' eyes. But we have message boards like this one to debate whether the coaches are correct.