There were real questions behind the scenes about whether JJ Dunnigan would be healthy to play at Clemson. Then he picked off a pass and looked every bit of 4.4 doing it.
He was the guy with all the buzz coming out of camp in a similar manner to Malachi Toney and Bryce Fitzgerald last year. Now that he's flashed in-game, the question becomes whether he's in the "top player" category for this Hurricanes team already.
David Lake of 247Sports is already there, and on Thursday’s show he took it a step further. He wants Dunnigan down at nickel, covering slots and coming on blitzes, because "you can't take him off the field."
Here's a sneak peek of what was said on the show earlier today:
DMoney: The question is what you think of Omar Thornton's play so far and what he needs to improve on. So just to clarify, he's missing tackles and I thought he'd play better based on what he did in camp. But people are talking about him like he's Jaden Harris.
David Lake: One thing that's tough with the Omar Thornton discourse this week is he was really highlighted a lot. Because on TV he was talked about a lot by Kirk Herbstreit and Chris Fowler. When that happens, it's clear Clemson's coaching staff was saying in the pre-production meetings, 'hey, we think we can put this guy in space and he'll miss some tackles.' And it played out that way.
But I'm curious what your take is, because I know JJ Dunnigan was going into that game a little banged up. One thing that struck me is they put Omar at free safety rather than nickel. What was your read on that?
DMoney: I think Zechariah Poyser's actually a good nickel. I'll start with that. Look at the Jacksonville State tape. I haven't watched it in a while, since we got him, but I remember him playing closer to the line. He was covering tight ends. He was covering slots. He was doing good there. So I think part of it was, let's get Poyser out there.
Then there was the issue with Dunnigan. Behind the scenes, there were some questions if Dunnigan was going to play. It was amazing, because when he got the interception the guy looked every bit 4.4, 4.3.
They might have just thought, for this matchup, Clemson doesn't really have a slot receiver. Really, the threats were on the outside.
David Lake: I would say I don't think Thornton is a bad player either. He obviously needs to clean up the tackling, but where I'm going is kind of the same direction you're going.
I'm very intrigued by the idea of JJ Dunnigan at nickel. I would love to see him there because he has the athleticism to cover those slot receivers, and I think he would be absolutely dynamic as a blitzer. Then I would be intrigued by Poyser and Dylan Day as your safeties. I'm not saying Thornton doesn't play, but if this is who Dylan Day is, he definitely deserves to play more.
DMoney: Dunnigan needs to play every snap he has the air in his lungs to play. Him and Poyser, you cannot take those two off the field. I don't see how you do it on any team.
Spring will sometimes lie to you, Fall Camp usually doesn't. And I remember asking in camp, is this guy one of the best players on the team? Last year it was that way with Malachi Toney and Bryce Fitzgerald. Dunnigan's like that.
David Lake: I think he is one of our best players, he plays so fast and physical. He's another guy where you could probably nitpick his tackling a little bit too, but the thing with him is he's missing tackles and it still affects the play. The guy gets slowed down and then the swarm gets there. Whereas Thornton's missing tackles and there's no one else around, and it leads to a big play.
DMoney: The part you add to it is Xavier Lucas comes back. So does Bryce Fitzgerald stay at corner? Ryan Mack, I thought, looked pretty good at corner. I'll just isolate Bryce. How do you see him moving around when Lucas comes back? What do you see in the future for him?
David Lake: Just my opinion, I'm good with him staying at corner, because I think you need three corners at least. And I feel good if my three corners are Bryce Fitzgerald, Ethan O'Connor and Xavier Lucas. I wouldn't mess with that.
That being said, I do think Bryce Fitzgerald is also an upgrade at nickel. I think he's an upgrade at safety if you want to put him there. Is the upgrade as significant at nickel and safety compared to corner? In my opinion, no, because I think you need that depth at corner. I'm with you, Ryan Mack looked solid but I think I'd rather play Bryce Fitzgerald there over him right now.
DMoney: You mentioned Ryan Mack. I've been thinking about this one. Ryan Mack was playing nickel. He's always been hurt. I always liked him. We liked him coming out of high school. But when you're hurt that much, I can't just pencil you in anywhere. If it happens, great.
Well, it's kind of happening now. He was good in camp. He's been healthy. He started off at nickel, played well there, and now he's playing outside, where I think he's actually more comfortable.
So now that we've flushed the injuries from our brain, he's here, he's healthy. Are we sure this guy can't help us as a rotational corner through the playoff run? Not just a patchwork guy, but a good corner in a rotation that another team in the portal would view as a starter?
David Lake: The way I view it, there's no doubt he's developing, and that's a great thing. He is improving. I recognize those things. Where my head goes is I still think Bryce is a better corner. And we'll see how he looks coming off the injury, whenever he comes back, but I would still put Ja'Boree Antoine ahead of Ryan. Before he got hurt, he definitely was better than Ryan. And then if OJ Frederique gets healthy and he's able to return too, it's kind of crowded.
But if you're telling me these guys don't really get back before the College Football Playoff, then yeah, that's what Miami is going to be rolling with, Ryan Mack as a rotational player.
DMoney: Antoine's interesting too, because he's not going to come back as fast as Lucas. But is he still an outside corner? There are some questions on speed. He's a great tackler. Does he move closer to the ball, or does he play safety? I'm not ruling that out. He was a safety in high school.
We also got into the offensive line shakeup and what our defensive line looks like a year from now. The whole Lake Show is below:
He was the guy with all the buzz coming out of camp in a similar manner to Malachi Toney and Bryce Fitzgerald last year. Now that he's flashed in-game, the question becomes whether he's in the "top player" category for this Hurricanes team already.
David Lake of 247Sports is already there, and on Thursday’s show he took it a step further. He wants Dunnigan down at nickel, covering slots and coming on blitzes, because "you can't take him off the field."
Here's a sneak peek of what was said on the show earlier today:
DMoney: The question is what you think of Omar Thornton's play so far and what he needs to improve on. So just to clarify, he's missing tackles and I thought he'd play better based on what he did in camp. But people are talking about him like he's Jaden Harris.
David Lake: One thing that's tough with the Omar Thornton discourse this week is he was really highlighted a lot. Because on TV he was talked about a lot by Kirk Herbstreit and Chris Fowler. When that happens, it's clear Clemson's coaching staff was saying in the pre-production meetings, 'hey, we think we can put this guy in space and he'll miss some tackles.' And it played out that way.
But I'm curious what your take is, because I know JJ Dunnigan was going into that game a little banged up. One thing that struck me is they put Omar at free safety rather than nickel. What was your read on that?
DMoney: I think Zechariah Poyser's actually a good nickel. I'll start with that. Look at the Jacksonville State tape. I haven't watched it in a while, since we got him, but I remember him playing closer to the line. He was covering tight ends. He was covering slots. He was doing good there. So I think part of it was, let's get Poyser out there.
Then there was the issue with Dunnigan. Behind the scenes, there were some questions if Dunnigan was going to play. It was amazing, because when he got the interception the guy looked every bit 4.4, 4.3.
They might have just thought, for this matchup, Clemson doesn't really have a slot receiver. Really, the threats were on the outside.
David Lake: I would say I don't think Thornton is a bad player either. He obviously needs to clean up the tackling, but where I'm going is kind of the same direction you're going.
I'm very intrigued by the idea of JJ Dunnigan at nickel. I would love to see him there because he has the athleticism to cover those slot receivers, and I think he would be absolutely dynamic as a blitzer. Then I would be intrigued by Poyser and Dylan Day as your safeties. I'm not saying Thornton doesn't play, but if this is who Dylan Day is, he definitely deserves to play more.
DMoney: Dunnigan needs to play every snap he has the air in his lungs to play. Him and Poyser, you cannot take those two off the field. I don't see how you do it on any team.
Spring will sometimes lie to you, Fall Camp usually doesn't. And I remember asking in camp, is this guy one of the best players on the team? Last year it was that way with Malachi Toney and Bryce Fitzgerald. Dunnigan's like that.
David Lake: I think he is one of our best players, he plays so fast and physical. He's another guy where you could probably nitpick his tackling a little bit too, but the thing with him is he's missing tackles and it still affects the play. The guy gets slowed down and then the swarm gets there. Whereas Thornton's missing tackles and there's no one else around, and it leads to a big play.
DMoney: The part you add to it is Xavier Lucas comes back. So does Bryce Fitzgerald stay at corner? Ryan Mack, I thought, looked pretty good at corner. I'll just isolate Bryce. How do you see him moving around when Lucas comes back? What do you see in the future for him?
David Lake: Just my opinion, I'm good with him staying at corner, because I think you need three corners at least. And I feel good if my three corners are Bryce Fitzgerald, Ethan O'Connor and Xavier Lucas. I wouldn't mess with that.
That being said, I do think Bryce Fitzgerald is also an upgrade at nickel. I think he's an upgrade at safety if you want to put him there. Is the upgrade as significant at nickel and safety compared to corner? In my opinion, no, because I think you need that depth at corner. I'm with you, Ryan Mack looked solid but I think I'd rather play Bryce Fitzgerald there over him right now.
DMoney: You mentioned Ryan Mack. I've been thinking about this one. Ryan Mack was playing nickel. He's always been hurt. I always liked him. We liked him coming out of high school. But when you're hurt that much, I can't just pencil you in anywhere. If it happens, great.
Well, it's kind of happening now. He was good in camp. He's been healthy. He started off at nickel, played well there, and now he's playing outside, where I think he's actually more comfortable.
So now that we've flushed the injuries from our brain, he's here, he's healthy. Are we sure this guy can't help us as a rotational corner through the playoff run? Not just a patchwork guy, but a good corner in a rotation that another team in the portal would view as a starter?
David Lake: The way I view it, there's no doubt he's developing, and that's a great thing. He is improving. I recognize those things. Where my head goes is I still think Bryce is a better corner. And we'll see how he looks coming off the injury, whenever he comes back, but I would still put Ja'Boree Antoine ahead of Ryan. Before he got hurt, he definitely was better than Ryan. And then if OJ Frederique gets healthy and he's able to return too, it's kind of crowded.
But if you're telling me these guys don't really get back before the College Football Playoff, then yeah, that's what Miami is going to be rolling with, Ryan Mack as a rotational player.
DMoney: Antoine's interesting too, because he's not going to come back as fast as Lucas. But is he still an outside corner? There are some questions on speed. He's a great tackler. Does he move closer to the ball, or does he play safety? I'm not ruling that out. He was a safety in high school.
We also got into the offensive line shakeup and what our defensive line looks like a year from now. The whole Lake Show is below:
