Secondary Questions

bhunt7

bhunt7

Four-Star Recruit
This is the first time in a few years that the Secondary lacks a known star. Gone are Prince, Hagg, Gomes, Asante, Dennard, and O'Hanlon. The good thing is that there is plenty of experience returning. P.J. Smith, Courtney Osborne, Daimion Stafford, Corey Cooper, Josh Mitchell, Ciante Evans, and Andrew Green have all started at least a game. The problem is that outside of Andrew Green towards the end of last season and a few games by Osborne two seasons ago, we haven't seen very much from any of these guys.

My questions to you all; what do you feel about this year's depth chart? Will this year's team be better than last year? Is there anyway that a star emerges this year? How will the coaching change workout?

My projected depth chart:

CB: Mo Seisay, Antonio Bell, Stanley Jean-Baptiste

SS: P.J. Smith, Courtney Osborne, Wil Richards

SS: Daimion Stafford, Harvey Jackson, Corey Cooper

CB: Andrew Green, Charles Jackson, Josh Mitchell

NB: Antonio Bell, Ciante Evans, Braylon Heard

Newcomers:

Leroy Alexander

Braylon Heard

Charles Jackson

Alonzo Moore

Mohammed Seisay

 
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We're counting big time on Seisay and great safety play. Green should be a rising star here. Nickel, and dime, I think remains a concern. Which isn't the greatest, because LB also seems a bit of a concern. We'll need to generate good rush up front.

More or less, it seems a lot of newcomers/prove-it returnees on defense are going to have to make big leaps, or our D might be in for another rough-ish transition year. Who knows, though. I don't think too many would have foreseen the breakout of Hagg and Gomes.

 
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If Rick Kaczenski can coach up our D Line to where he had Iowa's the last couple of years, that'll take tons of pressure off our secondary and LBs.

I want to see some blitzing, though. I can't believe that the offenses we're seeing in the Big Ten are so scary that we can't put some pressure on the QB. My concern is that Bo's bend-but-don't-break defense takes away the predatory edge that I believe a defense needs. They don't get their Blackshirts for weeks into the season because they haven't earned them, according to Bo. But if Bo doesn't put them in a position to shut teams down, how can they be at fault? I don't get it. And I don't like it.

 
knapplc said:
If Rick Kaczenski can coach up our D Line to where he had Iowa's the last couple of years, that'll take tons of pressure off our secondary and LBs.

I want to see some blitzing, though. I can't believe that the offenses we're seeing in the Big Ten are so scary that we can't put some pressure on the QB. My concern is that Bo's bend-but-don't-break defense takes away the predatory edge that I believe a defense needs. They don't get their Blackshirts for weeks into the season because they haven't earned them, according to Bo. But if Bo doesn't put them in a position to shut teams down, how can they be at fault? I don't get it. And I don't like it.
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Which I believe is a direct result of time needed to adjust to a different conference of different opponents with, quite frankly, out of place personel. I see this year as being a night and day difference in many aspects of our game with a year under the belt now to analyze what worked and what didnt.

 
I think blitzing is overrated. It's best if we can get the rush from the 4-man front. Of course, this isn't always possible and blitzes can be effective. However, I would think in my limited knowledge that blitzes work best against pocket-passing statues. The ones Bo has figured out already. Sending a blitzing 'backer or DB on a real mobile QB is asking to get burned. Blitzes are going to be even easier to evade than an open-field tackler for those guys, because the blitzer is charging.

And once evaded, if there's no run lane open, we're short a man in coverage. Coverage can only really work for a certain amount of time. Taking a man away from coverage, and going against a QB who can evade him 1-on-1 and extend plays from the pocket, seems like a low-percentage, high-risk strategy.

 
Blitzing helps contain mobile QBs more than our current scheme has demonstrated, although in theory our current method should be more efficient, our D line just isn't athletic enough to contain a somewhat mobile QB. Hopefully Kaz can fix this.

 
You lost me at O'Hanlon. (ba-dum-dum-ting)

I want to see Mr. Jackson step up and I really like the depth we have in the secondary. We do need to get pressure on the QB..be it D-line, LBs, Secondary blitzing....something.

 
zoogies said:
I think blitzing is overrated. It's best if we can get the rush from the 4-man front. Of course, this isn't always possible and blitzes can be effective. However, I would think in my limited knowledge that blitzes work best against pocket-passing statues. The ones Bo has figured out already. Sending a blitzing 'backer or DB on a real mobile QB is asking to get burned. Blitzes are going to be even easier to evade than an open-field tackler for those guys, because the blitzer is charging.

And once evaded, if there's no run lane open, we're short a man in coverage. Coverage can only really work for a certain amount of time. Taking a man away from coverage, and going against a QB who can evade him 1-on-1 and extend plays from the pocket, seems like a low-percentage, high-risk strategy.
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Go look at what opposing defenses did to Denard Robinson last year, and how they slowed him down. Same for Braxton Miller. Both of whom torched us.

Blitzes are not overrated. Used correctly they are very effective. They cannot be used in all situations, but Bo uses them in nearly no situation, and that's wrong.

 
I think that depth chart sounds about right. Unless of course Ciante Evans shows us he can take his game to another level that doesn't involve being burnt toast.

 
blitzing can be very effective. the blitzing player doesnt have to sack to qb, or even hit him for it to be effective. if blitzes are used correctly it can cause even the best qbs to panic and hurry throws, which in turn gives our dbs more chances at interceptions and things of that nature. it also can cause the qb to lose his form and then the throws he makes will leave wideouts crossing the middle out to dry. and when that happens a safety or backer will knock the crap out of them, which in turn causes them to lose focus on catching the balls that come their way the rest of the game.

blitzing is most effective when qbs have to worry about when/if a blitzer is coming and where he is coming from. its a huge mental advantage a defense can have if they get into a qbs head. right now opposing qbs dont have to worry about blitzers cause it hasnt been part of our defensive scheme

 
If we could create pressure with our front 4, blitzing would be virtually obsolete (See: 2009). The problem is, we can't.

Sending blitzes all the time his horrible strategy against good passers, but I could see the benefits against guys like Denard Robinson.

 
knapplc said:
If Rick Kaczenski can coach up our D Line to where he had Iowa's the last couple of years, that'll take tons of pressure off our secondary and LBs.

I want to see some blitzing, though. I can't believe that the offenses we're seeing in the Big Ten are so scary that we can't put some pressure on the QB. My concern is that Bo's bend-but-don't-break defense takes away the predatory edge that I believe a defense needs. They don't get their Blackshirts for weeks into the season because they haven't earned them, according to Bo. But if Bo doesn't put them in a position to shut teams down, how can they be at fault? I don't get it. And I don't like it.
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Question: Has this always been Bo's philosophy for defense? It didn't seem like that when he coached defense for LSU??

 
ladyhawke said:
knapplc said:
If Rick Kaczenski can coach up our D Line to where he had Iowa's the last couple of years, that'll take tons of pressure off our secondary and LBs.

I want to see some blitzing, though. I can't believe that the offenses we're seeing in the Big Ten are so scary that we can't put some pressure on the QB. My concern is that Bo's bend-but-don't-break defense takes away the predatory edge that I believe a defense needs. They don't get their Blackshirts for weeks into the season because they haven't earned them, according to Bo. But if Bo doesn't put them in a position to shut teams down, how can they be at fault? I don't get it. And I don't like it.
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Question: Has this always been Bo's philosophy for defense? It didn't seem like that when he coached defense for LSU??
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He has always had the Luxury of a solid front 4 or an excellent secondary. You can play it a bit safer if your secondary can give an average line an extra second to get the QB. Or your secondary has to cover a second less with an excellent cover unit! Last year we didn't have either group considered excellent. In '09 we had both and the stats play that out.
 
knapplc said:
zoogies said:
I think blitzing is overrated. It's best if we can get the rush from the 4-man front. Of course, this isn't always possible and blitzes can be effective. However, I would think in my limited knowledge that blitzes work best against pocket-passing statues. The ones Bo has figured out already. Sending a blitzing 'backer or DB on a real mobile QB is asking to get burned. Blitzes are going to be even easier to evade than an open-field tackler for those guys, because the blitzer is charging.

And once evaded, if there's no run lane open, we're short a man in coverage. Coverage can only really work for a certain amount of time. Taking a man away from coverage, and going against a QB who can evade him 1-on-1 and extend plays from the pocket, seems like a low-percentage, high-risk strategy.
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Go look at what opposing defenses did to Denard Robinson last year, and how they slowed him down. Same for Braxton Miller. Both of whom torched us.

Blitzes are not overrated. Used correctly they are very effective. They cannot be used in all situations, but Bo uses them in nearly no situation, and that's wrong.
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agree, think of the end reult of most blitzes in the NFL.......they usually end in a sack or the qb just throwing the ball away and an end of possession....we need to bliz some of the time.

 
Wouldn't surprise me to see Cooper a bit higher on the depth chart. Who knows? Maybe this will be his time to shine. They guy could emerge as a star for us this year.

 
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