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LB Depth

OrangeBowlMagic

OrangeBowlMagic

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There's been a few threads about the various kids over the past few months, but I figured I'd consolidate Manny's comments just a few minutes ago at ACC Media day.

He just said that Waynmon Steed and Bradley Jennings won't be participating when camp kicks off on the 26th due to "long-term injuries". Nothing really new, we knew Steed was out for a while and it had been rumored Jennings wouldn't be ready.

But he also said Patrick Joyner will be limited due to a lower leg injury. He has not been ruled out against UF, but he's not healthy to start camp.

ALSO, Avery Huff is not yet cleared and will not be participating. Sam Brooks is enrolled and will participate.

So, that leaves Miami with 4 healthy LBs. Obviously Shaq and Pinck will play a ton, and really we don't have much of a choice. McCloud will back them up, and then it's Sam Brooks as the next man up. I don't see any situation where Brooks doesn't get at least a couple snaps against UF....you can't play the whole game with only the 3 seniors, especially when you'll be in heavy at times and all 3 will be on the field together (yes, I know the majority of snaps will employ a Striker).

I wonder if Finley will get looks as a true linebacker? Gil or Smith at Striker and Finley at Will, just for a few plays? Having to play Brooks in game 1 scares the **** out me. And of course, god forbid 55 or 56 turn an ankle. I know all summer I was told I was Chicken Little and that the LB spot would be fine. Anybody wanna take that stance now?
 
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No finley wont get reps as a true LB. Zach plays both striker and will back up shaq and mike.
 
McCloud started 9 games in 2018 according to the team website, so we had 3 LBs on the field plenty.

Moving Finley full-time to LB makes sense considering Joyner's hurt now too.
 
rokulika said:
McCloud started 9 games in 2018 according to the team website, so we had 3 LBs on the field plenty.

Moving Finley full-time to LB makes sense considering Joyner's hurt now too.
Click to expand...
And just have frierson come in as the starter at striker? If the starters need a breather than that’s probably what we should do
 
McCloud also had 44 tackles to Finley's 28 in 2018.

If the idea is to get the best 11 players on the field, which Diaz has stated in the past, then we should consider Finley at SS and McCloud at striker. But I'm not sure that's feasible with 4 healthy LBs currently.
 
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Our base defense is a hybrid 4-2-5... it’s a reason we don’t have a lot of true linebackers on the roster.

The slight difference between Diaz’s philosophy and Coach Bakers is he prefers to have a physical DB play the striker/nickel position exclusively.... no linebacker like a traditional 4-2-5.

Diaz started out with McCloud at Striker and made an adjustment to include Finley the next year bc McCloud was getting exposed at that position... but I doubt McCloud is going to play a down at Striker this year under Baker.
 
1. LB depth is an issue no matter what way you look at it. This is also exasperated because probably the first 3 off the bench, Wilder, Jennings, and Steed got hurt so you are essentially down to third stringers, which is where we are at. But we should have someone other than a true freshman considering we have had the same starting 3 for 4 years.

2. Depth is overplayed in college. Can anyone tell me the backup LB's for any NFL team? And if the answer to that first question is yes, will those backups be considered of higher quality than a Sam Brooks in our scenario?

3. With running a 4-2-5, LB we do not, and probably cannot have more than 9 true LB's on the roster.
 
Last edited:
OrangeBowlMagic said:
There's been a few threads about the various kids over the past few months, but I figured I'd consolidate Manny's comments just a few minutes ago at ACC Media day.

He just said that Waynmon Steed and Bradley Jennings won't be participating when camp kicks off on the 26th due to "long-term injuries". Nothing really new, we knew Steed was out for a while and it had been rumored Jennings wouldn't be ready.

But he also said Patrick Joyner will be limited due to a lower leg injury. He has not been ruled out against UF, but he's not healthy to start camp.

ALSO, Avery Huff is not yet cleared and will not be participating. Sam Brooks is enrolled and will participate.

So, that leaves Miami with 4 healthy LBs. Obviously Shaq and Pinck will play a ton, and really we don't have much of a choice. McCloud will back them up, and then it's Sam Brooks as the next man up. I don't see any situation where Brooks doesn't get at least a couple snaps against UF....you can't play the whole game with only the 3 seniors, especially when you'll be in heavy at times and all 3 will be on the field together (yes, I know the majority of snaps will employ a Striker).

I wonder if Finley will get looks as a true linebacker? Gil or Smith at Striker and Finley at Will, just for a few plays? Having to play Brooks in game 1 scares the **** out me. And of course, god forbid 55 or 56 turn an ankle. I know all summer I was told I was Chicken Little and that the LB spot would be fine. Anybody wanna take that stance now?
Click to expand...

OK. Uncle.

Man, that is bad. If Joyner and Huff are healthy, I'm not too worried, but based on the above, that's not great, obviously.

I do think Finley can fill in at LB, but would obviously be a potential liability on sheer size in short yardage. Then again, we said the same about Rohan and that dude was a deadly missile. Amari could fill in at LB as well, but with Bolden coming in late, we obviously need him on the back line. Finley is super valuable at Striker too.

Anybody think maybe LB could be Derrick Smith's best position?
 
rokulika said:
McCloud started 9 games in 2018 according to the team website, so we had 3 LBs on the field plenty.

Moving Finley full-time to LB makes sense considering Joyner's hurt now too.
Click to expand...

Stop

You might START in a base 4-3 but acting like we weren't in a 4-2-5 all the time is just a lie.
 
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252cane said:
No finley wont get reps as a true LB. Zach plays both striker and will back up shaq and mike.
Click to expand...

So McCloud is the backup Striker, backup Mike, and backup Will? No. Try again.

We played the exact same defense last year to open the season against an SEC opponent, and early in the 2nd quarter a freshman named Bradley Jennings was in the game, and ran directly into a pile, taking himself out of a play, and allowing LSU to run for a 50 yard TD. That can't happen again next month. So again I ask, and please if you're clueless just click "back" in your browser, what options do we have here?

Assuming Huff isn't cleared and assuming Joyner isn't ready, which yes are assumptions and not certainties. But assuming we only have Shaq, Pinck, McCloud, and Brooks....is there a chance Finley slides down? Maybe Smith? They have to give someone else reps in camp at one of the backer spots.
 
This sucks ****. Hopefully Joyner will be back for Florida. Roll into Florida with Shaq, Pinck, McCloud, Finley, Joyner, Brooks, and Huff all available. Wish we’d get a ruling on if Wilder is done or not and sucks that Jennings is out long term. He was having a good spring and was lined up to play a lot.
 
OrangeBowlMagic said:
So McCloud is the backup Striker, backup Mike, and backup Will? No. Try again.

We played the exact same defense last year to open the season against an SEC opponent, and early in the 2nd quarter a freshman named Bradley Jennings was in the game, and ran directly into a pile, taking himself out of a play, and allowing LSU to run for a 50 yard TD. That can't happen again next month. So again I ask, and please if you're clueless just click "back" in your browser, what options do we have here?

Assuming Huff isn't cleared and assuming Joyner isn't ready, which yes are assumptions and not certainties. But assuming we only have Shaq, Pinck, McCloud, and Brooks....is there a chance Finley slides down? Maybe Smith? They have to give someone else reps in camp at one of the backer spots.
Click to expand...

It's not just that, we also need guys for special teams.
 
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